Motivate Me Monday - Scarlett is walking!

Motivate Me Monday is B-A-C-K because I'm not so awesome without it.  But who cares really...the big deal is that Scarlett is walking!  She started a few weeks ago but is a full-time walker now.  Here's a cute video.

She is so much fun and seriously loves to play catch with Dad (her main guy these days) and she loves to play soccer.  Ya, she's totally a mini-me.  Bwhahahaha.  Her birthday is only a couple of weeks away and I just can't stand it.

Motivate Me Monday

I've been a slacker in all things physically related - not getting enough sleep, eating whatever, sporadic exercise all adds up to a crummy mommy.  I scheduled our annual family photo to be taken in a month - that gives me added motivation to get back in gear.  My goal is to get at least 5 30 min cardio sessions in each week and 4 toning/weight sessions in each week.  I'm also going to keep track of what I'm eating.  The biggest thing I need to do is get some sleep!  Sheesh, my brain wakes up at 10 pm and I've got to change that...and I think getting off the computer by 10 is the way to do it. 

I'm also going to tackle 1, one, uno...yep only 1 organization project a week.  This week is the laundry room - Kate has already volunteered to help me with it.  Love that girl!

I've been avoiding my sewing machine lately - too many projects in my brain and I don't know where I want to start - that being said I will tackle one sewing project this week.  K, I've also been reading "The Help" (finally!) and that's taken all of my time that would have gone to sewing.  I have to finish by Friday 'cuz I'm going to see the movie with a friend...very excited.

Uh-oh I'm so motivated now that I hope I can fall asleep. ;-)  Let me know if you're doing a Motivate Me Monday so I can peek in!

PS -  A friend asked me how I "do it all" after she looked at my blog.  I hope no one thinks I "do it all" and that my life is perfect.  Believe me it's not - if I get a big project done, like sewing the Shabby Apple Dress it's because I let go of something else....like laundry and *maybe* we eat cereal for dinner for a couple of days.  But hey, nobody's complaining so I think it's all good...well they do murmer a bit but that's what it's all about as a family, we give and take.  So if you don't have time for projects, I'm sure you're doing wayyy better than I am at other things!

A Pinteresting Back To School Party & Back to School Pics

I never look forward to the end of summer and the beginning of the school year.  I love our lazy summer days and free schedule, but I'm so thankful for the great school that my kids attend and their excited attitudes towards school.  I thought it would be fun to have a big party to get excited about the school year. Then...

a week or so ago I saw this beautiful picture on Pinterest and thought, hey I want to do that! 

Of course, not the Pottery Barn version - but the let's rig it up/figure it out version.  I told Darin my idea and he said that if I could find a projector we could do it.  One facebook post and a great friend later, I had a projector.  (I don't think Darin was expecting that.)  I told Darin my ideas for the screen and he said, "Let's try it out."  1 king size sheet, a trip to HomeDepot for pipe, a little yarn, a trampoline, a friend's popcorn popper, another Facebook posting - invite...and 100 people later we had a SUPER FUN BACK-TO-SCHOOL PARTY! 

It got too dark to take more pictures when everyone was there, but it was really fun to get to know people from church and our neighborhood better.  Thanks everyone who came!  Now I want a projector for Christmas..I can see this as a monthly activity next summer!

The big girls started back to school today.  They were SOOO excited and that made it really easy for me to let them go.  I actually couldn't sleep last night - haha, just like when I was a kid and it was the night before school started.  I'm feeling a little bad for Allie because she had her spider angioma lasered off yesterday (red mark on her face) and now she has a big bruise.  She didn't seem to let it bother her and even came up with some funny lines for anyone who asked about it...."Fought off a burglar." or "Got in a fight with Big Foot." or "Do you get the paper?" and shrug and walk off.   Cute girl!  Regardless of the bruise, both girls looked beautiful and energetic to start school!  Allie is in 4th, and Kate in 2nd.

Wish I had a picture of Scarlett BUT I do have some cute videos to upload tomorrow...she's walking! and it's adorable!!!

Thank you to anyone who has voted for me, and if you haven't there's still time. ;-) I'm #4.

Take a sec and vote for me???

I'm so excited and shocked that Shabby Apple chose my dress as one of their top 15.  I hope I can sleep tonight!  All the dresses are beautiful and while I want you to vote for your favorite...I also REALLY hope you'll vote for mine. ;-)  So head on over and remember that I'm #4.  You can vote daily until September 11th.  I super-duper appreciate your support!

Vote HERE .

Much love,

Sarah

Design For Shabby Apple :-)

I LOVE Shabby Apple Dresses so when I found out they were having a design contest late Monday afternoon I quickly checked the calendar to see if I had time to enter, I was thrilled to see I still had two and a half days!  I already had a design in my head and all of the fabric I needed to get it done, this deadline was perfect to get me off the couch and into my sewing chair.

The guidelines are that the dress has to be "modest" - meaning below the knee, no cleavage, and with sleeves...guidelines I believe in anyway!

Because I daydreamed about this dress for months while I was on the treadmill, I decided to name it "Daydreamer."  I think it fits.

My inspiration for the dress was my love of all the ruffled dresses and tops I've been seeing and of course my endless love for maxi-dresses.  I used two different types of knit for the dress to give it a light and airy look for spring and summer.  One of the fabrics is actually a laser-printed tissue/gauze weight knit.  I love working with knit even though it can be troublesome - using a zigzag stitch and unfinished edges creates my favorite look for this type of fabric.  

 White dresses are my weakness so I knew I wanted it to be white, but I also think it would beautiful in grey or in a white, navy blue, and turquoise combination.


Thank you Allie, my 9 yo, for being my photographer.  I really hate modeling...nothing feels more awkward so forgive my uncomfortable poses.



I literally stayed up ALL night finishing it but those hours without little ones needing snacks and naps were priceless. I'm so glad ShabbyApple created this contest, it was thrilling just to be a part of it. As I shared on Facebook, I felt like I was a Project Runway contestant in a stay-at-home-mommy kind of way.  I told Darin we need to celebrate with a date night...guess what I'll be wearing?

The stylist in me has to accessorize...so here are some other ways the dress can be worn. Please click on the pictures to see a better/larger view of the fabrics.

So what do you think? Would you vote for my dress? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Summer Fun - mostly pics, quick read ;-)

Summer highlights..

We drove to Columbus to go to the zoo.  Along the way we stopped for a picnic in the park.  Lovely day.

This is Chief Leatherlips I think..a very memorable statue at the park.  Love Roman's pose too.

So excited for the zoo...more Roman poses (I don't fight it, they are so funny!).

Scarlett is not a fan of the stroller...but playing pick-a-boo makes it much more fun!

We were so excited to see the new polar bear exhibit.  So cool to be this close!

We've been going to the pool at the YMCA in Lebanon (largest Y in America - cool,huh?!). The girls passed the swim test to jump off the diving boards.  I was proud, it's a hard test!

Darin and I were able to go to the temple in Columbus. I love the peace I feel while I'm there. Beautiful day.

After the temple we surprised our old neighbors! It was so fun.  This is Sawsun and her kids - they remembered us right away.  I wish I had taken a picture with Kim...have to next time.

The Gazdik kids stayed with us for several days and we had a blast.

Erin took some great pictures while she was here - I love this one of Scarlett.

She also took this super-cute one of Roman.

They played outside.

We all went to cheer Roman on!

Out of order...but Allie did a great FHE lesson on the importance of being sealed in the temple..so our family can be together forever.  That blessing, knowing my family will always be together brings me the greatest happiness.

At the YMCA pool with the Gazdiks..what a fun day!  Wow, I am so white!

Erin was taking the pics so she's not in this one, but I had 8 kids for the week....so fun!

Isn't this hilarious?!  It looks like Roman is shooting right through Jordan. Jordan was a great sport and hung out with Roman all week.  He was so cute with him and you can imagine that Roman was on cloud 9. Jordan has a fan at our house!

Scarlett was napping but we had to snap a quick pic before they left - so glad Kayla was in this one too.  She's headed to BYU in a few short weeks!

I hate that summer is going to end soon.  Looking at these pictures has made me realize what an eventful summer it's been even though we didn't take any trips.  I'm just trying so soak up every minute I can with the kids before the 24th...yep, that's when they start school and they are SUPER DUPER EXCITED.