Coloring books and minis

With Christmas coming up, I have been getting a lot of orders for coloring books.  I love it!  I made a smaller version for myself and have really liked it.  So, I thought I would put them on here too.  The original size (shown with the pimk and purple flowers) holds a standard clipboard and letter sized paper.  The mini version (shown in the lime/grey) holds a smaller clipboard that is 6x9" and letter paper that is cut in half.  The larger size holds 14 or 15 crayons/colored pencils/skinny markers, the smaller one I made only holds four and has a pocket next to it, but it can also be made to hold about 10 crayons.  They include the clip board, but not the paper/crayons/stickers.

Until Christmas, I will be selling the larger (portfolio) sized coloring books for $15 and the smaller (day planner) sized ones for $10.  After that, they will go back to the regular prices of $20 and $13.

I will update the fabrics I have available in my store, but I can make them in any color/theme you want.  If you want them in time for Christmas, order soon!

Toddler Pizzas

I'm no gourmet cook, but I'm usually able to scrape something together to feed our family each night for dinner.  But, when it comes to lunch, we seem to have a lot of turkey sandwich or quesadilla days.  I've noticed that I'm not very creative, or even motivated around lunch-time.  This may be a no-brainer for most of you, but I have some work to do.  So, slowly but surely, I am trying hard to not give my kids' lunch the shaft each day.

One thing we made last week was very well received.  I made tiny pizzas with refrigerated biscuits, and ended up having to make a second batch because they were gone so quickly.

 

I started with a tube (that sounds very un-appitizing) of refrigerated biscuits, some shredded mozzerella, diced tomatoes, and some toppings.

I squashed the biscuits so they were a little bigger and not so fluffy.

Then I placed a small scoop of diced tomatoes on each one with some italian seasoning and garlic salt.  You could use thily sliced tomatoes, pizza sauce or tomato sauce too, but I didn't have any- so diced it was!

After that, put on whatever you want, or have the kids make their own.  Mine usually eat better if they help.  We went with just cheese on most, but some had pepperoni or spinach and pepperoni.

Another way to do it, is putting a second biscuit on top and sealing the edges to make tiny calzones.

I baked them with the directions on the biscuit tube and they came out golden and bubbling.  I was planning on baking two batches- one to eat and one to freeze for another day.  We ended up eating them both, but I think I'll try again so I have some in the freezer ready to go when we need a quick lunch.

These were the perfect size for all the kids.  The little ones were good with one, and the bigger kids ate a few each.  Try them out- Enjoy!

Two months in fast foward

The last two months has gone by pretty quickly for me.  We've been busy with a wide variety of activities, and I haven't stopped much to update anything.  So, I thought I would do it now.

On Father's Day Blake did Tanner's baby blessing.  My Dad, Uncle Derek, Stephen Whitener, Joey West, and my Grandpa Cristensen were all up there with him  It was really nice.  We were going to do it a week or two earlier, but we decided to wait for Derek to get back from Brasil and my Grandpa to get back from a long road trip with my Grandma.  I'm glad we waited for them.  That ended up being the last time we got to see my Grandpa Cristensen.  He passed away just a couple weeks later.  It was really special to me that he was there.

Tanner was nice and quiet for the blessing, and we were able to bless him before we left our ward in Arizona (which we really miss already!).

We took all the kids in to get their eyes checked in June because Stephen is very far-sighted and should have had glasses long before we knew he needed them.  He is legally blind without them, and we had no idea!  Berkeley's eyes are normal for her age, but Brady's pretty far-sighted as well.  So he got his new glasses, and is very excited about them.

We had to say good-by to all our good friends in Arizona for a couple of years.  This is Berkeley and her friend Sophi.

We got on a plane, and moved all the way across the country to Buffalo, Ney York!  The kids were really excited about having a "camping party" the first night before we got all of our furniture out of the truck and set up.  Uncle Cory and Aunt Cande drove a moving truck with our stuff for us, which was really nice because they got there the same night we did and got to spend a couple of days here too.

Blake's parents and brother took a week and drove our car across the country for us, stopping along the way to visit family and see some sights.  While they were here, we went to Palmyra, NY and visited the Church history sights there.  Here's a picture of our group at the Whitmer farm.

And the kids on the Hill Cumorah.

This was the first trip to Niagra Falls for the kids and myself.  We visited the Canadian side and saw the beautiful Falls from there.  The kids wanted to go on the boat, so we took a ride on The Maid of the Mist and went right up to the mist from the falls.  It was pretty awesome!

For the Fourth of July, we had a barbeque with some new ward friends and then went to the University at Buffalo to watch fireworks.

Later that week we had a picnic on a farm with the other residents that Blake works with.  It was really pretty.  They even had a hay ride for everyone.

On Wednesday last week, we went to a local farm and picked blueberries.  We ended up with just under five pounds, but the kids probably ate two or three more while we were picking.  I had never seen a blueberry plant that I can remember.  We used to go pick them in Portland, but I was too young to remember that.  The fields were beautiful, and it was a gorgeous day!

 Tanner is two months old now, and the big kids just love him to death.  He's super sweet, and growing like crazy. He's already 15 pounds!  It's been going by quickly, but we've enjoyed every moment of it.

So, that's what we've been up to for the last two months.  I will try to update this more frequently now that we are settled in our new home.

Baby Tanner!

Now that we are a little more settled and got the computer set up (finally), I can share some more pictures of our newest family member.

Tanner Kelby Tucker!

He was born May 22nd late at night.  He was 9 lbs 13.5 oz and 21 inches long.

He was by far our biggest baby yet!

The kids just love him and ask constantly if they can hold and kiss and snuggle him.

Biggest brother Stephen.

Big brother Brady.

Super excited big sister Berkeley!

Tanner's trip home from the hospital, and first time strapped in.

Taking a nap in the tire swing at the cabin.  We went up to Pinedale the day after we got home from the hospital.  I know people usually rest at home for awhile, but the older kids are a lot easier to watch when they can play and explore outside where it's not 110+ durring the day.  Plus, we had Blake's parents with us, so that helped a lot.  I didn't have to cook and clean.  I just got to relax and take naps durring the day with my Tanner.  It was really nice.  I'm glad we got to spend some time up there before we moved.

Mother's Day Boutique

Over the weekend, I participated in a Mother's Day Boutique to benefit the USO.  This was the first one I've ever done, and I was a bit nervous about how it would go.  I sewed and sewed for like two months to get ready.  I knew I was making too much stuff, but I'd rather have left over things, than not enough.

The first things to sell (and they sold out quickly) were the coloring books and magnet books.  They were a big hit.

My friend Jenny made some really cute strap covers for SLR cameras and some replacement straps for point and shoot cameras too!

My sister and I have been making these easy chenille burp cloths for years, and I saw a really cute way to package them on my cousin's blog here.  So I made a few sets for this event.

I love the carseat canopies that are so popular now.  When I had my last baby, which was only 2 1/2 years ago, I never saw these.  I wish I had, because the girl ones turned out really cute.  I am having a boy in the next week or two, so I made some cool boy ones too, but the ruffles I put on the girl ones really made them super cute!

Here is a picture of my whole booth.  It wasn't too fancy, but I had a good time.

And, I had the best salesman helper ever!  He didn't want to be left out, so he made some drawings to sell for 50 cents each, and sold them all.  He had even more fun than I did!

I did't sell even close to everything I brought, but I sold enough and had a great time with Stephen,my friends, and my family that came to help and support me! 

I had a few people ask about doing custom or future orders too.  You can always e-mail me at bozbaby@live.com and let me know what you're looking for.  I'm sure we can work it out!

Cloth Diapers...DONE!

I've always liked the idea of cloth diapering with the new modern styles of diapers out there.  I have a few I used on my little girl occasionally but never really did it full-on.  With the new baby on the way, I wanted to give it a better shot.  Since this is our fourth and probably last, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend all the money for a whole set of each size in the all-in-ones, and I'm not a big fan of the prefolds with covers.  But, I found tons of free patterns online similar to the ones I already had.  So, I thought I would give it a try.  I made a couple and tried them out for leaking as best I could with out a small baby to try them on.  They did great, and weren't too difficult to make.

I think they turned out pretty good, and I have patterns for the bigger sizes if I decide to keep going when he outgrows these.  With all the materials, these ones only cost $2-$3 each, instead of $18-$20 to buy them.  With the time it took to make them, it was still well worth it.

I told myself if I was going to do this, I had to finish these before I could start sewing any more fun stuff for the baby.  Well, I finished all the topstitching today, and I'm DONE!!  I have a nice big stack of 15 newborn diapers!  Now I can start on the carseat, crib bedding, nursing covers, slings, etc.  It's nice to have them finished.  I just have to wait and see if they work as well as I'm hoping!

Oh, and my four-year-old has been very interested in them.  So, since he still needs something at night, I made four training pants for him with the larger diaper pattern.  I just cut off the tab parts and put some knit ribbing on the sides to make them stretchy so he can put them on himself.  He likes these so much better than wearing a baby diaper like his little sister.