sewing projects just not working

awhile back i got some sewing time and whipped out 2 tops and a dress. i liked my creations but knew they all werent the best. so sadly, i ended up donating 2 of them. i hate having to give away clothes that i made and worked hard on but in the long run its much better that someone else wear it than it just sitting in my closet or worse yet, wearing it myself.
here they are:
blue dress - why it just didnt work: dress had a too wide neckline (which is interesting because i have wide shoulders - cant imagine how this would look on someone with normal or tiny shoulders)
waistline seam was too low for me
i think i mixed up the back skirt pieces and the front ones, the skirt hangs weirdblue top - why it didnt work: bad choice of fabric (totally got suckered into the sale at joanns)
too boxy and not right for my body type
bad hem length

and here is the top that came out right. i love it!!

genie bra review

i bought something that i saw on an infomercial. no, i didnt frantically run for the phone and order the incredible double offer from the infomercial but i did go to the "as seen on tv" section of my local bed bath and beyond and bought the genie bra.
i didnt do this blindly, i first went online and looked up reviews. but i will admit i felt alittle silly.
so here's my review:
the first day i wore my genie bra i thought it was GREAT maybe even worthy of a mass email to all my friends. it was comfortable, stayed in place, held me in place, and the claim no back fat was true - it was what every woman wants her bra to be. i told my mom about it and told her to rush to bed bath and beyond right then and get one. she didnt and reminded me that i was probably not the best judge of bras since i recently weaned my baby and had been wearing nursing bras for the last 15 months (nursing bras are the WORST!!!!!! no support and you have to wear them ALL the time.)
on the second day it was still good. the bottom band rode up a little but i was still comfortable.
so to make a long blog post alittle shorter -

pros: very comfortable
no back fat
comes with inserts for coverage
works well with tshirts

cons: band does ride up
elasticity does seem to wane after washing

i like my genie bras and am glad i got them. i ended up getting 2 from bed bath and beyond for $16 (i used their 20% off coupon) so it was a good price for a decent bra.

miles likes to swing

here are some pictures of miles enjoying his swing on the swing set.

i made a pettiskirt

i made audrey a pettiskirt. i used the tutorial from make it love it's blog and just altered it a bit.
audrey picked the colors.

miles favorite game

miles has these balls from a toy that he LOVES to play with. he likes to roll them to our tile floor in our foyer and roll them back and forth. they make a great noise and i seriously think that some days he plays his game for at least a half hour.
without further ado - here is miles and his game (sorry that the video is dark, i should have turned on the light. but at least you can hear his excitement):

the friend party

audrey picked mermaids for her birthday party theme. i decided to let her help me with alot of the prep work, like using a coloring page for the invitation (she colored it). we also made the banner together and the cupcakes.
for the party we made mermaids with craft sticks. i had seen the original craft in family fun magazine with clothespins but i had craft sticks at home and didnt feel like tracking down those old-timey clothespins.then we let the girls swim in our kiddie pool.then it was time for water balloons. i was so excited because the night before the party i had seen the idea for water balloon pinatas on pinterest. and it was great. nothing beats kids wacking water balloons with sticks and then getting a big splash of water in the face. :)then we did cupcakes and raspberry lemonade in cups with little umbrellas. the cupcakes didnt turn out quite as cute as i hoped but they tasted good. i just took strawberry cupcakes and cut them in the middle and put the frosting inside for cupcake sandwiches.
then it was presents and more swimming and swingset playing.
all in all the party went well. audrey had one meltdown during the party but at the end i asked her what her favorite part was and she said all of it. so that was worth all of the stress.

birthday parties... and lots of them

for my daughter's 5th birthday she had lots of celebrations. the first one was at preschool and i brought up store bought frosted cookies.then we had just our little family celebration. she got to go on a birthday breakfast date with daddy to chick-fil-a. after lunch i took her to cold stone for ice cream. then she got to pick what we ate for dinner. she picked chicken nuggets, corn on the cob and avocados.
then on labor day we had all of the grandparents and the aunt and uncles that live in town over. we made fish cupcakes for that.then a week later we had the friend party - to be continued...

swing set

what does every kid need? a swing set!! and we are so thankful for the one that God helped us get for a great price. thanks spoons. our kids don't just LOVE it, they adore it!!
here's some pics of family (thank you) helping my husband put it together (and some silly pics of my brother, he'll do anything for his niece).

cake mix cookies

have you ever made cookies from a cake mix? well now i have and they are super easy and good. also i had to substitute something for eggs, because of course i didn't think of that when i decided that the kids and i would have scrambled eggs for lunch right before making the cookies, so i went online and googled, "baking substitute for eggs", and the easiest option was some mayonnaise. so i guess i made cake mix and mayonnaise cookies. :) my budding chef helped of course!

awesome museum in waco

over the summer me and the kids went to visit my friend in waco. we had a great time at the mayborn museum. if you have the chance to go there, GO! their hands on section in the jeanes discovery center is great for kids. thanks drew and ellie for taking us and making us the great dinner afterwards! and a big thanks to sara for helping me with the kids!
here are some pictures of our fun: