Absent Minded Reason #2

Sometimes it is necessary to take my driver's license and my credit card out of my wallet. Like when I don't want to take my huge bag in with me to the store or restaurant. I did this one day when I took the kids by myself to Wendy's. That night I changed my clothes and threw my pants in the laundry. A couple days {yes a couple days!} later I was at the grocery store ready to purchase my items. I opened my wallet and my driver's license and credit card were NOT in there! I remembered I had taken them out but thought I had left them in the pocket of the diaper bag. Fortunately I had another credit card with me so I could still buy my groceries. Now I have to drive my car home without my license like I had been doing for the past couple days.

I...looked...everywhere! They were not to be found. I practically emptied the diaper bag, searched every counter in the kitchen, it was nowhere. I was telling my husband about my dilemma and he calmly says, "I bet it's in your pants pocket like it always is." I doubted it was there. I didn't remember putting it there. I looked anyway.

Guess what.... it was there. Every time, people. Every time.

Christmas Clutch

A couple weeks ago I found this pattern from Living with Punks and was dying to make it! I finally found some time to give it a go. I'm really quite tickled with how well it turned out! I've never made a clutch before, and I really liked the idea of using scraps to make things. Such a brilliant idea! Since Christmas is fast approaching I thought it would be fun and festive to carry around! Plus, that's the only fabric I really had that I thought would go really well together. And it turned out so cute!

Christmas Planner

I LOVE this Christmas planner! I think I need to make myself one this year. I've got a house full of guests coming which definitely calls for some organization!

This planner is SO cute and such a good idea. I thought of making different themes for it too: homework planner, art book {you'd have to find a composition book that is unlined though}. You could really do anything with a cute book like this.

I found it on the eighteen25 blog. They have step by step instructions and a free printable to help make it easier.

So cute!

Eggs with Peppers

I saw this cool idea on Pinterest. Sadly, I did not save the pin to my board so I don't know whose idea it was. I will be better about crediting my sources in the future.

We've all used different things to cook eggs inside of to make cool shapes. I liked this one because you can eat your egg mold with your egg. I'm generally not a huge fan of peppers, but I think I'm coming around.

All you need to make this intriguing dish is a pepper and an egg. A frying pan, a little olive oil, and a spatula will be helpful too!

Cut your pepper so it's about 1/2 inch thick. You want it to hold all the egg. Cut out the insides.

Place the pepper in a hot skillet with a little olive oil, then crack the egg inside. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cook till the egg is firm enough to flip. Flip over. Then cook till desired doneness.

That was easy! Enjoy!

If We Do Not Doubt

Visiting Teaching Message from the October 2011 Ensign

by Julie B. Beck

"In the Book of Mormon we read about exemplary young men who were exceedingly valiant, courageous, and strong. “Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21). These faithful young men paid tribute to their mothers—their examples and teachers."

I love the story of Helaman's 2000 stripling warriors. It reminds me that I need to be a strong, courageous, and valiant mother. The 2000 young men did not doubt God or that He would deliver them from war. They knew God would protect them and their faith was exceedingly strong!

In Alma 56:45-48 it says:

"And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.

For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.

Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea,

they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying:

We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

Mothers and all women have a huge responsibility for raising the next generation. We have the power to influence our children for good. These faithful mothers of the 2000 warriors were teaching their children so much. I hope I can teach my children to never doubt so that they to can confidently proclaim "We do not doubt our mother knew it!"

I also want to add how much I love Sister Julie B. Beck! I love her boldness in speaking! She is so inspired to teach in such a way.

Absent Minded Reason #1

I was cutting fabric to make pj pants for my family for Christmas. I had 8 yards of fabric to wrestle with. I thought it would be a good idea to fold it different from how it came off the bolt from the store. It was easier to deal with that way.

I pinned down the pattern pieces, got halfway through my first cut and realized the trees were upside down. This is not the first time I have screwed up directional fabric. Fortunately I could still correct my mistake.

I repinned all the pattern pieces making sure the trees were all going in the right direction and began again to cut them out. When I was almost done, one of the pieces I had already cut out got turned over for some reason. I stopped... looked at it... and then I realized...

THE TREES WERE UPSIDE DOWN!

On one side of my fabric the trees were right side up, on the other side the trees were upside down. This was definitely one of those times where my absent minded nature got in the way. I should have folded the fabric the way it comes from the store off the bolt, regardless of how annoying it was. If I'm right the trees on one leg of the pj pants will be right side up, and the trees on the other leg will be upside down.

Well... at least we will all be matching!

Can you see the difference?

Snowman Soup

I think this Snowman soup is really cute and funny! What a creative way to package fancy hot chocolate! It would be such a great gift for friends and neighbors. I found it at

Brown Paper Packages.

Love it!

You know you've lost it when....

... you start making your own bias tape, and actually enjoy it!

I've been making these reusable toy bags found at Zaaberry for my kids and was needing bias tape to make them. I didn't have the right colors to do it so I followed the tutorial at Prudent Baby and made my own. I have since been trying to come up with things that need bias tape to make. Little crazy? Yes! But homemade bias tape is so much cooler than store bought bias tape. You can use any fabric you want and make them so fun!

Anyone have any ideas for projects to use bias tape with? I'd love to know!

Pinkalicious

I think everyone has read that super fun book, "Pinkalicious." My girls own almost every book in the series... Pinkalicious, Purplelicious, Goldalicious, and now Silverlicious. We love her! I found out that there is a "Pinkalicious the Musical" and they will be in our area in a few months. Of course I had to buy tickets for me and my girls to go see her! They will be getting them for Christmas along with their very own Pinkalicious doll handmade by mom. {I hope these girls appreciate everything I do for them!} I've finished one of them. She is the most precious thing ever! I want to squeeze her all day!

I got the pattern for her in this awesome book "Wee Wonderfuls: 24 Dolls to Sew and Love" by Hillary Lang. It's got lots of cute stuffed dolls! The instructions are pretty easy to follow and the doll didn't take too long to make. I'll be making a couple more of them into Pinkalicious looking dolls very soon!

LDS Women Are Incredible!

{Elder Quentin L. Cook}

I have to admit I was pretty excited to read this article. I usually love when the brethren talk about how wonderful the sisters are. It always makes me feel better about myself and choices I have made. However in my present frame of mind I was hoping to read something a bit more comforting. Instead I just feel even more overwhelmed than I did when I started.

Right now I am feeling very tired of being a mother. It's summer vacation, the kids are bickering, the baby doesn't sleep, the husbands job is very stressful and overwhelming right now... I could go on. Running away sounds really good sometimes. I like to think every mother feels like this once in a while. Especially when the going gets tough. I don't really know, though, none of my mother friends have ever told me.

This article talks about strong and valiant women, with enormous amounts of courage, faith, and hope. Even though I don't feel like one right now (sleep deprivation tends to do that to me), I do know that I am.

I really like the story of the lost purse Elder Cook tells. It's about how these women were trying to find the owner of this lost purse. Every item they pulled out looking for identification told something honorable about the young woman the purse belonged to. I'll copy the story here...

We didn’t want to pry; this was someone’s personal stuff! So we gingerly opened it and grabbed the first thing that was on top—hopefully, it would identify her. It did, but in another way—it was aFor the Strength of Youth pamphlet. Wow! This told us something about her. Then we reached in for the next item, a little notebook. Surely this would give us answers, but not the kind we were expecting. The first page was a list of favorite scriptures. There were five more pages of carefully written scriptures and personal notes.

The sisters immediately wanted to meet this stalwart young woman. They returned to that purse to identify its owner. They pulled out some breath mints, soap, lotion, and a brush. I loved their comments: “Oh, good things come out of her mouth; she has clean and soft hands; and she takes care of herself."

They eagerly awaited the next treasure. Out came a clever little homemade coin purse made from a cardboard juice carton, and there was some money in a zippered pocket. They exclaimed, “Ahh, she’s creative and prepared!” They felt like little children on Christmas morning. What they pulled out next surprised them even more: a recipe for Black Forest chocolate cake and a note to make the cake for a friend’s birthday. They almost screamed, “She’s a HOMEMAKER! Thoughtful and service minded.” Then, yes, finally some identification. The youth leaders said they felt greatly blessed “to observe the quiet example of a young lady living the gospel."

This story made me wonder what the things I do tell about me. Am I doing, saying, and keeping things that will show what an honorable woman I am? I hope so.

Elder Cook talks about how essential women are to Heavenly Father's plan. And they absolutely are! I could probably write novels about that!

Towards the end of his talk, Elder Cook quotes a popular song amongst the sisters of the church...

the errand of angels is given to women

and this is a gift that, as sisters, we claim

As women we are given such a precious gift: to raise, comfort, and nurture our children and other children around us.* I love how the song implies that we valiantly and obediently grab that gift and hold on to it with all our might. We are not letting go for any reason! I am not letting go for any reason either.

Most of my family knows how much I like to write. I have journals and scrapbooks and now blogs to show this. I love to write and create. It's my "out". I always feel better afterwards. And I feel better now. Tomorrow will be a better day.

LDS women are incredible! Elder Cook said so. He also said,

"Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life - quite the opposite. They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to the faith."

* I know the song "As Sisters in Zion" is talking about so much more than raising children. The errand of angels includes SO many things. Raising children, I think, is one of them.