Oh, by the way...

...we're not moving until the end of July.  Yeah, we found out that Gerald can take that summer class next summer without messing up his schedule!  Hooray!  Now we have more than six weeks to sell our house, move, and wrap everything up here in Utah.  

So, sorry all my Utah friends, but you ain't rid of us yet...  ;)

Ready for Recitals!

I have my spring piano recitals this week. Yes, I do mean that in the plural.  I have so many students now that I have decided to have half of my students perform on Thursday evening and the other half perform on Friday evening.  

Having a recital usually means lots of baking.  Katelee is always willing to help by cleaning the beaters with her tongue.

 Preparing for piano recitals also means that I practice the piano a little more than usual.  Katelee has really shown interest the past few months in playing the piano, too.  She has been to so many recitals in her young life that she knows the routine: she will voluntarily stand by the piano bench and introduce herself and her song, then she'll play her song, and finally she'll stand and bow.  It cracks me up, because I don't really encourage this; she just does it all on her own!  I'm thinking that next year when she is four I will start having her actually perform at the recitals!  Meanwhile, here a few videos of some songs she performed for me today.  In case you can't tell what she is saying, the first song is called "The Rabbit Song."  Oh, and sorry about the soggy diaper in the videos; she had just woken up from her nap and I hadn't changed her yet, cause I'm a good mom like that.  ;)

 

Summer Jammies

As you know, I have been really excited about learning to sew.

I have sewn a few very simple things, and did okay, which was encouraging.  So, I got all fired up and decided I was going to make Katelee all her summer pj's.  

It was a lesson in humility. 

Attempting this really showed me how much I do not know about sewing.  

But even though things didn't go as smoothly as I had planned, I had fun.  And Katelee LOVES her jammies!  (She's even been asking to wear them during the day!)  And I figure she is three-years-old and you don't wear jammies out in public (well, usually) so it's okay if they are a little ... um ... less than professional.

 

This one is my favorite, because I'm proud that I did sleeves!  And it is the only one I used from a pattern.  Patterns scare me.  A lot.  Which is why I'm impressed with myself for using one.

This one is Katelee's personal favorite.  She thinks it's a princess dress.  I had some leftover material, so I made her pajama shorts, too, as you can see in the picture.

This one I think is just flat out funny.  Cute, but in a funny way.  Every time I see her wearing it I can't help laughing.

And this is the one piece of fabric I have left.  I've left it until the last because Katelee adores this material, of course, and I want to make sure I do a good job with it.

I might just make another nightgown like her floral one that she loves.  Or do something completely different.  Any suggestions?

Sunshine and Friends Make Me Happy

With the good weather, we have had a lot of time to be outside this past week.  Which means more time with friends, too!  Katelee is in heaven.  Here are a few pictures I've snapped in the past week or so.  (My photography skills are lacking, I know.)  

Katelee has several little friends that we didn't catch in any pictures, so sorry if I don't have a picture of your kiddos; that's something I'll definitely need to get before we move!

Today While I Folded Laundry

Flashback Friday

This Flashback Friday is dedicated to my house.

Putting our house on the market this week has been an emotional experience.  We love our house so much.  When our house was being built Gerald and I visited regularly and took pictures documenting it's birth.  We were so thrilled to be building our first home and anxiously watched each step of its making.

I love this house for many reasons.  For one thing, I chose everything in this house: the paint, the carpet, the cupboards and countertops, even the lights and plumbing fixtures.   We loved making all those choices about our home together.  We almost never disagreed on anything.

And I love the memories associated with this house; what a wonderful period of time this has been in our lives!  

This is the home where I spent my last few months of pregnancy.  

My water broke in this kitchen while cleaning up our spaghetti dinner.  

This is the house we brought Katelee home to when she was born.  

This is where Katelee learned to sleep and eat and crawl and talk and run and jump.  She transformed from an infant into a very big girl while living in this house.  

This is the house where I discovered I loved having a vegetable garden and mowing grass and where I learned to grow flowers.  

During the three years we've lived here I have fallen more deeply in love than ever with Gerald, and I have so many memories here associated with that: the spot in the basement where we danced one night, the built-in bookcases that Gerald surprised me with when our house was being finished, and more.  

This is the first home where I had the luxury to paint walls, put up wallpaper in Katelee's nursery, and hang an unlimited number of pictures on the wall.

This is the cul-de-sac where Katelee learned to swing and ride a scooter and learned what it meant to have friends.  We feel surrounded by friends here; this is the house where we learned the best meaning of 'neighbor.'  

I know that we will have other homes that we will love someday.  But this was our first house.  And the years we've spent here have been so memorable.  

There will forever be a part of us that misses this house and this time in our lives.

Wedding Pictures

I recently got ahold of some of the professional pictures of Brittany and Todd's wedding, and of their wedding cake that I made and wanted to post them here. Enjoy.