1,2,3...Go Ellie!!

This week Ellie went #1 and #2 in the potty for the first time! Could she be potty trained before #3 comes in June?! Let it be!

Don't bother calling...

...my phone and purse were stolen out of our car today while we were in church. Boo. The first thing they bought with my card was 7 red box movies. Lame-o. We filed with the police just incase something turns up.

Huge bummer. So if you need to get a hold of me, email me or call my hot hubby. Thanks

Life is still good!! As long as I have my family! The other night we were driving home from a friends house and I was in Pat's car alone while Pat drove the kids home in the minivan. It was dark and a service truck parked right in the middle of the road and turned on it's blinkers. It was in the only turning lane/entrance to another freeway. I pulled up behind it and eventually went around (not sure why it stopped). I thought about Pat distracted by the kids screaming in the car and running right into the back of the truck. I was so freaked out I even cried. I called him and he was actually in front of me and the truck hadn't stopped yet. huge relief. My life without my family flashed before my eyes.

So again, the loss of a hundred contact numbers and credit cards and ID card is very annoying but nothing tragic... Life is still good!!

I LOVE FRIENDS...and FABRIC!

Bre, one of my very best friends, is expecting twins next month!! She is having her first boy and girl :) I am extremely excited for her and Mr. Ahrens. I'm so glad they'll be all caught up to me for a whole two months (until I pop out number three :). She was interested in some car seat canopies for the kiddos and so I jumped at the opportunity to sew something for my GIRL (and her babes)!! I LOVE FRIENDS...and FABRIC!

Boutique Babes

Every Tuesday, 4-8 of my girlfriends come over with their children for Sewing/Sanity Day. Some of us have been doing it for almost 2 years now (in our last home). It's a time to get something crafty checked off of our lists each week. Some girls come just to watch, get inspired and motivated and learn something new. Others of us have a goal and are determined to accomplish it even if there are 6+ kids running around (Camden calls it his weekly Happy Party).

So 4 of us have been interested in selling some of our work and set the goal to bust out a small inventory to sell at our first Flea Market Boutique sponsored by The Willows boutique in Phoenix. It was this past Friday from 10-2. Here is some of our stuff! We had so much fun doing it as friends but the turn out at the wasn't very good. I don't think any of the 6 booths got a single sale. From those who did go through our cute little booth, we enjoyed their feedback on our quality and creativity! We hope to do it again soon at a larger venue :) Anyone know of any?

I really enjoyed putting the booth together. I could do it all day. It's fun to make something special from what you find lying around. By the way, Most of the things we made were out of fabric and scraps we already had. My dresses are the ones with aprons and pockets. I enjoy seeing other dresses and things that I made as I look at them. It was very funny asking Pat which one he liked best because he also recognized the fabric without realizing it. For example "This one reminds me of the living room or something" I pointed out to him that I used some of the fabric in that dress on our living room pillows 2 years ago... Good eye Babe :)

What's in a name

AUTREY (ah-tree): The first name of one of Pat's best college buddies (one of his best men in our wedding) and the last name of an ancestor on my father's side. We both liked the name and agreed on it quickly in the very beginning.

Camden

Ellison

Autrey

I think His name fits right in.

There's a BOY on the way!

Just wanted to give you all the scoop: We are expecting a boy the end of June. Pat and I have known very strongly from the beginning of this pregnancy it would be a boy. We've chosen the first name of AUTREY and we can't wait to meet him! For my own record (because the weks fly by so fast and I forget) I'm 18 weeks along this coming Monday.

Picture Proof

I took this picture of Ellie eating a white fudge covered oreo yesterday. This picture describes Ellie to a T. I love it. Enjoy the rest of the pictures without description...can't get the text to go where I want it and don't want to take the time to figure it out. I will say the landscape picture of the city is MIAMI. That's where or cruise started and ended. I took that for Ari.

What's up with the Hobbs

Since my last Post:

Grandma Hobbs, Grandma Searle and Great Aunt Cena drove into town for a long weekend. I had a BLAST with the three of them. Pat and the kids enjoyed the company too, I'm sure. While they were here we dug up a beautiful weed from an empty lot in the neighborhood and planted it in my yard, we called every doll shop in the Phoenix Area and drove to one. I learned more about Grandma Searle and Aunt Cena's lives then I thought possible (Aunt Cena remembers the names ands stories of every face she's ever met). We really enjoyed there stay!

Camden turned 3! He wanted a Planets Birthday Party. We played "out of this world" games and flew spaceships to Mars, blindfolded of course. So many of his dear friends and there space cadet parents came, it was a hit for sure. Uncle Jared was there too!!

Auntie Ari, Aaron and the two boys joined us from No. Cal for Thanksgiving, as well as Grandpa Hobbs from Utah! We went to the Train Park and devoured great homemade food and treats. Ari did a photo shoot for me and another for my family. They are amazing pictures. She is really top of the line. Even though Camden and Kota had there "moments", the visit wasn't long enough!!

The week after Thanksgiving, the four of us jumped on a plane to FLORIDA for 12 Days! It was a lot of fun for all of us (well, Laura may be an exception :). After 3 1/2 days of visiting Laura's family in Ft. Lauderdale, Pat and I left the kids in Her care and cruised the Gulf of Mexico for 4 days! Olay! Our friends, the Colton's joined us. We went to Cozumel and swam with the dolphins (worth every penny) and parasailed in Key West. The weather was unbeatable as was the company. Pat and I really had a funtastic time. We went out with the kids back in Florida to see alligators and picked up our annual ornament: Santa riding a Gator. Oh, and the 12 Days of Christmas in Florida children's book to add to our xmas book collection. We can't thank Laura, George and the Kids enough for there hospitality and the great fun that we had with them!

As soon as we got home, we jumped into Christmas. My Mom came out the Sunday before Christmas and helped me finish up my loose ends. I loved having her. Grandmas are the best! I'm sure her fingers are raw from doing the dishes so much...sorry Mom, and THANK YOU! Santa came to our place and brought Camden a blue bike and Ellie a littlest pet shop puppy house (Santas' all about the sales). The day after Christmas I ran to IKEA (twice, the first time I was an hour too early) to pick up a slide We spotted in the Last Chance discount area. It's in the playroom and it's actually keeping them down there!!! BEST GIFT EVER!

We've also been a sick house since Florida. Cam and Ellie had the Hand, Foot and Mouth virus. That turned into double ear infections for Cam and Ellie losing her voice. I then got a killer sore throat and headache which went away Christmas day only to be hit by a common cold that is taking over my nose. Ellie got the cold too, as well as croup and she has fought her nap now for 3+ days. Besides that, Life is wonderful. I have so much to be thankful for.

Oh I just remembered the last update: I'm Pregnant! Yep. Due the end of June. 14ish weeks along...just starting to get over nausea (never had it this bad with the other two). THat's about it for us! What are you up to :)

PICTURES TO FOLLOW

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Super Cook!!

My super hot husband found this super sweet website called Supercook.com. This is what it's all about:

For FREE, you can enter all the food/spices/ingredients that you have in your kitchen and with that information it will spit out thousands of recipes you can make with what you already have. It is organized by starters, entrees and desserts. You can highlight the items you are in the mood to use or need to use before they go bad and it will narrow down the search. It will tell you if you have everything you need to make the recipe or if there are items you need to purchase if you are up for a quick run to the store. It also can make a grocery list for you from the recipes that you can print off. If you are out of something, just update your kitchen ingredient list. If you have an allergy to something, there's a place for that too and the search will eliminate any recipes with that ingredient. Basically it is a search engine and will take you right to the website of the recipe you choose. I've made recipes from allrecipes.com, marthastewart.com recipezaar.com and rachelray.com.

I L-O-V-E this website. It has really helped out my meal planning and when I don't plan (like last night). The best part about it is that it gives you so many options with what you already have in the house. It has helped me to branch out and find new recipes extremely quick too!!

Now all I need is a website or mac app that will help me organize my past weekly meals and help me make my new weeks meal plans accordingly. Know of any?? Anything other than writing it on a Calendar work for you??!!

Cylindropuntia fulgida

Did you know there is such thing as a Jumping Cactus? Our family has now become very aware of the little beast of a plant. It actually jumps on you when you get close and its needles go deep into the skin. Saturday, Ellie's foot (with flip flop on) touched one and it went right into her shoe and big toe. I pulled out at least TEN from the top of her big toe and cuticle line. One was so deep I had to use tweezers. She tried to grab it so I had to pull one out of her finger too. Poor thing. We were in the front yard of a friend in Mesa having a garage sale. I had just warned the little boys about it when Ellie came up to me. That's actually not the end of the story. Hours later, the four of us went for a walk in our neighborhood and the kids were exploring, looking for bugs and birds in the dirt. Camden started yelling and crying and low and behold, a dried out jumping cactus ball-thing was sticking out of his heal. We don't have any Cacti in our hood, so we figure in blew in from the other side of the fence. I continued looking for them on our walk but didn't find any another pieces. Kind of interesting for it to happen to both of them on the same day. Not a happy coincidence but both of my kids are a little more weary of these naughty Arizona plants.

"Closeup image of a cholla spine showing microscopic barbs which make removal extremely painful."

CREATE

I love it when sewing projects go wrong!! (well, not in the moment actually. I still huff and sigh when my precious sewing time feels delayed or interrupted). That being said, it does allow me to do what I love best: fix the problem as creatively as possible. And I usually love my end result better because it's feels like I have created something unique.

Sew, Yesterday, Sewing Day with my girls, I decided I wanted to make some jean bloomers for Ellie to wear with anything. A new staple. The pattern I followed was smaller than I thought and very basic (yet hard to translate sometimes. Some pattern makers explain all the wrong details in my opinion). Anyway, I wanted her little legs to be covered a bit more so it didn't look like she was just wearing jean underwear over her diaper (I guess that's what bloomers are. I guess I didn't really want to make bloomers). I decided a ruffle would be cute over each chubby thigh instead of on the fanny. I won't go into all the details of the transformation. My friend Chante (newest sewing club member) makes hair bows and turned one of my ruffles into a flower. I liked it and decided to simplify the new idea and just put a flower on the front of the bloomer and make a headband to match. Voila! Someone at the Children's Museum asked me where I bought her outfit, asked me if I had a line, and told me she would buy these. That felt good, real good. :)

MANY OF YOU MAY BE THINKING...How did I keep that band on Ellie's head all day? Easy, I told her if she took it off I would give it to Camden to wear. Works like a charm. She proceeds to stand still so I can put it on and then runs strait to Camden to show it off. Of course he could care less, but she doesn't know that yet. Cracks me up. She's such a tease.

PS...my favorie pose is her arial pose on the coffee table. Silly girl.

Potty Training Taboo

My friend Katie and I started potty training our 2 1/2 year olds last spring so that topic often snuck its way into many of our conversation. Her daughter is now fully potty trained at all hours of the day and night and Camden is, well, no comment. That's what this post is about. On more than one occasion Katie brought up how odd it was that more mothers/parents didn't talk about potty training and how hellish it was or why parties weren't thrown in their honor. It can be so stressful and so rewarding. It's a huge milestone for a kid to pass, at least for the diaper changers. Anyhoo, I thought it wasn't talked about because "every kid is different and there's no one right way to do it". Advising others is pointless. Over the last 5 MONTHS I have learned the real reason why it's often not talked about (at least while the other adults are still training their child). In my case, every time I tell someone else what works for us or how long he's been accident free, I get 3 days of poopy underwear. As if we never started. It's ridiculous. Maybe it's God's way, or the Camden's way 0f reminding me it's not my success, that nothing I've done has gotten him that far along. I don't know, but I'm hoping I've learned my lesson and that am not jinxing us just my writing this!!

Keep up the good work Cam! It's all you little man!

What's in a name

Dear reader,

I've decided to change the title of this blog in high hopes that I'll start blogging more about all that I am passionate about (I'll try to figure out how to spruce up the title bar. It's not doing justice to the title). I surely keep a better written journal when I write those things inspiring or spiritual to me or a special event to never ever forget instead of trying to keep my life history up to date. I chose the name "Joy to the Girl" because I love it! It makes me happy. It's a slogan GAP used for their winter sweater sale a year or two ago. I still have the magazine tear-out in my stack of favorite things, once in it's place on my magnetic board in the craft room. I guess I can toss it now that I'm finally using the quote!

I hope to post more pictures of special moments, the kids, more things I've sewn or crafted, updates of my decorating adventures, as well as pictures of everything under the sun that inspires me or give me a feverish spell of creative anxiety.

Life is good. Living is a blessing and an endeavor. I was reminded of that this weekend when a pushed myself and the kids out the door and into the rain to fly a kite and stomp in puddles before 9am. I walked back into the house with a feeling of genuine happiness that I haven't felt for a long time. The first words that came to my mind to describe the feeling was "alive. I feel so alive". I think it was actually the rain and cool breeze that shook me out of my coma. I guess the sun has gotten to me...

I just finished the BEST book. One I am tempted to buy 20 copies of to send to all of my dearest friends. It's called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". PLEASE READ THIS BOOK!!! Like Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love said, "I CAN'T RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH!!!!" I am passionate about this book. It is entirely uplifting with a pinch, no... spoonful, hmmm...BUCKETFUL of reality, history, love, eccentricity and wit. Please read it as soon as possible and tell me what you thought of it.

Love,

Anndalyn

Beat the Heat

This Summer we busted out the face paints and other crafts to keep us busy and out of the heat. I've really enjoyed painting on my kids faces. I've done it on so many other fuzzy cheeks, it's a little liberating to think I could do it everyday if I wanted to and go as crazy as I want. Camden
surprisingly loves it and sits very still. Ellie, on the other hand, wants to grab the brush which leads to images a little more abstract.

Grandma Hobbs got the kids a kiddie pool when she was in town and it's a life saver in this heat! The other night around 6pm I was cleaning up around it from a morning of fun in the sun and Ellie decided she wanted in again and jumped in with her clothes. I stripped them down and we had a fun, spontaneous evening in the water.

It's been over a hundred degrees for many days now but this is actually our best summer yet. The heat hasn't bothered me. I think that's because I never check the weather report and we've been out of town to break it up. It didn't start heating up until July really...that could be why I cool with it. It's the longevity of the heat throughout the late spring/summer/early fall that usually drives me bonkers. So we are in high spirits enjoying the sunshine and A/C and making the most of this Arizona summer!!

Summer 2009- part 1

The friends just left, Camden and Ellie just went down for late naps and I've got a million things on my mind that I need to do. All I really want to do during this daily hour of quiet is put my feet up and read. tangent:I'm 20 pages out from finishing my latest read "Into the Wild" but I'm ready to put it back in the library bag and pick up "The Glass Castle". I'm kind of bored with it and I'm struggling to stay awake while reading it in this silence and I hate that. (That's why I was so turned off to reading as a kid. I'd fall asleep after 5 minutes). Now that I've found books that give me the escape from reality I need for an hour every day, I don't want to be lulled to sleep by any book. (Not that I don't believe in mommy-need-naps. I nap. When I choose to nap. I read when I want an adventure out of MommyLand, and I want that choice to be mine...not my book's. Make sense?).

ANYWAY...

Today I'm not reading, I'm doing what I need to do...update my blog is on that list. So here we go.

Last posted, Ellie's first Birthday. Since May 19th until Today:

May 21-28th:

Pat and I went to Costa Rica! Pat met his BHAG goal at work and we were awarded this amazing adventure for a week in paradise. We had so much fun with our Arizona friends who also made the trip, but also with our new friends from other facilities in California, Utah and Texas. Pat and I really took advantage of the time without the kids. Everyday we did something memorable:

Surfing, zip lining, ATV riding to waterfalls and amazing views, river rafting, Horseback riding, swam out to an island, and all the while enjoying yummy yummy food.

Our favorite adventure was horseback riding through the rain forest in the pouring rain. The horses were galloping and I was in 7th heaven. My horses name was squirrel and he liked to bite the three other horses.

I went to California with my Mom and the kids for a week and a half to see Ari and her boys and Shaun and Jess and their boys. ALWAYS good to get some family time.

Before Ellie's birthday was my Best friends wedding, which was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been too. Congratulations Bethany! And the week after that was the Triathlon in Saint George which I posted about.

June 26th I ventured off into the woods with the YW for Girls Camp for 4 days! Had the time of my life! Camp Lomia. Theme: Go Navy. We called our ship S.S. da BOMB POPS and rocked it. Pops stood for Pure, Obedient, Prayerful Sista's. Our skit at the talent show was da Bomb as we were sporting swim caps and synchronize swam.

July (2 1/2 weeks of) We went to Utah for 2 family reunions and lots of fill-in family/friend time in between. Camden and Ellie did great. Though potty training was shot and by the end Camden regressed to only saying the word MINE! We went to St. George for 5 days of the trip with Ma Hobbs and all of the children and grandkids. Swimming, boat rides, wake boarding, jet skiing, Annie play, Canyon hike...lots of fun. We ventured back up to SL area and went through the Ochre Mnt. temple, Sam and Alex's birthday party and ran in the SL Pioneer Day 10k. Pat was in and out of town through out the trip for work but we loved having him when we could.

We are happy to be home again. glad for the routine and structure again. I thought this was the end of the crazy first half of our summer and that the second half would be pretty tranquil...but it wont. GREAT NEWS: in a matter of four days we got news of, looked at, made an offer on and bought a new HOUSE! Yes, we're moving!! We will be here is South Mountain just a few miles away. Our closing date is September 4th, less than thirty days! This is wonderfully insane! We are extremely excited and know with no doubt this is what we are suppose to do. I will do another post on or 15 year home soon. So, we are going to be renting our adorable Fraktur Road home starting the end of September (referrals welcome). So now you know why I've got many things on my mind and much to do. This all happened this weekend! Another great adventure ahead! I don't think our lives will ever slow down from here on out. Thanks for reading this...if you did. Ellie is now awake, My time is up.

Happy Birthday Ellison

Ellie Baby, We are so glad you are in our family! We love you so much! Thank you for bringing so much joy and happiness every day!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY BEAUTIFUL!!