Cute, Easy Bags

I am not the most creative person, so when we were brainstorming for ideas for a future young women activity and one of the girls suggested doing a bag made out of a place mat, I almost cringed. After combining a couple of ideas from websites and with some tips from a friend, this is what I came up with. I have to say, they are NOT hard and they are soooo cute!! My girls absolutely love them! I made Jenna and Kristen each one to "practice" and it took me 3 tries to get it right, but after that, they were a snap. I guess I should mention that it's very possible that I'm out of touch with things and some of you have been making these for years. :)

First of all, I got a fabric place mat---Ikea had some cute ones in black, off-white, hot pink, bright blue, and orange for only 99 cents. Then I got a roll of ribbon--Walmart had tons of cute ones to choose from (the bigger rolls were $2.97 and the smaller ones were $1.97--each roll was enough for 2 bags). I unrolled it all and cut it in half so we could get two handles out of each roll. Then I pinned the ribbon on where I wanted it--for longer handles, pin them closer together. Loop the ribbon at the end to make a handle. I started at the top of one side and ended in the same place. I sewed up and down each side of the ribbon on both handles. Then I turned the whole mat inside out and decided how far in I wanted to go and sewed both sides up. Finally, I made small triangles at the bottom and sewed those to give it a rounded look. I turned it inside out and glued a plastic flower on the corner where the ribbons met to cover that up and ta-da! I made a bag!!!!We had a couple of girls who didn't come and since I'd already purchased the stuff, I went ahead and made their bags for them. I've also seen them decorated with buttons or bows, instead of the flowers. Many ways to be creative. I think they cost (if you already have thread) about $3.50 to $4 each. Soooo cute!!

Movie

I need to clear something up first of all: My parents and my grandma gave Jenna money to buy that dog. I just wrote "grandmas." And it was for her birthday. Thank you!!!

At the risk of having my brothers beat me up, I just have to say that the new Hannah Montana movie is soooooo cute!! My friend and I took some of our kids to the matinee this morning and I really liked it. They do a dance in it called "Hoedown Throwdown." Kristen is learning that dance in her dance class to perform at the recital and I just love it! I'll have to have Kristen teach it to me....

Golden

Jenna got some money from her grandmas and decided to buy a new dog with it. I know....just what she needs is another dog (she has about 15 stuffed dogs), but it's her thing. Most of her dogs are little, but the one she chose is HUGE! Meet Golden, aka. Diamond, Ogden, or Boy:It's so cute--she loves to go to sleep with Golden. She drags him around everywhere! But personally, I'm glad the dog she chose is stuffed. We have one dog, Toby, but the kids (especially Kristen) keep begging for another real dog. I love Toby, but one dog at a time is plenty for me!

Fish

The day before my grandpa died, our Betta fish named Finn died. It was almost 3 1/2 years old, which is quite long for a Betta (average life-span is 2-3 years). Well....Kristen was sooo upset! All he kids were sad. I told them we would go and pick out a new fish. Jarren was so insistent on getting one exactly like Finn and wanted to name it Finn. Kristen wanted a different one. It was a battle. I decided to buy a new tank, one that has a divider so you can put two Bettas in it and they won't fight. We had just been using a goldfish bowl and this one is easier to clean. Kristen picked out a pretty one and named it Shimmer. Jarren picked one out that he thought was like Finn, but Finn didn't have a reddish tail, and named it Finn. Everyone was happy....until we got home and Jenna asked where her fish named Murmur was. We went back and got another tank the next day and a fish for Jenna. When Kendall got back from Texas, he went and picked out a pretty bluish one and named it Viper. I never realized how many different colors of Bettas there are. Happy days!

Happy Birthday Jenna!

My baby turned 3 years old yesterday! And she's quick to inform me that she's not a baby anymore. A couple of days ago, I told Jenna that it was going to be her birthday and I asked how old she was going to be. She's been telling me for weeks now that she's 3, so she told me she was going to be 4. We got it figured out now though--she knows she's 3. Jarren and I started singing Happy Birthday to Jenna when she woke up and she ran and hid. But then she got excited. She loved the balloons and telling everyone that it was her happy birthday. She is not a girly girl and has loved the color blue, but about a week ago, she decided her favorite color is pink and she wanted a pink doggy cake. I tried, but I got one ear bigger than the other and had to try and fix that. I also forgot to frost between the layers. And the black gel kept running. Even though it's not the best cake, she LOVED it!!!! And that's the most important thing. She didn't need any reminding of what you do with a wrapped present.She got a Smurf house, some little pony and puppy in my pockets, the rest of the Backyardigans beanie babies (not the best picture, but you can see how happy she was to get those!!), an owl webkinz, several books, a ball, and a bear puzzle. What a happy day she had! My sister and her family came and stay overnight and the cousins all had fun together. Happy Birthday Jenna!!

Grandpa Krebs

Well, it seems that I'm the last in the family to blog about this. My paternal grandpa passed away yesterday. He was battling 3 types of cancer (prostate, bone, and lung), so it is for the best, but it's still hard to let him go. I am really feeling terrible for the kids--they love Grandpa and don't want him to die. To make it harder, Kendall and Jon are in Texas for the week and aren't even here. I haven't heard about any funeral arrangements yet, so hopefully they'll be back or can make it back in time--it just helps for closure, I think, to be there. We have so many fun, good memories of Grandpa. Here are just a few (sorry it's so long):

When I was a teenager, we went camping to Jackson Hole, WY like we did every summer. My grandparents had this big 5th wheel trailer, with only the two of them sleeping in it, so my parents sent me and Jen (my sister) over there to sleep. I woke up and just knew a bear was outside of the trailer. Turns out, it was Grandpa snoring. He sure could snore!

I used to put a big pillow in my pants when it was my birthday because Grandpa liked to give me birthday spankings (and they HURT) and he'd always lose count and start over. So, instead of 8 I got 39. He must have wised up because he didn't even try. Then days (or weeks) later when we'd be visiting at his house, he'd say, "Katie, I forgot to give you your birthday spankings."

He sang me the song, "K-K-K-Katie"--or whatever it's called--every single time I saw him for years and years. I loved it!

He took Kendall fishing (with Jon too) and Kendall has begged to go again ever since.Kendall loved to hear about his WWII stories--so did Jon.

The kids loved to go and visit him and play pool or ping pong, chase the chickens, and go see the horses.

One of my most special, recent memories is of the great visit we had with Grandpa just 6 months ago, before we all knew about the cancer. We were able to have a good couple of hours with him. We had some great talks and really had a good time.We will sure miss Grandpa and love him sooo much!

Hair...again

I've decided that I can't style my hair. Here's a look at my attempt: