The Hasler Diaries

Play Kitchen

2011-12-10T06:32:00.000-08:00

This year, for Olivia and Isaac, I became completely obsessed with DIY play kitchens. They have been all over creative blogs lately. Olivia used to have a play kitchen that was given to us by a friend. To say it was trashed when we got it would be a complete understatement, but the kids loved it anyway. It had no sink, was missing a door, made noise and the blender mechanism worked, but the blender was missing and only made noise half the time. It was a sad, sad kitchen. But we appreciated it for what it was. When we left Lubbock we left it behind. So for Christmas I set my mind on making one myself. I thought about buying one but the good ones (that aren't made of plastic) are well over $100 and that is way over my budget. I wanted one that was sturdy and durable. I did some research, created a whole pintrest board devoted to it, talked Glenn into doing it with me, and got to work.
The whole idea is to take an old piece of furniture (a TV stand or end table) and refashion it into a kids play kitchen. So this is what we started with:

Then we we mapped out our design, decided on colors and got painting.

This next step took FOREVER!!!! It was horrible. Glenn and I both were about to give up. I am not sure what it was but this step was hard. If I had not had Glenn there with me I am sure I would have given up. But we persevered. After getting the paint done it was smooth sailing. All we had to do was put everything together. Glenn and I are both proud of the finished product. Although neither of us wants to look at it again.

So, drum role please, here is Olivia and Isaac's Christmas present from us:

complete with a real faucet (the most expensive part) and stove knobs that you can really turn.

There is an oven and a refrigerator. Those are the bane of Glenn's existence. He was really ready to give up when those didn't turn out exactly the way we had hoped.

I think my favorite parts are the little finishing touches. Like the hooks on the side:

and the handles and the sink. The sink is just a metal mixing bowl that we got at Wal-Mart. I had to get a couple of pictures with some of their pots and pans on it. I think it makes it a little more complete.

I love it! Even though I am glad it is done and even more glad I don't have to look at it until Christmas morning.

I think Olivia and Isaac are going to love it!

Recipes by Isaac

2011-11-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

Isaac has become quite the little chef with his play food. He dons his chef’s hat and gets to work creating many culinary masterpieces. Below are a couple of recipes inspired by his genius.

Bananas à la Isaac

Ingredients:
1 banana (not too green or too ripe)

Directions:
1. Place banana on a cutting board, or directly on a countertop.
2. Roll banana flat with a rolling pin.
3. Devour banana whole, preferably while snarling and smacking loudly.

Toast–Hot Pad Flambé

Ingredients:
1 frying pan
1 piece of bread
1 hot pad
1 cup of tea

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place hot pad in frying pan.
3. Place bread on top of hot pad. *
4. Fill teacup with your choice of tea and place teacup on top of bread.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30–40 minutes or until flames erupt.

* If bread is unavailable, hash browns are a fine substitute, or pancakes.

I finaly did it!!!!

2011-11-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

So, you know this whole Pintrest thing? Does anyone love it as much as I do? I am thinking you do. It is pretty much the best thing ever created since Facebook. No offense to all of the twitter people out there. I never got into twitter. No, no, this is much better. I have gotten so many amazing ideas off of Pintrest. I can not even begin to count. Well maybe I could. I have 208 things pinned and 188 of those I probably haven't done. However, the ones I have done...FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!! And I owe it all to you, Pintrest. What would my life be with out you (I should be getting paid for all the promoting I am doing.) Anyway, my latest obsession on Pintrest would have to be this:
I fell in love with this almost instantly. I knew it had to be in my kids bedroom. I found almost exact replicas on etsy for over $140. Well, I wasn't going to pay that much. I knew I probably couldn't do any better but I could get pretty darn close, and for much cheaper. So I finally did it! I started scouring all the places I could think of for letters of all different shapes and sizes. After finding them all (or most of them, at least) I got to work making them beautiful. Well this is what my finished product looks like:
It wasn't exactly what I was imagining, but I love it just the same. I think I will still change a few things here and there. For example, the ampersand kind of disappears on the white wall. Olivia suggested I make it pink. So I think I will. Anyway, I am so SO excited for it. It looks so cute on their wall above Isaac's crib. I think I will keep it forever!!!!!! What do you think?

Stationery card

2011-11-06T12:22:00.001-08:00

Days Be Merry Christmas Card

To view our unique Christmas card designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Christmas present for Olivia

2011-11-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is already that time again. In fact, I have been working on Christmas presents for almost 2 months now (Maria and Isaac beware!!!). This one I am particularly proud of though. Which is probably why I am posting it now, a month and a half before Christmas. That, and Olivia doesn't read this blog so I don't have to worry about spoiling the Christmas morning surprise. Anyway, this present was inspired by a pattern. I was given this pattern and wanted to make it a nice warm coat. I was envisioning a thick wool coat with a nice warm liner to protect Olivia from the New Mexico winters. It gets cold here. I also wanted it nice enough that she could wear it to church. You know something a little fancy. Well I knew this pattern was just what I was looking for. However, I did not want to pay full price for the type of nice wool I was looking for. It was going to cost me almost $30 just for the fabric and to be honest, we just don't have that right now. So I went to Good Will and found this little number: A nice 100% wool coat. Albeit meant for an old lady, but with this pattern I was going to change that. I absolutely loved the color and knew it would look great on Olivia.The coat had a barely any wear to it. It was a nice wool coat. My mother-in-law even recognized the brand. Anyway I went to work completely taking apart the coat. It took about an hour with a seem ripper to take the coat apart. Then I cut out the pattern and picked out a different fabric for the lining. After about 3 hours of work total I ended up with this little beauty:
I am completely and utterly in love with it. I would have Olivia pose in it but since it is a Christmas present the modeling will have to wait. The best part is that it cost me $4!!!! Yes you read that right 4$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Perfect, don't you think???

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T12:41:00.001-07:00

We have had a very happy Halloween so far. I am not sure we will take the kids trick-or-treating tonight but we did go to our church trunk-or-treat and that was enough for both the kids. Olivia was kind enough to suggest our costumes this year again. Last year Olivia suggest our costumes too but this year I think we really outdid ourselves. This year we were Jedi's.

Olivia was Princess Leia, Isaac was Yoda, and Glenn and I were both Jedi Knights. Although if you ask Olivia Glenn was Luke. She really wanted him to be Luke but I had a different. We went to the trunk-or-treat with Grandma Julie and Papa Rich. They dressed up too.
Papa Rich went as Mr. Clean and Grandma Julie a Witch.
Olivia wasn't to sure about Grandma. While she was getting dressed Olivia went up to her and asked "Grandma, you are my Grandma Julie, right?"

Olivia was the best Princess Leia ever!

But also the most serious!Isaac's favorite part of being Yoda was the light-saber.

Although Isaac and Olivia were excited no one was as excited as Glenn to fulfill his childhood fantasy of being a Jedi Knight.

And I followed suit.

I had lots of fun making these costumes. I think it was even more fun than last years, even though it was a lot more work. So what was everyone else for Halloween???? did you have as much fun as we did?

EXCITING!!!!!

2011-10-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Isaac has had his nose pressed against our window for the last hour now.

You can't pry him away or get his attention on anything else.
What is so exciting you ask???

There is a tractor in our back yard.
Nothing is more exciting to him than a tractor in our back yard.
We are getting our patio redone... so I think this is how he will be for a while now.
As long as there is a tractor in our backyard.

Oh Blog, Sweet, Sweet, Blog

2011-10-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I have neglected you. I have forgotten all about you and now I feel guilty. Well, actually, I have felt guilty for over a month now. Truly I am sure not many people still read my sad little blog, but I am sure there are a few. If only my family. So here goes nothing. Summer has been interesting. Glenn did a whole lot of studying for the bar and the best news of the summer is (drum role please) HE PASSED!!!! So after passing the bar he was sworn in by the New Mexico Supreme Court.All in all, it was the most exciting and most boring meeting I have ever attended.
Glenn's parents were there,
and we even took both the kids.
Taking the kids was a big mistake. They got bored...fast. And honestly I did too since the meeting lasted 3 hours. It was LONG!!!! But the fun part was when Glenn was sworn in.
It was fun to see him stand up, raise his right arm and be sworn in as a New Mexico Attorney.

Earlier this summer my beautiful sister Cherie came to visit and we got to go up into the mountains.

William and Lacey also came to visit. Olivia loved to have cousins visit.

Olivia is excited for fall and for Halloween so I made her a fun Candy Corn dress.

Olivia really wanted to help me sew so I got her some fabric and she made herself a blanket.

It was fun and she felt special.

Other big news is that Olivia started preschool in August.
She was so excited to start school and be just like her daddy.

Isaac and I have just had fun while she is at school.

So now that I have started blogging again I need keep it up. So here is my goal. To blog once a month. I know it's not much, but I know if i say I will blog once a week I will fail. So to anyone out there I hope you have enjoyed my end of the summer blog.

Santa Fe Opera

2011-08-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

This summer we were lucky enough to go to the Santa Fe Opera house to see La Bohème by Puccini.

I had never been to the Opera before so I was really excited. I have been to a lot of musicals but never a real opera house. If you have never been to the Santa Fe Opera I would REALLY recommend it. It is a beautiful out door opera house. It is covered but is opened on the sides.

It is beautiful!
One of the best parts of the evening was the tailgating. The Opera house has a tradition of tailgating right before the Opera. There are people who bring fine China, Candle sticks, fine linen table cloths, the whole nine yards.
We didn't go quite that far but we did have an amazing dinner on a picnic table right next to our car. We had a beautiful BBQ picnic dinner with a little sparkling apple cider to top it off! It was amazing.
We went with my mother and father-in-law,

my beautiful sisters-in-law,

us,

and some good family friends the Andersons.

It was an amazing night full of amazing company and beautiful singing.

I Spy With My Little Eye

2011-07-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

I spy with my little eye something blue. . .
and something that doesn't belong. . .
Isaac has learned to climb into shelves. . . and climb up shelves.

He is our little monkey.

Isn't he cute???

RRRRR Maytees!

2011-07-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

Since moving to New Mexico Olivia has found a new favorite TV show. She could watch it for hours and be totally happy. I don't let her watch it for hours, but she still could if I let her. Her new favorite show is on the Disney's Junior channel called:"Jake and the Never land Pirates"

She walks around singing the song:
"Jake and the Never Land Pirates
Climb aboard, Me Hearties, and be a pirate true.
Let's go! With Jake and the Neverland Pirates
We'll set the course together--Come on and join the crew"

After watching it one day she came up to me and said, "Mom, I want to be a pirate, but I don't have the right clothes! Mom will you make me a pirate costume?" I thought about it and said, "Sure, I think I can do that."
So I looked through my fabric and found some things that would work and came out with this:The knife really finishes it off I think :)!The shirt was made out of an old sheet that my mother-in-law was going to give away.The skirt was made from some left over Christmas fabric (I don't remember what Christmas project I used it for).The corset style belt I made from some left over fabric... I cannot even begin to tell you where it came from. I made everything a little big so it would last longer but she loves it which is all that matters. In that last picture she was telling grandma Julie to "Hoist the sail, Matees! Lets go on an adventure!"

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Grandma," she is saying, "we need to go capture captain hook! He is getting away!"

And Isaac just wanted his picture taken!

We have been pirates here for a good couple of weeks now! It has been fun! I wonder what she will want to be next?

Rain Drop Keep Fallin' On My Head

2011-07-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

It has been the driest it has been here in years. There have been fires all over New Mexico burning hundreds of thousands of Acres. A lot of the state parks have been shut down in fear of people NOT listening and still having campfires. It is usually brown here, but it is REALLY brown here right now. I know Lubbock is just as bad. . . except they have 110 degree heat on top of it all. Sometimes I miss Lubbock. But then I remember it is 20 degrees cooler here and I don't miss it so much anymore. We have been asked by our Stake President to pray and fast for rain. I know many other stakes are fasting for the same thing. This last fast Sunday we did just that. We fasted for rain and as soon as we got out of church, that's exactly what it did.

IT RAINED!!!!!!!

It has rained on and off all week. Not very much or for very long, but it rained!
There was a lot of running,

A lot of jumping,

and even a little drinking.

Both Isaac and Olivia loved running and playing in the rain. There was one point where they had to come in because the rain was coming down a little hard. But they got plenty soaked. They were out playing for about an hour so Glenn grabbed the camera and got some pretty amazing pictures.

In other news we had a uneventful fourth of July. We weren't aloud to have fireworks, so we had a BBQ, and I made Olivia a dress to celebrate!

When it is not raining (which is a lot) it is really hot out. The kids have a little swimming pool that they love to play in. Isaac's favorite thing to do is stick his head in the water. I really don't blame him. I would love to do that too. The best part is how he looks after he has stuck his head in.

Every time he does it he reminds me of that poem "There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead." Except Isaac isn't a girl. He is so cute though and I love watching him dunk his head.

2011-07-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

So, to finish off my Utah trip I have to post about a party that happened after the Grand Canyon but before the wedding! I was so excited for Cherie to be married. I have loved everyday of the 7 years of my marriage and I couldn't wait for her to be just as happy in her marriage. So, to celebrate her marriage my sisters and I threw this beautiful bride...

A BRIDAL SHOWER!

We had quite the party! With lots of games and presents. Now I took lots of pictures of the presents but, I will not show them here. I believe the above picture hints sufficiently at the nature of many of the presents :)!Two of Mark's family were able to come--His sister Jill and his Mom.
The Bride and Tiffany
My cousin Dana and Cherie.My sister Elise and Shellie (with her baby Christina). We were so happy Elise could come. She wasn't feeling well that day, but the party wouldn't have been the same without her.Angela and Christina (they are both so cute!)
Angela, my cousin Kim and KaylaWe had so much fun! So where were all of the kids while the girls were all partying?
Playing with their favorite Uncle David. Olivia loved David. She had so many nicknames for him the whole time we were with him. She wanted to spend every minute with Uncle David. She still asks "When do we get to play with Uncle David again?"

They also got to play in Papa Giboney's bounce house

And play mostly naked in the back yard!

That about sums up our Utah trip! Between camping, the bridal shower, and the wedding it was a very busy two weeks. We did, however, get to squeeze in a couple hours to see some of my favorite people!This is one of my very best friends Ashley. She just had a new baby and she still let me come and see her! Not only did she let me come and see her, she made me my favorite type of birthday cake and gave me a present!She knew that I didn't have much of a birthday so she gave me one! She is so sweet and I love her so much. Her husband Spencer is amazing as well. We just love their family so much and I was so glad that we were able to see them. I just wish we had been able to spend more time with them!
And now back to life. Back to preparing for the bar, and back to New Mexico!

Cherie and Mark Caldwell

2011-07-08T08:26:00.001-07:00

After the Grand Canyon Glenn went back to New Mexico and I went up to Utah with my parents. I had a fun week with them, busy, but fun. We did it this way because on June 25th one of my little sisters got married. It was a very special day and reminded me of the day I got married to my wonderful husband. Weddings are such a special event. It was a long LONG day but worth every minute.

Mark and Cherie were married in the Draper Utah Temple. I had never been in that temple before and let me tell you, IT IS GORGEOUS! Inside and out.

Here are Mark and Cherie coming out of the temple right after they got married. First time together as husband and wife. They are such a cute couple. I loved seeing how totally in love they were. We are so excited to have a new brother-in-law. I can tell that we are going to like him. I am sad that he has been away so much, and that the two of them are moving to Italy. . . well I am not really sad that they are moving to Italy because it will be an excuse to go to Italy to visit them! I hope we can do it sooner rather than later, but I suppose Glenn should get a job first so that we have some money to do it. Anyway, the only thing really sad about them moving away is that we can't get to know Mark better.

I love this picture of Cherie. She made such a beautiful bride. I wish I had gotten a better picture of her dress. My mom made her dress and her veil. It turned out beautifully. My mom did such an amazing job!The best part about weddings is being able to see so much family. This is my mom and two of my beautiful sisters.I realized after I got home from the wedding that I had a lot of pictures of Angela and Kayla. I must have thought they look exceptionally beautiful.But let's be honest, the cutest, most adorable two people at the wedding were these two:They are the two cutest kids I have ever seen. I know that I am a little bias because well, they are mine, but seriously I think they are adorable.

My brother and his family were able to come to the wedding too and it was so nice to see them. They live in Arizona now. My brother is getting his PhD. in . . . well something to do with information systems. Anyway he has 3 girls but I only got a picture of 2 of them. All the nieces were wearing the same adorable purple dresses and I think the saddest part of the whole wedding is that we were unable to get a picture of all of them together. I would have loved that picture!
We will just have to suffice with different pictures of the girls! This is my niece Faith who looks just as beautiful as Olivia!

Another Picture of Kayla and AngelaI think that this is one of my favorite pictures. All of my beautiful sistersI love all of my sisters so much, and although some of them may not believe that statement all the time I love them and would do anything for them. I just love pictures of all of us together.

I wish we had a good family picture too with all of my siblings, but my brother was taking care of his daughter so he wasn't down for this picture session.
It was a hard day on all of us. Kids were sick, which was sad, but all of the kids had a hard time with this day especially Kobe,
and Isaac.

All of the kids felt the stress and heat of the day. It was a hot 95 degrees that day and we all felt it. Occasionally I would look over at Cherie and think, "Holy cow she must be hot in that wedding dress!" We were all hot, especially when taking pictures. I am pretty sure in all of Cherie's wedding pictures Isaac is going to be screaming. It was hard, but we all survived!

Because mark only knew two weeks before the wedding that he was even going to be able to come a lot of the Dickson side of the family was unable to come. The ones that were able to come made the reception that much more enjoyable. I didn't get a good picture of all the cousins that were able to come but it was so nice to see them. All Dickson family events are always eventful and always end up with a gossip circle.

I was lucky enough to be included in this one. Usually my Aunt Sheri is in my spot.

The reception was beautiful and HOT! I had to share my sunscreen with all of my family and Isaac needed his hat. Which just made him all the more handsome!

I just love my boys!

I love this picture of Dad with his two sons-in-law. Especially David in the back. I am not sure what they are talking about but it is a sweet moment!

The rest of the day went like a normal wedding. The cutting of the cake,

eating the cake,

throwing the bouquet,

fighting over the bouquet,

and some sparklers.

I am so happy for the two of them. I was a wonderful vacation and I am so glad that I was able to be there for this very special occasion.

(I know I was only in one picture, but I took most of the pictures and when Glenn had the camera he just took pictures of Isaac and Olivia)

The Grand Canyon

2011-07-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to be able to go to the Grand Canyon this year with my family. It was the first time in a while that we were all together. We even had my Grandparents come up as well. I regret, however, that I did not get a good picture with them but I was so happy to see them. I hadn't seen them in over 2 years and they had never met Isaac. We had family members coming from 4 different states so that we could all be together. The only sad thing is that Mark could not be there to join us. Mark is (well was really) Cherie's fiancee and was in Georgia while we were there. Cherie and Mark were married the week after this camping trip (wedding post to follow). Mark was there in spirit though, or at least there by phone. . .
A Lot! I can't blame her though, if I was over 2000 miles away from my fiancee a week before my wedding I would talk to him a lot too. . . oh wait, I was and I did :) ok not 2000 miles but 2 states and it was enough to miss him and talk to him a lot on the phone.

Anyway, back to the Grand Canyon. There was lots of playing in the dirt on the kids part.

I think this is Isaac's current favorite cousin Kobe. They are about the same age (5 months apart) and had lots of fun getting dirty together and coloring together,and sleeping together.

My dad did a lot of cooking while we were there so my mom got him a new apron and chef's hat. I think it was also a father's day present.
Glenn had never been to the Grand Canyon before so it was especially fun for him I think.

Our little family at the grand Canyon together. . .dog included.

Isaac just did a lot of riding around in the stroller.

He also pointed at a lot of things. . .I think he was pretty amazedThis is my beautiful sister Angela and my niece Christina,

my OTHER beautiful sister Kayla,

and the gorgeous bride to be, Cherie.

Basically, I have a lot of beautiful sisters.
I was particularly excited to see my sister Tiffany and her wonderful family.

I really don't get to see them very much since they live in California. Glenn gets along with David really well too which is always a plus. We really love them and wish we lived closer to them.

Glenn, Isaac and Cleo.

We were afraid, because of Bar prep, that Glenn wouldn't be able to come for a while. I was so grateful that he did come.

I love him so much. It was such a fun vacation with him
I just love my boys!

My brother and his family. I had never met Christina so it was really fun to see them and their growing family.

Grandpa and Dad cooking

Relaxing

Olivia was done with everything but the end of the trip.

I can't blame her. I was just tired of being dirty. If it wasn't so dirty I think everyone would have been a little happier.
But there are always ice cream sandwiches to make things better.

It was so nice to have everyone there together. It would be nice to have one BIG family camping trip once a year. . . but that is dreaming!

Olivia Turned 4!

2011-06-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

On May 18th my baby turned 4. I can't even believe that she is four. I can't believe that my little baby has gone from this:

to this:

She has grown into such a beautiful little girl, so full of drama.
I felt so bad for her this year. This year we had Glenn's graduation and we were planning on moving the day after her birthday. So instead of celebrating her birthday on the 18th, we celebrated it with all of our family there on the 14th.
These are all of her cousins (on Glenn's side) that were there for the party.
She had the perfect little girl birthday party full of princesses for our little princess.

She also had two of her best friends there.
This is a really bad picture of Olivia, but the best ones of her two best friends. Now that we have moved Olivia still asks to go play with Maryanne and Benson. We miss them so much.
She had so much fun opening presents but the biggest surprise to her was the one Glenn and I gave her. It started with this:

She didn't really know what to do with it, then Glenn brought out the other half of the present and this was her reaction . .

imagine her saying, "What???"

She was so excited!
We are so happy to have such a beautiful little girl in our lives.

Isaac's favorite part was the cake :)

Our Big Boy

2011-05-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how fast kids grow up. I know everyone says that. Sometimes (before I had kids) I would role my eyes at people saying "They grow up so fast." I don't know why. Maybe it was because I always felt like I wanted to grow up. Now I don't. I can't believe sometimes how old I am (and I am not even that old). Now I wish I could stop time. I don't want to grow up anymore.

So now I look at my kids and think, "Why are they growing up so fast?" This week has been an eye opening week for me. Isaac has grown up so fast.
I think it all started when I cut his hair. Now, I have cut his hair before and it didn't really effect me. But this time *sniff* *sniff* I really saw how much he has grown. Let me illustrate with before and after pictures:

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Can you believe how much hair I cut off?

He looks like such a big boy now. I wanted to cry after I finished. I wanted to put it all back. I wanted my little boy back. I made him grow up. So now instead of my baby I have this adorable little boy:who like to sit in thingsand put things on his fingersand wear small old man hats while playing
Seriously!!! Is there anything cuter than that!!!He even knows how to climb up ladders.

He is so big . . . and I love every minute that he keeps growing

Graduation . . . WE'RE DONE!!!

2011-05-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

IT HAPPENED!
The day we thought would never come finally has.

Glenn graduated from law school yesterday. He is now officially

GLENN HASLER, ESQ.

He now has a Doctorate of Juris Prudence

There is like 100 ways to say it and I could probably say all of them because I am so proud of him.

It was such a wonderful day. All of Glenn's family was here in town to see him graduate. I was so excited all day. I couldn't wait to actually see him walk across the stage and have some closure of this stage in our lives.

So. . . can you find him?

As soon as he walked out with the rest of his graduating class (about 180 students) I was holding back the tears. All I could think about was how much I loved that man and how cute he looked walking out in his robes.

Here he is being "hooded" by his professor John Watts
Taking a picture with the Dean of the Law SchoolGlenn with his twin brotherAll of Glenn's family that were able to make the journey to see him.

His very proud parents

These are two very VERY good friends that graduated with GlennLindsay is moving to Houston to take the bar, Laci is staying here, and we are moving to Albuquerque. We have really become close to them through this law school experience. We are going to miss them so much.

I think this next picture pretty much sums up how I feel about Glenn.

I cannot express my love and admiration for this wonderful man. He has worked so hard to get through law school. He has sacrificed so much to support and provide for us. I am so proud of what he has done and what he accomplished yesterday.

Congratulations Glenn!

7 YEARS!!!

2011-05-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has been 7 years since this picture was taken. I looked at these pictures this morning and thought "WOW, I look so young!" Then I thought "HOLY COW! I was so young!" Sometimes Glenn and I reflect on our lives and we both wonder what we were thinking. We had known each other for a year (which by typical Mormon BYU-IDAHO standards is 10 years) I was only 18 (one month before my 19th birthday) and he was only 22. We were so happy, so in love, and perfect for each other. I laugh now at some of the things I thought were important then. Like forcing my little sister Cherie to wear nylons because I thought it would make the pictures look better (it did Cherie, I was right, but am still sorry I forced you)
(You look so beautiful Cherie!)

When I look back and reflect on that day the first thing I think of is where I was able to be marry Glenn. We were married here:

in the Oakland California temple. The same place my parents were married 23 years earlier. This place was a big part of what made this day so special. Every wedding day is special to every bride, but being married in a temple. . . words cannot describe. I know Glenn and I were married in the right place, at the right time.

When my Grandma Dickson first met Glenn (at my brothers wedding) the first thing she asked was "What the big idea? Why the big hurry?" It made both of us laugh. About 4 years after that, one of the last times I saw my wonderful Grandmother, she said to me, "I am so proud of your choices, especially your choice of husband. He is wonderful."

Glenn and I have had a wonderful first 7 years of marriage, and I know the next 7 years will be even better!

Happy Anniversary Glenn
You are the love of my life,
You make me feel beautiful everyday,
I never dreamed that marriage would be this wonderful.

An Announcement

2011-05-01T14:22:00.000-07:00

The Texas Tech University

School of Law

announces the graduation of

Glenn T. Hasler

with the degree of

Juris Doctorate

The Hooding Ceremony will take place

Saturday, May fourteenth

Two thousand eleven

At six o'clock in the evening

United Spirit Arena

Lubbock, TX

Reception immediately following

at the Merket Alumni Center

(WE MADE IT!)

Head Walker

2011-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

We are not sure why Isaac does this, or where he learned it from. All we know is that he loves doing it . . . ALL THE TIME!!!

He will go from room to room walking on his head like this but he mostly just goes in circles. If there is something in his way he will change his direction. He does it for 20-30 minutes at a time.
He is our very VERY silly little boy and we love him for that.

Church Clothes

2011-04-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

Why are white shirts and ties for little boys so expensive? They never go on sale either. I love how Isaac looks all dressed up for church but I definitely cannot afford paying $17 on a white shirt for someone who is going to out grow it is 3 months. Ties last a little longer but are still at least $10 a piece. If you can find them cheaper somewhere please let me know.

Anyway, I saw some cute little boy ties for sale on esty but those were $15 plus shipping. So I thought to myself, "If someone else can make little boy ties so can I." So I got to work. I started first with an old tie of Glenn's and just made it smaller. It worked, but I saw some mistakes so I made another. I saw a few more mistakes so I made another and have finally settled on an awesome pattern and design for my "Little Man Tie." I love them and could not be happier.

I also made a couple bow ties a while ago but the pattern I used was too big for Isaac so little man bow ties are going to have to wait! The tie on the right was my first. I am happy with it but like the last one (blue argyle) I made much better.

After making the tie I needed a shirt. I found a button up shirt pattern on sale for a dollar so I snagged that and made my first "Little Man" white, collard church shirt. The best part about this shirt is that I used one of Glenn's old shirts that we were going to give away anyway. Which made the shirt FREE!!! After I was done with Glenn's shirt it looked like this:Completely cut up. I even reused the buttons. I didn't have to buy a thing! The pattern was near impossible to understand but I worked it out and am only slightly disappointed with the way it turned out. He, however looks adorable!

You can't see the tiny little pocket (which is my favorite part) but it's there!

So after all was said and done, I spent:
1st tie- $0.97 (Glenn's old tie + bow tie clasp)
2nd tie- $0 (I already had the fabric and haven't yet put a clasp on it)
3rd tie- $4.16 (I even made 2 ties out of it and gave the other away so I bought 2 clasps)
White shirt- $1 for the pattern

total cost for 3 ties and a shirt- $6.13

AWESOME!!!

Ear tubes

2011-04-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

Isaac has been our sick child so far. I have been grateful that all of his sicknesses have not been life threatening or lasted very long, but it has been hard to see him sick. His sickness has mainly consisted of ear infections, but there have been a few colds and stomach bugs thrown in there as well.

Because of all the ear infections we were sent to a ear, nose, and throat surgeon to talk about ear tubes. We discussed it and decided that ear tubes would help him. So we set a date and waited. During the 2 weeks he started getting sick again. While he was getting sick Olivia was getting sick too. She kept complaining about her cheek hurting, which I thought was weird but figured she had fallen on her face or something and it would go away (I know I am a horrible mother). She hadn't been sick all winter so I just expected it was her time. I schedueld an appointment for Isaac and was told he had yet another ear infection and bronchitis. BUMMER! While we were there I asked their doctor about Olivia. So he looked at her and she had, not one, but TWO ear infections! She has never had an ear infection before. They took her wieght and temperature so they could give her an antibiotic, and her temperature was 103.8! SERIOUSLY! I couldn't believe it. I was so close to tears. I felt awful! She was so sick and I didn't even believe her.
Anyway, 6 days later we walked into the surgical center with Isaac ready to get this whole ear infection mess over with. We sat in the waiting room for a while, where he flirted with a little girl his age. When we got called back he let the nurses look at him, take his temperature and blood pressure, and everything else they needed to do without any fight. His favorite part was getting a toy for it all. Here he is right before his surgery having the greatest time!

He was so sweet. everyone loved him. We waited for a while in a little pre-op area. The Doctor and anesthesiologist both came to talk to us and calmed my nerves a little bit more about everything that was about to happen. They were going to take him in (without us) then put a little mask on him. The gas, which supposedly smells like bubble gum, would make him quickly fall asleep.

When it was our turn we handed our sweet baby over to a nurse and watched him being carried away into the OR. We waited about 15 minutes, then the surgeon came to talk to us. Even though he was on antibiotics, Isaac had an ear infection. The surgeon cleaned out his ear only to find a nice big glob of nasty snot behind his ear drum. SICK! I don't even know how he could hear. The surgeon gave us antibiotic ear drops for his ear to make sure all that went away.

The nurse came to get us and bring us back to Isaac in recovery. As soon as we walked into the recovery area we could hear him crying. It was so sad to see him on the bed rolling around and crying because he was so disoriented. We had a bottle ready for him and soon got him drinking. He wouldn't open his eyes yet so I was still worried about him. He was sad and disoriented the whole time we were there. He didn't want me, (sad) he only wanted his daddy. We could tell he was slowly coming out of it. We were only in recovery for 40 minutes and as soon as we got him in the car he fell asleep.

He slept for the next 2 hours. When he woke up it was like nothing happend. He was as happy as could be. He slept 13 hours straight that night. IT WAS HEAVEN! He has also started talking. He says "Mommy," "Daddy," and "all done." He wasn't doing that before the tubes. He is walking much better and I can tell his balance isn't thrown off. The best part was that his appetite is back with a vengeance. He has never been a great eater, and I have always been worried about that. I now know that it was because of his ears. He eats EVERYTHING! He is constantly eating all the time. I can not believe how much these tubes have helped him.

St. Patricks Day

2011-04-04T07:16:00.001-07:00

We had a great St. Patrick's day (a month ago). It started with the leprechaun visiting our house. He left foot prints and shamrocks everywhere he went.

Olivia's favorite part is the treasure the leprechaun left.

and what else would he leave but gold coins and green jelly beans

For breakfast we had green eggs, green pancakes, green milk and of course some of the treasure that we found!

Later that day we went to Palo Duro Canyon with some of our great friends the Bradshaw's. We went for a short 2 mile round trip hike. The kids walk almost the entire way.

It was fun to go for a great nature walk and let the kids play with things along the way.

Isaac had a great time hanging out in a sling the whole way

I didn't get a picture of the other two kids that were there but they all had a great time.

And after the fun day in the dirt the kids took a bath . . .

They left not 1, not 2, but 3 rings of dirt in the tub. This was the best picture I could get but I think you get the idea :)

Summer Wardrobe

2011-03-31T07:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I went to a big sale at Joann's one day armed with a ridiculous amount a coupons determined to get a good deal on some fabric so that I could make Olivia some cute summer play cloths. Let me tell you, I made out like a bandit at Joann's. Seriously! I bought a ton of fabric to make cloths, reeving blanket (for the large amount of friends having babies) some shorts and capri's for me, and a few other things. The total amount saved on my receipt was $75! I was so excited! Olivia is such a girly girl and loves cute things to wear. but cute things at the store are always way to expensive. So this year I thought I could make her most of her summer wardrobe. So with out further ado, here are Olivia's new summer cloths!

This one is my favorite but she wasn't much in the mood to take pictures. I made both the shorts and the shirt and I LOVE THEM!

This one was the hardest to make for some reason. Glenn picked out the fabric and I did make matching green shorts for the shirt, but she looked like I weird girl scout or something, so I tossed the shorts (don't worry that fabric only cost me 75 cents).

This next one might look familiar to some people.

I have made this dress for Olivia for 3 summers now. I love it so much, and they still make the fabric. I just can't get over how cute it is every time I see it. Glenn however is getting sick of it and has officially told me that this is the last year I can make it. "Branch out! Make something new!" he says.

This next one was Olivia's favorite.

You can tell it was by how well she modeled it. She wore this dress for 3 days straight. She wouldn't take it off. I loved it to and it was so easy to make so I made another one. . . Which I unfortunately didn't like as much for some reason. But that was OK, since this fabric was free. I only had to by ribbon so I wasn't to put out since the dress cost me a total of $2. 97. But Olivia liked it which is all that mattered.

I have made a dress out of the top fabric before but I liked it so much I made this shirt and capris outfit. I had to adjust the pattern a bit because the pants were abnormally wide, but it turned out well in the end.This one I made a while ago but never posted a picture, so I thought I would now.

This next one is a skirt I made for me. It turned out so cute I had to post a picture.

It has an abnormal amount of pletes in it (which I hate doing because they take forever) but they look so cute. I added the ribbon just for something extra. I saw this ribbon detailing on a skirt someone was wearing at church once and thought that it couldn't be very hard to do. I was right! Supper easy, time consuming, but very VERY cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!

2011-03-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a year already since Isaac was born! I am always amazed while I am pregnant how fast a baby is formed in 9 months. It is truly miraculous. However, I am just as amazed at how much they grow in the first year. He has gone from this:

To this:In just on short year. So here are some stats on our little boy:
he weighs about 20lbs (very near it at least);
he is 28in tall;
He can say momma and dadda;
points to things he wants;
and loves to throw things;
he has 8 very, VERY sharp teeth;
He is a monkey
He can whistleHe LOVES hatsHe is now walkingSorry for that horrible picture. I have video but I don't like loading it through blogger so I will get them up in another post. He started last Tuesday and took 9 steps. The next day he took 13, and has continued mastering this latest skill.

He got his first hair cut. This is the best picture I could find to show how crazy his hair was before (he is eating his first pickle)

I had been considering doing it for several days and one day after his bath I just decided to do it. How hard could it be, right? I need to perfect little boy haircuts now, so I may as well start.

It was long on top, around the ears, and on the neck.

It may have been long but it was so cute. This picture doesn't show how long around his ears it actually was, because it got curly when it got long.
I was nervous, and some of it is a little crooked, but you can't tell. I was very happy with how it turned out.

After sitting for so long it was hard to get him to stand still so these pictures were the best I could get.
I was surprised in the end how much hair I actually cut off.

As for other stats . . . well he is just really cute :)

For his birthday we had a few friends over and our friend Laci made him 2 birthday cakes.

She has been in a baking mood lately so I gladly relinquished this task to her.

He loves his adopted Aunt Lindsay

Laci's cakes were awesome!

The presents were awesome!

He had two days of opening presents and I must say his favorite ones were all of the balls he got. He got a football from his girlfriend Bella,
a hat from Aunt Lindsay,

and 10 more balls from Aunt Maria and Uncle Isaac.
These he was so excited about. After opening them he didn't want to play with anything else!

A hammer and pegs from Mommy, Daddy, and Olivia

Sunglasses from Aunt Lacey and Uncle William

He also got clothes (which were my favorite presents) and other toys as well. It is hard to take pictures of a one-year-old opening presents. They just don't really understand what is going on.

Anyway, he had a wonderful birthday. Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to think of him and give him something on his birthday! Here is to another year!!!

Pillows!! Pillows!! Pillows!!

2011-03-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Right after Olivia was born we bought our couch from IKEA. I love this couch and I love IKEA. I think the best part about our couch is that I can constantly change the color of the cushions. I think they have been at least 3 if not 4 different colors. Right after we bought the couch I made 4 pillows... and we have had those pillows for almost 4 years and I was sick of them. So I made new pillows! YEAH!!!

I first got the idea when I was shopping with my mother and sister-in-laws at KOHLS. While we were walking through I saw this pillow by Vera Wang:Isn't it cute? Yeah it was cute until I saw the price tag 59 dollars!!!! Seriously? I mean I know it has Vera Wang's name on it but $59. Who would pay that much? So I copied it... While I was at JoAnn fabrics I feel in love with this floral fabric. I usually don't like florals either. So I copied the Vera Wang pillow and I LOVE IT!!

So after copying that pillow I decided to look through the Pottery Barn catalog and found a couple more pillows that I loved.So cute but $39 a piece PLUS SHIPPING! So I made my own.

These are the only 2 that are the same because I loved the look so muchI love the way this pillow turned out. I made it from an old sweater that didn't fit anymore. So the best part was that it was free. If and when I do my another sweater pillow I would do it a little differently but I love the way it turned out.I feel like i should have put 2 more smaller flowers on it as well, maybe I will later but for now I like the way it looks.This next pillow is one of my favorites. I didn't copy this pillow from anyone in particular, but I suppose it stemmed from the Vera Wang pillow.And here is a close up of the flowers (because I seriously love how they turned out).Now, for my best deal ever!!! I copied THIS pillow

Cute right? Well I provided the link to the designers site so that I could prove I wasn't lying.

$230

NO JOKE!
Can you even imagine paying that much for a throw pillow?
So here is my copyI made the circles a little bigger (mainly because Glenn was a skeptic in the first place and thought it didn't need as much texture)

The best part about all of these pillows is that the covers are all removable because I put zippers in them!

Here they are all together:

I really love how they all turned out. The best part... I SPENT $20! YEAH twenty dollars. If I had bought them all at regular price I would have paid approximately $400 plus shipping!!! so I saved $380! Quite a steal! I think I am never going to buy pillows again!

Olivia The Talk Show Host

2011-03-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Olivia has been so funny lately, but the other morning she started doing something I have never seen her do before. I don't even know where she got it! This morning she was OLIVIA the talk show host.
Glenn made her some tea so she wanted a chair to sit in. She then got her shoes on sat down and started talking. She first proceeded to tell us what a habitat was: "The deer lives in the forest and the fish lives in the water! It is the place where animals live." Then she decided to tell us what symbiosis was: "It is when two animals need each other, mommy!" After she told us about several things she then said,

"So, are there any questions?"

Seriously, she would tell us about things, ask if we had any questions and would then answer them. I tried to get it on video but I am kind of far away so she is a little quiet. I have transcribed the conversation below so you can understand everything. This was about 10 minutes into the "talk show" so we had already covered some things.

Me: What is symbiosis

O: symbiosis is… uh… how ‘bout let's talk about Jesus

M: okay lets talk about Jesus

O: Jesus makes everything. Jesus makes everything like the moon!

Me: He created the moon?

O: Yeah. And then they didn’t do anything, but then because it was night.

Me: Did Jesus create the day and the night

O: yeah the day and the night or something

G: what is a Habitat?

O: a habitat is ah… the deer live in the forest and the fish live in the water.

Me: so a habitat is where animals live?

O: Yes

Me: You're very smart teacher

O: thanks

Glenn's Birthday

2011-02-22T17:48:00.001-08:00

Glenn's birthday was last month and he had a great day. In the morning we started telling him "Happy Birthday," which of course led to Olivia telling him "Happy Birthday" about every 90 seconds. She was so excited for his birthday. I think she is finally understanding the whole birthday concept. Well, right before Glenn headed off to school I whispered to Olivia, "Go ask daddy what kind of cake he wants for his birthday." By asking her this I was hoping he would tell her the obvious: chocolate, vanilla, lemon, etc. Well, instead of asking, "Daddy, what kind of cake do you want?" She said, "Daddy, do you want a Batman cake?!" This made both Glenn and me burst out laughing. Where she came up with the Batman cake is beyond me. So Glenn left for school and Olivia and I made Glenn his cake.
So Glenn got his Batman cake because, let's face it, every boy of 2, 9 or 29 wants a Batman cake, right? The disappointing thing with his birthday pictures is, there is no picture of him . . . I know I am a horrible wife. I do however have a picture of Isaac eating the Batman cake.While I was in Utah my mom bought Glenn's present and we brought it home with us. Olivia was with me and my mom when we bought the gift and I learned a valuable lesson. Olivia is now old enough to know what things are, and she will say what I got. The very next day after we got the gift she told Glenn what he was getting for his birthday. Both my mom and I were so shocked we just started laughing. So for his birthday Glenn got soft boiled egg cups, spoons and a topper. Soft boiled eggs are one off Glenn's favorite things to eat, so my mom was nice enough to get him cups and spoons. . . and he and Olivia LOVE them!
About a week after Glenn's birthday we were able to go to New Mexico for a long weekend. The main purpose in this trip was so Glenn could go hunting with his Dad and sister.

WARNING

If you do not agree with hunting animals please do not look at these next pictures. Glenn doesn't just hunt for the pure enjoyment of it, we eat all of the meat. And believe me we enjoy every little piece of it :)!

Every year Rich has taken Leah to a huge cattle ranch to hunt Barbary Sheep. Glenn has gone once or twice before but never had a tag of his own. This year however, he was able to shoot one.

Glenn with his sheep (which is delicious)

(From left to right) Rich, Leah, their guide, Glenn

Leah with her sheep

Rich with his sheep

Cleaning the skins (I don't think I will ever go hunting. . . it is to messy)

So enough with the trophy pictures. While we were there we were able to celebrate both Rich and Glenn's birthdays. So we made another cake but this cake was more for Rich. About a year or two ago Rich and I made a deal. If he read Pride and Prejudice I would read Lord of the Rings. I kind of feel like I got the raw end of the deal since I have about 2000 more pages to read, but a deal is a deal. Well he read it . . . and did not understand what the big deal was. So in honor of that Megan and I made him this birthday cake:

It was delicious. It was a great birthday and trip.

Utah

2011-02-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

A few months back my mom and I found this amazing deal on tickets from Lubbock to Salt Lake. So I bought them for January and looked forward to my trip to Utah to see my family. Unfortunately, Glenn was could not come because of school, so I made the trek with 2 kids all by myself. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Olivia had a little break down when she realized that Glenn wasn't coming with us, but that soon passed. So Isaac had his first plane ride (at 10 months old).

We were lucky that none of the 4 planes we flew on were full, so we had a whole row all to ourselves. Isaac had the most fun with the people behind us or across the isle. He is such a happy baby and loves smiling at everyone.

After we got to Utah we went to a museum with my mom. Olivia loved it.She asked about every animal we saw (and there were hundreds), but her absolute favorite were the "tiny baby deer." She didn't want her picture taken at all except this one. She thought they were so cute.Isaac, however, was only happy if we were moving. He still wasn't feeling 100%.

It didn't snow while we were there, but there was snow on the ground. So Olivia got to go play once. All of her cousins were gone, so she really didn't have anyone to play with. So she didn't last long.This pink snowsuit was mine when I was her age. It was fun to see her in it, but she did not like it one bit. She said it was "to funny." I am not sure what that meant, but she didn't like it.

We had so much fun with everyone, but I think the best part of the trip had to do with my little sister Cherie. Cherie and I have always gotten along and had fun talking together. We stayed up late a few nights just talking about life. But the most exciting thing in her life right now is that she is engaged.

His name is Mark and they look so cute together, don't you think? I have not had the opportunity to meet him yet, but I know he is a great guy because Cherie chose him. I am so excited for them to start their life together. They are going to be married in the Draper temple, but he is in the military. So they don't have a firm date set yet. Anyway, while I was there I got to go wedding dress shopping with her and all but one of my sisters.
It was so much fun, but we definitely missed Tiffany. Olivia had so much fun. She loved all of Cherie's "princess" dresses. I wasn't going to post any pictures of her in the wedding dresses, but since she already did on her blog I decided I would too. So our first stop was David's Bridal. Cherie was really getting an idea of what KIND of dress she wanted so my mom can make it.
Olivia just loved standing on the podiums in front of the mirrors trying on "pretend" princess dresses. Half the time she wasn't even paying attention to Cherie, she was just looking at herself in the wall-to-wall mirrors.

Our second stop was Alyssa's Bridal. They specialize in modest wedding dresses. However, most of the dresses were (I hate to admit) really weird or ugly, and we had more fun making fun of the dresses that choosing one. My cousins Dana and Kim came with us that time and my dad stopped by for a little bit.

Cherie looks so pretty in all of the wedding dresses. I know she is going to be a beautiful bride.

You can't have a Giboney get-together with out throwing together a quick quilt and tying it while watching chick flicks.

All in all, it was a great trip. We were all ready to go home and see Glenn. I was so happy to be able to see my family and especially to go shopping with Cherie. I know that I probably won't see any of them again until her wedding. We can't wait for Mark to be our brother-in-law.

When did we grow up?

2011-02-16T06:31:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago Glenn came over to my apartment (a little too early for some of my roommates) and gave me a card. It was a simple card with two cats lying together on the front, and inside was written "I love doing nothing with you." Below that he wrote "I love you." I still have that card. It was the first time he had ever said it to me. I suppose that we both knew we loved each other (I knew it at least), but we had never said it out loud until that day. We had arranged earlier to drive down to Idaho Falls together so Glenn could find a job. He found one at Dillard's and when we were driving home he was abnormally quiet. I asked him what was on his mind. He turned to me (as much as you can turn when you are driving) and said, "I think it is logical that we should either break up or get married. What do you think?" I, of course, started crying and told him that I too thought it was "logical." After talking about it he asked me to marry him and I said "Yes." And then we continued driving. He is still as "magical" with words today as he was seven years ago.

So when did we grow up? How do we have 2 kids? When did time start going by so fast? When did we become old enough to be almost done with Law school? Sometimes I wonder how I fell asleep, woke up, and it was today, 7 years later. When we were engaged I prayed for time to go by faster so I could be married. Now I wish that time had gone by slower and I had enjoyed it more. I love every minute of life now, but I still don't feel old enough, or smart enough, for life. So here's to a day when life was simple. When there was just the 2 of us (well 4 of us really :) ) and we had nothing else to worry about.I couldn't ask for a better husband, and to be honest I couldn't ask for a better brother and sister that we have shared a lot of life with.

(I just realized I could have saved this until our actual anniversary, but this is just as important to me, and I remind Glenn of it every year.)

Princess Olivia

2011-02-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Olivia is our little princess and always has been. She constantly reminds everyone that she is a princess and is always dressed like one. She is 3 1/2 now and I can't believe it. She has grown up so fast and sometimes I can't believe how grown up she is. She uses bigger words than I do on a daily basis including (but not limited to):

Hypothesis
Symbiosis
Condensation
Collection

She speaks better English than I do. She correctly uses her pronouns and verbs. She correctly constructs sentences and can now write her name all by herself (if my scanner was working I would post it but it's not). I am so proud of her and only occasionally take credit for all she is learning but I can't take credit for all of it.

One of Olivia's favorite things to do right now is to play games. We spend at least an hour every day playing the same games over, and over, and over. Games like Candy land, Chutes and Ladders, memory, puzzles, and her favorite . . .

I am sure this is not a surprise to anyone that her favorite game has the word princess in it. She could play this game forever. She can't just play with me either, no Glenn has to get involved in being a princess. However because he is involved he had to teach her the correct name for the colors. For those of you who are not familiar with the game pretty pretty princess there are 4 colors you can choose from. Pink, green, blue, and purple. So, because of Glenn, when we ask her what color she wants to be she says topaz, emerald, sapphire, and Amethyst. I suppose that's what you get being raised by a man who was raised by a geologist. Also when we play she can't just wear what she is wearing, oh no, she must be dressed like a princess to be a princess.and of course there isn't just pictures of Olivia as a princess there is one of me . . .and of course one of Glenn!And this is a picture of Glenn when I told him I was going to post them on our blog . . .

Olivia is the best sleeper ever. I have never seen a child sleep through what she sleeps through. I love that she can sleep so well, but sometimes she gets herself into some pretty funny positions.

Sometimes I look at her and just don't know how she got so big. I remember holding her when she was so tiny and now she knows how to correctly use the word hypothesis . . . I know I didn't know what that word was until I was in 6th grade. Okay maybe a little earlier that that but that is the earliest I can remember.
She is such a silly girl especially when it comes to posing in pictures. You can't see her "beautiful" pose very well in this picture but she loves to be in any pictures when she feels like she looks beautiful.

I am so lucky to have 2 wonderful kids.
These next to videos are of her being silly. The first one is of her singing. She is really into Disney songs lately and this is one of her favorites to sing.

The second one was Glenn's doing. You can blame him if you think it was mean, but she laughed and still asks him to do it again.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2011-02-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day. A very happy day in our house. I don't know why but Olivia is very VERY excited for this day. I suppose it is because we took time to make Valentine's for some of her favorite people (I couldn't put them in the mail until today so they will be late). Aunt's and Uncle's beware!!!! The best part about making these Valentine's with her was that she can officially write her own name without help. Glenn and I were so excited for her when she wrote it the first time. She does really really well until she gets to the "A." Her A's are usually upside-down and occasionally illegible but she thinks it is awesome! Every 30 seconds this morning she would come running up to us, give us a hug and a kiss and tell us "Happy Valentine's Day mommy (or daddy), I love you." She is so cute.

I was kind of excited for Valentine's Day this year too. Glenn and I have never done anything huge of this particular holiday. We get each other a card, we have a mutual understanding that I will get flowers on the 15th because they are 50% off and I cook a fancy dinner. Even before we had kids we avoided going "out" on Valentine's Day. It is so crowded and not very personal. However, because Olivia is growing up I decided to prepare and decorate for today. So here are my decoration creations:

My Fabulous Felt Pillows

This one is not my favorite and Glenn hates it . . .

It is supposed to be a heart but you can't really see the actual heart.

This one is okay but is a filler pillow (I felt like I needed an odd number).

And this is my favorite. It wouldn't matter whether or not Glenn liked it
(which he does or at least says he does) because I think it is wonderful!

One of the best things about these pillows is . . .I MADE THEM WITH ZIPPERS!
Now I have decided that I need holiday pillows for every holiday and I can just use the same pillow forms and only a minimum amount of storage space!
Isn't that fantastic!!!! Well I think so at least.
Last but not least was the bane of my existence for about 72 hours.I saw this on a blog and loved it. I decided it couldn't be to hard so I went to it one Saturday. Do not be fooled by its appearance or simple instructions. THIS THING TAKES FOREVER! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE IT but I will never make one again. It took way too long.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's day full of love!

Oh Isaac . . .

2011-02-13T05:39:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I blogged I feel ashamed (no, seriously). So much has happened I don't even know where to start. So I guess the best place is to start with Isaac. I am hoping this will be the first of a few posts. I figured I just needed to prime the pump and the creative juices will start flowing!!!!

So here we go. I knew that all of my children would be different, everyone is different, right? Well, I just didn't know they would be so different right from the start. Having Isaac has definitely strengthened my knowledge of a pre-mortal life. Our children mine and Glenn's flesh and blood but they are their own little person and have been since way before they were born. Isaac is not the best sleeper . . . never has been really. He only gets up once a night (which I suppose I should be thankful for) and he does sleep for 11 hours but many nights it is a rough 11 hours for him. He is such a happy baby even though he has been sick a lot. One thing that has been the same with both him and Olivia is that they both love to snuggle with us. He loves to be held and hugged.

Last time we went to the doctor he was 16 1/2 lbs which brings me to his latest health problem. Isaac has always had ear infections, at least one every month since he was 3 months old. It is sad and I think it is one of the reasons why he doesn't sleep that well. He has been on more antibiotics then I even knew existed, which always leads to . . . bowel problems, which have twice put him into the hospital. We have talked to the doctor about several different options and he has been tested for lots of different things to try and solve this problem. We have just been referred to an Otorhinolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor) and we will see him soon.

So on top of him having chronic ear infections, in January he got some sort of stomach bug that really finished him off health wise and put him in the hospital for the second time. I think part of the reason he got so dehydrated was because he was on antibiotics that just enhanced the problem. The worst part of that particular hospital visit was the fact that we (Olivia, Isaac and I) had tickets to fly to Utah the next day (about 18 hours after we got to the ER). Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) there is not much of an ER story. We got there, the waiting room was packed but we got right in because he was dehydrated and lethargic so we got moved to the top of the list. We got right in and they started an IV with fluids and an antibiotic so he could stop taking the other one which would help with the dehydration.

So pathetic, right?

While we were there Isaac was lucky enough to get a chest x-ray. Now I don't know how many people have witnessed an infant receiving a chest x-ray, but it is the saddest thing you will ever witness, especially when it is your own child. The device they use looks like a cruel torture device and it made me cry the entire time. We didn't get a picture of Isaac inside the tube of torture but this is what it looks like:

Sad right? So we were in the ER for too long, but were able to get home in time to get everything ready to go to Utah. We talked to the doctor and he gave us the OK to go. So Isaac had his first plane ride, but there will be another post about my Utah trip later. So because of all the ear infections and being sick he hasn't been able to gain weight very well and is on a very fatty diet which he doesn't like.Anyway, back to him being one of a kind. Isaac is into everything which I was not used to. I suppose this comes with the territory of being a boy, but seriously, he doesn't play with toys. Isaac plays with everything he is not supposed to. When Olivia was his age we would tell her "hands off," swat her hand, and she would never touch it again. She still to this day listens when we tell her "hands off." Isaac on the other hand does not. We tell him "hands off," swat his hand, and he laughs at us. (I suppose this is Glenn's fault since he used to laugh at his mother when he was being punished.) He is currently obsessed with the fireplace and everything in it. I am not sure what to do, but I definitely cannot use the same discipline techniques that I used on Olivia. I am going to have to come up with a whole new game plan.

We are so blessed to have him in our lives. Olivia is such a good big sister to him and loves him a lot (a little too much sometimes). We love him so much and hope he gets better soon.

Oh Bridget, My Bridgett

2010-12-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

This last week has been a most enjoyable one. Besides spending time with family I have gotten to start my first project on my beautiful sewing machine. So before I show off my project let me introduce you to the newest member of my family...

This is Bridgette. She is sleek, beautiful, full of stitches and came with 9 (yes 9) different feet. I had no idea where to start!

The first step was to get to know her better. I read much of her manual and look over each of her different feet. So the challenge was to find a project to break her in. So I looked over my craft blogs and searched the Internet for a project amazing enough for her maiden voyage. I finally settled on This. Rag fabric letters. They are so cute! I got to use so many different stitches and the fabric was free(can it get any better than that). Here is a close up of three of the letters:

I think the best part was how excited Olivia was to play with them.

Isaac loved them too. Really he just liked to chew on them.

Oh Bridgette, My Bridgette, what shall we do next?

Baby Isaac

2010-12-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Isaac has been very busy this Holiday season. He is of course into EVERYTHING! He never wants to play with toys, all he wants is anything he is not suppose to be getting into. Julie says he is just like Glenn (which most of you know was my worst fear when I found out I was having a boy). He is very cute though, he smiles and flirts with everyone he sees. He officially has 2 teeth. He has been working on those for a while now and is working on two more. He has been like Olivia in that aspect. Four teeth at a time makes for miserable nights. He is a super fast crawler. He has graduated from army crawl to a real hands and knees crawl. This of course makes him faster. He pulls himself up on everything. if he is not crawling he is standing. This of course brings me to announcing his newest trick...

That's right!!!! With the help of a Christmas present he is walking too! He sees the camera in this video so he isn't walking as fast as he usually does. I can't believe he is growing up so fast. I was scared that when we got back home he would be walking (I know this was Lindsay's fear as well). He isn't walking by himself yet, but with lots of practice with the walker I am sure walking without it will soon follow. He is 2 months ahead of Olivia. She started walking at 10 1/2 months and was really walking by herself at 11. He has started walking with help at nine months....

I am not ready for this!!!!

He is growing up to fast :(

Christmas Time

2010-12-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

We have had such a good time here in New Mexico. Our festivities started with the building of Olivia's first Gingerbread house. I must say that I was spent more time frustrated with the gingerbread house than anything, but Olivia loved every second of it.

For Christmas Eve dinner we did the traditional tamales. This year however we (meaning just about everyone but me) made them from scratch. We had a great assembly line and everything. The tamales are delicious. They were definitely worth the time spent making them.
Olivia was so cute this year. She really loved talking about Santa and learning all about how he brings her presents. She was very excited to leave Santa cookies and Rudolph a carrot.
I had to take one last picture before they went to sleep on Christmas Eve. Olivia was so excited, it took her a while to actually get to sleep.

AND NOW FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!!
Olivia was so excited to see what Santa brought for her

Isaac was very interested in everything going on, but really he loved all the bows and wrapping paper.

This next picture is of Megan trying on her gift from Maria.... Very Sexy don't you think?

One of Olivia's favorite presents was her Belle doll from Grandma and Papa

this is how she spent the rest of Christmas morning

The dogs

Olivia helping make cookies

A walk with papa... she looks way to big for that stroller

This is actually Christmas Eve. We didn't have enough children for a live nativity so Glenn read and Olivia used pieces from a nativity to act it out.

This is the only picture of all of us together

Rich on Christmas morning

Isaac and Maria's big Christmas present from William and Lacey

One of the funniest presents this Christmas (a classic Isaac quote)

Aside from spending Christmas with some of my favorite people, the best part of my Christmas was my gift from Glenn, Rich and Julie. A NEW SEWING MACHINE! I can't wait to use it. I started crying as soon as I opened it. Some of you may know that Charlotte (my old off brand sewing machine) died a little while ago. It was a sad day in the Hasler home. I thought I was going to have to wait until Glenn graduated to get a new one. But to my everlasting joy, Bridgette the Brother has joined the family.

This is what Isaac spent Christmas morning doing

Grandpa opening his presents

We had such a fantastic Christmas Morning. I hope everyone else did to!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Just an Update

2010-12-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I am entering into my first drawing to try and win something.... isn't this exciting? Well it is for me. So I am trying to win this cute quilted mug coaster (start small right?). I had to blog about it to enter the drawing.

On a more personal note, we are so excited for Christmas! Glenn has two finals left and then we get to head up to New Mexico and spend Christmas with Glenn's family. I will miss my family a lot. I am the most sad that I can't watch Angela open her presents, because lets face it, they are going to be the best Christmas presents of all time!

I have been meaning to post pictures of Isaac and sat down to do it, but now I can't find the pictures. So I will just give you a little update on him. He is crawling on his hands and knees now and moves faster than Olivia ever did crawling. He also pulls himself up on everything. He can stand and walk himself up and down the couch. Yesterday, while I was on the phone with my father-in-law he opened our bottom drawer, pulled everything out of it, and then climbed in... I am not ready for this. My worst nightmare is that he is walking by the time we get back from New Mexico.

While we were in Fort Worth for Thanksgiving my wonderful sister-in-law took our family picture (I know we just got a family picture but this one was for our Christmas cards). This is what we came out with.I am very happy with it. My sister-in-law has a web site here if you want to see more of her fabulous work.

So since I can't find more pictures, I will have to post them later!

Advent Calendar

2010-12-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

I am starting Christmas posts early this year. This year we had my Brother and Sister-in-law. I was excited but had no idea what to do for them. My only goal was to be done by Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law mentioned that she wanted an advent calendar so I went to work finding one that was spectacular enough for their family. While looking my friend Ashley directed me to this beautiful Pottery Barn Telluride Advent Calendar and well... I fell in LOVE!!!

I let them open it over Thanksgiving so they could use it all Christmas season. This calendar is no longer available but it was $70, which is way to expensive. My friend also directed me to this blog. She decided to copy the calendar as well so I pulled some of my inspiration from her. So, this will be my first tutorial blog. That's right, I am so excited. I am not sure how well this tutorial will be but I hope it inspires someone. It is definitely to late this Christmas, but keep it in mind for next Christmas. So here we go.

This calendar was done completely out of felt and embroidery floss. I don't think the calendar cost more than $10 so it is cheep but takes a lot of time and energy to finish. So go and buy a lot of different colors of floss and felt. Part of what makes this advent calendar so great is all of the colors. Your next step is to take a small pair of scissors and begin cutting out each of yours squares. My squares were 4" x 3.5" and then I cut out all the small pieces. Be creative! Here are my squares before I started embroidering them.
I used 3 types of embroidery stitches that were all very easy. A back stitch, running stitch, and french knot. Each square took me about 45 minutes. Take your time and add detail, that's what makes it fun to look at. You may want some to just be colorful and easy to embroider to take a break from intricate small stitches. So here are my finished squares.

Poinsettia and Candy Cane

Presents and Stocking

Santa and Snowman

Penguin and a random square

Drum and Jesus in a manger

Santa's Sleigh and Mittens

Gingerbread man and Rudolph

Circles and Holly

Argyle and Partridge in a pear tree (okay, so it's not really a Partridge in a pear tree it is a Swedish Christmas bird but I thought the other description sounded better)

Fireplace and Irish Christmas knot (which I didn't like and didn't end up using)

French Horn and Wreath

Hot Chocolate and Christmas Tree

Ornament and Bell

All of them together

The next step is to protect your stitching and, in turn, all of your hard work. So buy some iron on fusible interfacing (light weight) and cut them the size of your finished squares

Now iron them on to the back of your squares. This protects all of your stitches and will help make it last longer.

Next I cut a Christmas tree out of wrapping paper (because that is the only paper I had that was that big). This was so I could get the Christmas tree just the way I wanted before cutting it out of felt. I bought 1 1/2 yrds (I think I really cant remember) of felt on the bolt and cut out 2 Christmas trees. I laid all the squares down and arranged them just the way I wanted and then embroidered the numbers on them. At first I wanted the numbers directly below the squares but I didn't have room for that. I then pinned the squares down... with 5 pins a piece. When you start stitching them down your don't want them to move.

Back stitched around 3 sides of each one to form a pocket. After doing this for all of them I embroidered the snowflakes on. After all of your finishing touches cut out your truck and pin that (right sides together) to your tree. Put the trees right sides together and use your machine to sew around the tree leaving and opening on the side that is about 12" long. Clip all of your points and turn your tree inside out. Stitch the opening closed and do a running stitch around your finished tree to hold in place. Now cut out your star. Sew around your cut out star but leave a 3" opening. Turn right side out and do a running stitch around the outside. Hand sew to the top of your tree.

VOILA

Now you have a beautiful felt hand made advent calendars that will become a family heirloom. You can but candy in each of the pockets or you can make a felt star to move to each of the days. I really hope Lacey and William liked it. I certainly did. I will be making one for our family next year (or this summer). I just don't have time this year.

So there you have it. My first EVER tutorial. I know I probably didn't explain some things very well so if you have any questions just leave a comment and I will answer it. However I maybe just flattering myself because it is possible that no one will follow this tutorial. ENJOY!

Oh Ben...

2010-11-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

We were very lucky this Thanksgiving to be able to go to Fort Worth Texas, where Glenn's twin brother's family lives. We have had lots of fun so far. It is really fun to see Olivia play with her cousins. I should get her out more often to play with kids her own age. Well, Ben is the oldest in his family and has one of the biggest personalities I have ever seen in a four-year-old. He is very smart, quite loud, and takes one heck of a picture...

I got one good picture out of 10! This is for you Grandma Julie and Papa Rich. We miss you!

Christmas Cards, oh, Christmas Cards

2010-11-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

I know it is Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving always get me excited for one thing...

CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!!

Christmas cards make my holiday special. The more I receive, the happier I am. I love hearing about how everyone is doing. I love to see how my friends' families are growing. I especially love to see all the many designs of Christmas cards. Shutterfly this year has so many designs, they are sure to have one that suits your taste.

They have Christmas photo cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Calendars:
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

And even baby shower invitations:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/baby-shower-invitations

This year they have a deal for all you bloggers out there. If you write a short essay on why you love Christmas cards, and put it on your blog, they will give you 50 cards free!!! I couldn’t pass up a deal like that (and a lot of free advertising for them). But let's admit it, shutterfly is awesome. So if you are special… maybe you will get one of mine. Now that I will have 50 to send out, I can lengthen my address list. So for all of your Christmas card needs you can go to Shutterfly.com to get the best Christmas cards. Don't forget to send me one, it will make me feel special.

Why I Love My Life

2010-11-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

I am new to this whole "youtube video on blogs" thing so I hope this works. Many of you have already seen the two of Isaac but they were too cute not to put on my blog. The last one is of Olivia. She loves to make up songs and sing and dance to them. This particular morning she was very hyper. This is why I love being a mom. All of the sleepless nights and frustration are worth it when this like this happen... ENJOY!

Is there anything better in life?

Halloween

2010-10-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we were in the fabric store and Olivia saw a pattern for Alice in Wonderland. Ever since then she has been so excited to be Alice for Halloween. We had a lot of fun this Halloween. The first of our celebrations (besides wearing the Alice costume at least 3 times a week) was a kids Halloween party at the local library. Olivia's costume was the only one ready (the others I saved for the day of the trunk-or-treat). So in these pictures Olivia is the only one in costume.

Olivia with 3 of her friends
I think this is such a cute picture of Olivia and IsaacOur little Alice in Wonderland

Now, I know everyone is in suspense waiting to find out what the rest of us were for Halloween. So without further ado...

TADA!!!!
We were all characters from Alice and Wonderland.
I made Glenn a mad hatter hat and bow tie (which he was somewhat embarrassed of).
For Isaac I took two pieces of felt and voila, a playing card.

For me, I just made a crown and wore red so that I could be the Queen of Hearts.

We got a box of clothes for Isaac from my little sister and there was a robe it it just his size. We thought it was so cute we just had to take a picture... I love his face in this picture.

On the side of our Halloween, we have two very good friends who are law students who asked me to make their costumes as well. I actually volunteered to make Taylor's vest, and after it was finished Lindsey asked me to make her dress. They are such a cute couple and we love them so much. Olivia especially loves them.

Taylor was Woody and Lindsay a Greek Goddess (we decided Aphrodite).

I was very happy with how both of them turned out (especially since I went pattern-less on both). We hope everyone else had a fantastic Halloween!

I Wish...

2010-10-29T05:30:00.001-07:00

Today I wish I could go to Houston. I never thought that I would wish for something like this, but I do. I wish I could go here:

International Quilt Festival/Houston
November 4-7, 2010

I wish I had a VIP pass for every day.

And I wish I could take this lady:
(sorry for the picture, I couldn't find a better one)

She is my favorite person to talk quilting with.
I think it would be a fun mother daughter 3-day date.

I wish my husband was already a lawyer and we could pay for everything.
She has done so much for me and I love her.

I have seen ads for this festival and every time I see them I think of her and I wish this.

If only wishes could come true...maybe someday.

But until then I will still call her to talk quilting with her. I could never wish for a better mother.

Isaac

2010-10-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

This is slow compared to what he does when he thinks you aren't looking!

Growing

2010-10-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

I have forgotten how fast your little babies grow up. Sometimes I can hardly believe how big Olivia is and how much she knows. Although I think sometimes that she grew up too fast, I don't think that I missed very much. I have thoroughly enjoyed every staged of her life and am so proud of the little girl that she is. I wish I could take credit for everything she knows, but I can't. The other day we were talking about baptism at the dinner table. Glenn and I were both surprised with how much she knew already. When I asked her, "Where did you learn about baptism, Olivia?" she replied, "Jesus told me." I didn't argue.

Isaac, however, is a different story. I don't know where these last 6 months went. He did start a lot of things earlier than Olivia:

Rolling over:
Olivia-4 months (but then never again until 7)
Isaac-3 months
Sitting up:
Olivia- 5 months
Isaac- 5 months
Crawled:
Olivia- 7 months
Isaac- 6 months

I feel like I missed so much more with him than I did with Olivia. He is such a happy baby and loves his sister Olivia so much. There is no one in the world who can make him laugh harder than Olivia can. She is starting to enjoy his company more, too. He isn't just a baby anymore to her. He is a friend. She tells him what to do and plays pretend with him, and he gives her his full attention in return and laughs at everything she does.
Sometimes I feel a little left out of his attention. Besides Olivia the only other thing he spends a lot of time with is Cleo.Isaac and Cleo are buddies. Cleo is very protective of both him and Olivia and lets both of them do just about anything to her. She does have her moments of hiding, but most of the time she is no more than 5 feet away from both of them (which really isn't saying much since my apartment isn't very big).

They like to play a little game called steal the bone. This game consists of Cleo getting her bone and sitting far away (but within eyesight) from Isaac. Isaac then laughs and starts his journey to get the bone.

It usually takes him a while. He is not the fastest crawler yet. And I would really call it more of a combat crawl or a scoot.

But eventually he makes it and tries to steal the bone away (gross, I know). Cleo won't let him have it for long. She just gets up, moves away, and the next round begins.

If Cleo doesn't have her bone, the next best thing is her collar. He hasn't yet (and I am not sure I will ever let him ) gotten her dog tags in his mouth.

They are best friends, and this makes Glenn very happy.

One of the biggest things I have noticed lately is Olivia's imagination. I can't believe some of the things that she has come up with. She has amazing amounts of invisible friends. The ones that have lasted the longest are as follows:

Berry- small green dragon. She found Berry in the Wal*Mart parking lot about a month ago. She disappears every now and again to save a princess but she always comes back, and when she does she has a special pillow in Olivia's bed just for her.

Chickens- Olivia has 8 chickens that are all on a leash. They follow her around wherever she goes, except when they go to the farm on vacation. They don't have names, they are just the chickens. She found these at the Law school.

Jade- the black (but sometimes purple) cat. She is not around nearly as often as Berry or the chickens, but she does occasionally make an appearance (usually when I am sitting down for lunch or a movie and I always end up sitting on her)

There is of course the occasional baby (they never have names) and puppy (who is always named Cleo). These videos are of Olivia's wild imagination and different pets. They were taken all the same night when she was really on a role.

I wonder sometimes if times just goes faster and faster with each child... and I am afraid that it does. I guess that just means I need to get rid of things are are taking up time and are not important. And that I need to take more pictures.

Project #3 (last one I for awhile I promise)

2010-10-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, in the pattern with the jacket was a hat which Glenn liked. And if Glenn likes it, it just gives me more of an excuse to make something else. So I got a light brown corduroy that matched the jacket and came up with this:

It looks a little more train engineer-ish in this picture than in person

The flower is a felt flower that I threw together because I thought it needed something a little more for the pictures. I put it on a pin though, so I can trade accents to match outfits!

I couldn't get her to wear both the hat and the jacket at the same time, sorry

Anyway, this is the last of my weekend projects. It is kind of sad actually. But I do have Halloween costumes to make!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait!

2010-10-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned that I was playing catch up this weekend on projects. So after the Halloween bags I finished 2 more projects. I only finished 3 this weekend but I am very pleased with the out come.
Project #2: A Pea coat for Olivia. Glenn wanted to see if I could make Olivia's coat this year. So we found a cute pattern (which he picked out) some cute fabric (which he picked out) and some buttons (which he picked out)... he takes credit for a lot of things. I however did all of the sewing.

It was harder than I thought it was going to be but I like how it turned out. The pattern wasn't the hardest part it was the instructions. Instructions for patterns are always difficult to read and understand but for some reason this one was incredibly confusing.
Front details:

Sleeve detail:

I had to bribe her with ice cream but she finally posed for me with the jacket on:

Project #3: I had some fabric left over form the jacket (seriously the pattern was really confusing!) So I decided to make a dress out of what was left. So project #3 was a little unexpected but it turned out very cute. I am sure she will never wear them together, and I will need to find a shirt to go underneath, but it is a cute fall play dress.

top detail (which I know you can't see very well)

So I made a serious dent in my to do project pile (which Glenn is grateful for). Now onto a few more!!!!

Trick-or-Treat bags

2010-10-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

I am lucky enough to get a quilting magazine monthly. I probably don't have to say it, but I LOVE these. They inspire me. They are mostly full of different quilts but they usually have one or two smaller projects that they call "One Day Projects." Well, when I got September's magazine there was a project for Halloween trick-or-treat bags. I fell in love with them (and so did Olivia)! So I started making them, but was side tracked by other things. However, this Saturday and Sunday are my catch up days. I have about 5 projects I would like to finish this weekend so that I can start NEW projects. This is the first project I finished. I can't wait until I have a room of my own for sewing projects but not having a room makes me keep up with my projects. So here are Olivia and Isaac's trick-or-treat bags:

Isaac's Monster bag

Olivia's cat bagThe inside of Olivia'sThe inside of Isaac's

Both bags together

Olivia is so proud of her bag, which she actually calls her purse.

Okay onto finishing project number 2!!!!
I am so excited to finish these and start my new projects!

Apple Orchard

2010-10-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

I know I have promised this post to many of you over a week ago. I am sorry. I have been such a procrastinator lately. I have been working on a few projects so I suppose you could blame it on that, or the fact that I have two kids and my life is busy, but really I had time I just didn't do it. I think I need to make a goal to stop this before it gets bad. I really just need to stop being lazy...

Well now that you have heard my pitty party I can get on to the blogging. Two weeks ago we went to the apple orchard right outside of Lubbock. We have heard about it a lot and really wanted to go so we picked a weekend and went. It was very wet and rained for the first 30 min we were there. But we waited it out and got lots of apples
Olivia loved pulling the bucket that we put the apples in, that is until we filled it with 11 lbs of apples and then it was to heavy!

Olivia is making a really funny face in this picture but we wanted to show off our rain boots! My dreams finally came true and Glenn bought me a pair of rain boots. It floods a lot here in Lubbock and I have wanted a pair for the last 2 years. So Glenn finally let me have my wish! For our last year in Lubbock I have the most beautiful zebra stripped rain boots!

She always posses when Glenn gets in the picture

Our little family... minus Isaac. He slept in the stroller the whole time!

Olivia with our bucket.

We had a blast at the orchard walking around and eating apples. When we got home we decided to make apple butter (which neither of us had ever had). We also decided to try our hand at canning. So after making some delicious apple butter, we canned 12 jars and you know what... IT WORKED!!! We are very excited to can something else now, we just don't know what.

Our New Decorations

2010-09-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Some of you may not know that Glenn is kind of particular about the decorations in our house. There is really no definition for what can or cannot be hung, but the rules are: "it can't look stupid." This really encompasses a lot of things in his mind, but it is kind of vague in mine. One thing that he is kind of weird about is our family picture. He has never liked it hung in the main family living area. I don't know why he is this way. He says it is because he doesn't want to show off his family or something... Well this summer I discovered that it is probably because his mom never did it.
Anyway, one day while watching project runway with one of my favorite friends who had a beautiful family picture in her living room, I decided that I really wanted the same thing. So I spilled Glenn's deep dark secret about never wanting a family picture for all the world to see. After laughing about it we decided (my friend and I) that since we both want two different things, and he had had it his way for 6 1/2 years, it was time for me to have it my way.
Well I came home and talked about it with Glenn and he was pretty set against it. But I kept telling him that he would like it as soon as I did it. So we had his dad take the family pictures (which you have all seen) and I got them printed. We discussed the size, he wanted an 8x10 which would have looked weird, and I wanted... well bigger. We settled on 11x13 with a 16x20 frame and this is what it looks like;

So I win. Not only because it looks so cute, but because he actually likes it. He might not admit it to Ashley (my project runway sista') but he would change a thing. However after we got the mantle arranged he decided he wanted the family picture with the dog displayed as well. So we also have this:Moral of the story: Ashley I love you and you were right

2010-09-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. She lived in an apartment of moderate size with her brother (Prince Isaac) her mommy (Queen Mommy) and her Dad (King Daddy). They had been away all summer at Grandma Julie's, and when they got back to their home in Texas their carpet in the king and queen's bedchamber was wet. They complained immediately to the evil apartment Manager. The Manager sent the maintenance crew over to check it out, but the maintenance crew said that nothing was wrong and that it would dry up. Two days longer, Queen Mommy complained again. Same answer. Two weeks after her initial complaint Queen mommy found the most powerful maintenance man. He came within the hour and had things all lined up to be fixed the next day. So started the worst week of the Royal family's life.

Tuesday: Maintenance man and leak detector man come (Cleo hated the leak detector and would not allow him near any of the royal family). The leak was found within the hour. It was under the bathroom sink.

After digging out the bottom of the sink (which was ruined anyway) they realized it was under the foundation... Bring on the Jackhammer!
After fixing this leak they found another leak underneath the Royal throne...
So they took that out and dug another hole underneath the toilet. After finishing those they had two beautiful holes in the bathroom.

However, after coming back from a lunch break they realized that there was another leak, this one in the royal closet. So the the queen had to empty out her closet into the princess and prince's closet. The queen was a little disgruntled but understood that everything needed to be fixed, so she willingly emptied it out. They dug under the foundation again and made huge mud piles while getting to the pipes.

Still, the queen was promised that the job would be completed by Wednesday evening. The plumbers left around 5pm, leaving all rooms as you see in the pictures above. The Royal family went to a birthday party at a friends house, and when they arrived back home they discovered that the apartment was flooding. There was yet another leak that no one knew about and it was slowly filling up the holes and the house. After putting the prince and princess to bed, the king and queen kept a close eye on the water. Even though they called the lower maintenance staff, nothing could be done until morning. They quickly picked up anything that could be ruined and slept on the living room floor for the night.

Wednesday: Plumbers come with Maintenance Man and wait for leak detection man. He found another leak under the bathtub this time. So begins hole number 4. The worst part about all of this is that it is the hot water that is leaking so the bathroom, closet, and bedroom are a hundred degrees with a hundred percent humidity.

The queen may look happy in this picture...but she is not. By this time it was the end of Wednesday, her mattress was on the prince and princess's bedroom floor, and her house was a disaster. Here is a video of prince Isaac and the jackhammer. This is before the house became so full of the king and queen's bedroom that there was barely room to walk.

Thursday: The queen has lost all patience by now. Her house is a mess, prince Isaac isn't feeling well, the queen isn't feeling well, and there are still at least 8 strange men walking in and out of her house at any given time. They, however, assure her that this will all be completed by Friday afternoon. The king has a full day Thursday, so the queen is left to fend for herself in the messiest house she has ever had to live in. Prince Isaac has to be taken to the doctor and is diagnosed with an ear infection. Thursday night they are lucky enough to go to a friends house for dinner so the growing pile of dishes doesn't have to get any bigger.

Friday: Things start to go back together. However they, still can't move anything back into the king and queen's bedroom. They are continually promised that the carpet cleaners will come and everything will be done by that evening. As they are heading out the door to go to another friend's house for dinner the carpet cleaners come and say that the carpets cannot be cleaned until Tuesday. After much discussion (and the queen being close to tears) the carpet man puts 5 fans in their bedroom and they all hope it will be dry enough to be cleaned on Saturday. Everyone goes to bed and gets a moderate nights sleep, except for the queen who can't breath out of her nose.

Saturday: The queen goes to the doctor, and then to the store. She gets back to the carpet cleaner cleaning the carpet... *sigh* All should be a little more normal by the end of the day. The carpet cleaners leave. A friend of the royal family, Princess Lindsey, comes and picks up Princess Olivia so the king and queen can get the house clean. By the end of Saturday the house is back to normal, the queen and the prince are feeling better, and all is right in the world.

I decided the only funny way to tell this horror story was in third person.
It is still too close to be even remotely funny.
Ask me next week and I might smile about it

Back in Lubbock

2010-08-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

After getting back to Texas we were invited to go swimming with our very dear friend Lindsey. We had lots of fun, especially Olivia. You can't see Isaac very well but he had lots of fun too and slept very well that night.Lindsey is one of our favorite people here in the big state of Texas and we love spending time with her. The best part though is that Olivia loves her. I think we will start calling her Aunt Lindsey.

Glenn has started school again, and Olivia, Isaac and I are trying to get back onto a good schedule. We love being home but I miss always having someone to talk to. I am making matching quilts for Olivia and Isaac's beds since they are sharing the same room now. The room was a little to girly for Isaac but I think that I have fixed that. I will post pictures of the new room soon.

As I said Olivia and Isaac are sharing a room now which has gone much better than I thought it would. Isaac sleeps from 8pm-3am and then from 3-7 and has yet to wake Olivia up. we did put a baby monitor in there so that we can here him before he really starts screaming and wakes her up. The biggest problem we have come across is nap times. Olivia doesn't like that she can't play with all of her toys just because Isaac is asleep. I also have not been able to get them to take a nap at the same time. So from 9-11 Isaac is asleep and from 11-12:30 Olivia is asleep. Then from 1-3 Isaac is asleep again... so no nap time or quiet time for me!!!

I am very grateful for how wonderful my children are. Olivia is so helpful and such a good girl. I know that the summer was hard for us all but I think that it was hardest on Olivia. She threw so many tantrums and had such a hard time going to sleep. It was really hard on all of us sometimes. She has really relaxed and gone back to her happy self again. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had this summer but I am really glad things are back to normal. She has started calling us (Glenn and me) her best friends and I love this. I know there will be a time in her life where I won't be her best friend so I am taking full advantage of it now.

The cutest thing she has done since we got home was two nights ago. She got out of bed a couple times and Glenn and I would calmly put her back to bed. By the third time she got out I was kind of irritated and asked her why she kept getting out of bed. Her reply to us almost brought tears to my eyes:

"I just sorry mommy and daddy.
You are just my best friends and I just want to talk to you for a little bit.
I just don't want to go to bed right now, I just want to talk to you about stuff"

We caved right then and there and let her stay up and talk to us on our bed. She definitely wasn't tired because she talked non-stop for an hour. When we said it was time for bed she thanked us for letting her stay up and crawled right into bed. I think I need to spend more time talking to just her.

Well now that you have read way to much about my kids (if you even got this far). I will post more pictures soon.

The last of New Mexico

2010-08-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

I think Isaac's favorite part of New Mexico was sleeping on Grandpa

Fun with cousins

Bath time

Princesses

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2010-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Before we left New Mexico (we are back in Texas now) the firm Glenn was working for let us have the their season passes to the local minor legue baseball game. We left Olivia home with Glenn's parents and went with Glenns little sisters for a day at the ball park. I personally have never been a baseball fan, but being there at the park was more fun than I thought it would be. Everyone thought we were die hard fans because we brought our 4 month old son. So here are a few fun pictures.

The most fun part was that they asked us to be the sweetheart couple of the game. So we got to kiss on the big screen during the 7th inning and in return they gave us a $50 gift certificate. I thought it was a pretty fair trade.

Family Pictures

2010-07-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

I will fully admit to neglecting this blog. I really have a lot to blog about, and a lot of pictures to put up. However, I promised a very good friend (who I miss dearly) that I would put up our family pictures. So here are our new family pictures. My father-in-law took them and I am so happy with how they turned out. I can't wait to get back home to Lubbock so I can print, frame, and have them displayed for everyone to see!

Aren't we beautiful?

Glenn had to have one with the dog

Father and son
(They are so handsome!)

Mother daughter

Seriously! Have you ever seen such a beautiful 3 year old?!?!

We told her to look like a princess in this one...

My personal favorite

... there are no words. He is just so perfect...

Brothers

2010-07-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Are they twins?

Nope just cousins from twin brothers and different mothers.
But they look as alike as their fathers!Now can you match them to their daddy's?Answer: (top) Isaac-left, Bryce-right
Glenn-left, William-right

Fishing with Daddy

2010-07-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago Glenn took Olivia fishing. They went with my father-in-law and Leah (Glenn's sister). They got up at the crack of dawn to drive up to a lake 2 hours away and caught one fish. Olivia had the time of her life! I didn't go, instead I went shopping with my mother-in-law and Megan (Glenns other sister) and found shoes, clothes and fabric! I had a great day too!

Everyone, except dad, fishing.

Olivia fishing. Glenn bought her a princess fishing pole for the ocassion.

It was fun daddy-daughter fishing time

WORMS!!!!!

Are You Ready to Smile?

2010-06-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

I took a couple a really cute pictures yesterday and this morning, so I thought I would post them to show everyone how big our little boy is getting! First though, here are two pictures of my three favorite people!

I know that they are almost identical but I loved how Olivia is looking at Isaac in the fist one and the way she is looking at the camera in the other.

Next our little boy smiling!

They aren't the greatest smiling pictures but they are cute either way!

And now the official debut of his laugh! I do have to apologize for how shaky the video is, but you get the idea and I am sure it will still make you smile!

He is pretty much adorable and looking more like his sister every day. I think I will post both their pictures to compare next!

A Project or Two

2010-06-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have not sewn anything since before Isaac was born and I was starting to feel it! I was dying to sew something! So this last Saturday I went to the fabric store and picked out two different fabrics. One was for a new Cover-all craft apron for Olivia. I didn't have a pattern but I knew exactly what I wanted. So with a little help from some art paper on my father-in-laws I drew out a pattern, fixed a couple of things, and then came out with this little number!

This was her first pose when I told her to be a princess!

second pose when I told her to be beautiful

A better picture of the apron. It buttons in the top of the back so there is plenty of space to move around. I didn't get a good picture of the back though.

After I finished I thought it needed a little something extra so I made these little accent.

The second thing I made was a pair of shorts for myself. I was really nervous to make these at first, but they fit perfectly and I very happy with the way they turned out. I don't normally wear them with my shirt tucked in but for picture purposes I tucked it in.

Just for all of you who are interested, here is a picture of Isaac to show just how chubby he is getting.

Aren't they both cute?!?!?!?!

Summertime!

2010-06-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

We have been in New Mexico a month now and we have had a blast! Isaac is growing fast!! He weighs 14 lbs now. I need to measure him but he is going through clothes faster than ice melts on a hot summer day!

Isaac's first 4 generation picture! Glenn's Mom, Glenn, Grandpa Montague, and Isaac

Before Glenn started work he grew out his beard for 2 weeks...he looked like a mountain man!

I loved having my little sister Cherie here for an extended visit. I wish she could have stayed longer!

Cherie is like another sister to Glenn's family!

It has been very hot here lately so to stay cool Glenn's mom got Olivia a pool to play in. She has played in it everyday since we got it!

She loves swimming in it and I love putting my feet in it. It has been so hot that the icy cold hose water feels amazing!

Just chilaxing!

Me and my little ones taking in some sun!

This next picture shows just how adorable my little Livy is. It makes me want to cry just looking at it. I wish she could stay this age forever... and then I remember how hard bedtimes are and I retract that last statement.

HAPPY SUMMERTIME!

Isaac's Blessing

2010-06-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

I have slacked a little. I have had these pictures for a whole week and have not put them up. So here are pictures of Isaac's blessing day. It was a wonderful day, my family drove down from Utah for the occasion. We had so much fun and I was so glad everything went so well.

Glenn's parents and sisters.

Both sets of proud grandparents

We had a very small circle of priesthood holders, just Glenn and both grandfathers

My family (all of them that came) from left to right-
Kayla, Angela, Cherie, Me, Glenn, Isaac, Olivia, Mom, Dad

Our cute little family

Isaac in his blessing outfit. It fit him well. If we had done it any earlier it would have been way to big for him.

Graduates!

2010-05-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

I would feel bad if I didn't give a shout out to this year's graduates! First last Saturday we went to Glenn's sisters graduation. They are two of the smartest girls I know. Megan(left) was 4rth in her class and Leah(right) was 12th... I definitely was not that smart!

I also wanted to show Cherie in particular(since you commented) how intense Glenn's beard really was!
My little sister Kayla also graduated from high school last Wednesday!

Isn't she beautiful!!

So to all of this years graduates, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! We love you and are so proud of all that you have accomplished.