It's Done!

A few weeks back I became OBSESSED with this project. I couldn't believe it. Isn't that the most adorable little playhouse EVER!? Seriously... obsessed. I was determined to make one for the kiddos.

I measured like a maniac on our card table. I took a big roll of newsprint and sketched exactly what I wanted (which basically meant I drew a smaller version of the playhouse I fell in love with). Then I measured again to figure out how much felt (the fabric type I used) I'd need. Then I waited for the felt to come on sale at the craft store. Fine... I went to the craft store fully expecting to pay full price. Heck, I even got up to the register with my cut cloth fully expecting to pay full price. Thank goodness for totally unadvertised sales.

But you don't care about all this. The point is... it's done!!! It took WAY less time than a project of this magnitude should take a good mother. Let's just say that nap time for Chandler turned into quiet time for Jessica. It's a trade-off, right? Here it is - the playhouse!


I thought about putting an actual door on the playhouse, like the one I fell in love with. But that just seemed too dark and too likely to get ripped off.

The mail box comes complete with a few pieces of mail.

The big window side has a window box with flowers that can be removed. I followed the directions from the other playhouse.


The last two sides are my favorite. The garden has corn, lettuce, and carrots that can be removed. Again, look at the inspiration site for extra info.


The tree/dog side is fun too. The apples on the tree come off as well and reattach with velcro. The dog is a copy-cat from this Etsy store. She actually makes and sells these types of playhouses. I can't believe her prices. I mean, the materials were super cheap, but when I count my time... no way I would sell these. No way. There's a bag next to the dog with removable bones to feed him.


The windows are lined with tulle, left over from Prom dresses years ago. I won't pretend that my version is NEARLY as cute as the inspiration, but I love it. I'm fully expecting it to only get a few minutes excitement from Jessica, but that's ok. I'm just glad it's done so I can be a good mommy again and finally clean the bathroom... ugh. :)

Halloween

Halloween was not the night we expected it to be. Jessica was super tired the whole time and after about 5 houses of trick-or-treating she was begging to go home. She fell asleep on our way back. Poor kid. Maybe next year. :)

What it was really like.

28 1/2

I have wanted to celebrate Michael's half birthday for FOREVER! But it's just one of those things I never remember when the timing is right. This year I remembered just a couple weeks beforehand. I kept it low-key: half a cake, hot cocoa for a present, and dinner at Chuck-a-Rama (Michael LOVES this place!). It was a fun night.

Chandler

Here's our boy!

Church Halloween Party

On the Tuesday before Halloween our church had a Halloween party. Rather than a trunk-or-treat kind of thing, they had a carnival theme. Jessica loved the cake-walk and getting her face painted. Michael spent his time overseeing the scout's booth - "Whack a scout." The scouts would pop up out of a hole while kids tried to hit them with a foam bat. Fun stuff.

Mesa Falls

This past weekend we packed up and headed to Mesa Falls for a last minute camping trip. It was the first campout for the kids and the first of our married life (how sad is that!?). We were so glad our inflatable mattress fit in the back of our SUV once we discovered that we didn't have the right poles for the tent. Oops. Now we're just sad that we have to wait until warmer weather to head out again (except Michael who will be going once a month with our church scout troup).

Pumpkin Patch

Rather than grab a pumpkin from the store this year we headed off to a local pumpkin patch. So cute! We went once with Michael and then a few days later with some friends. There was a hay bale maze, a mini train and, of course, tons of pumpkins. Super fun!

A Busy Weekend

This past weekend sure was crowded. Thursday morning we drove to Boise for the swearing-in ceremony. Michael is official now. :)

Afterwards we celebrated at PF Changs. Mongolian Beef and Seared Lamb - YUM!

We took the next morning slow and just played at the hotel pool.

It wasn't long before we wished we'd left a little earlier as we were stuck in traffic on our way to the BYU-Utah State game in Provo with Michael's parents that evening. Luckily we were only a little late. It was great to be back at Lavell Edwards Stadium to cheer on our Cougs!

Saturday morning we dropped Jessica and Chandler off with my parents in SLC (they're serving a Church/Family History mission there) and we were able to go to General Conference for our church. I love being there to hear the prophet speak. Amazing!

After a quick lunch with my parents we were back to our hotel in Provo to listen to the afternoon session. We got together for dinner with some family from the Hales side. Ruby River Steakhouse - Delish!

That evening, while the men were off at priesthood session Michael's mom, sister, and I went shopping. I love this tradition. But honestly, I'm useless shopping without Michael. I can never find anything I love for a price I want to pay. Michael can go into one store and find 10 things for me that are perfect. But I did get a cute pair of black peep-toe heels.

The next day we listened to the Sunday morning session at the hotel then went back up to SLC to my parent's place. We did lunch there again. The weather was iffy, so we decided to head home after that.

It was a busy weekend, but a great one!

In other news, Michael's firm has decided it would be good to have someone licensed in Nevada (something about it being better to incorporate businesses there). So it looks like Michael will be taking the Nevada Bar exam in February. I'm so not excited.