New pillows for the family room

We bought our couch and red chairs in the family room about 3 1/2 years ago. When we were at the furniture store something came up about the pillows and I said, "I don't care what the pillows look like, I'm going to recover them anyway." Since the red in the pillows matched the red chairs, they still looked like this until a few days ago:

I finally got sick enough of them to make covers. After lots of searching, I finally found the perfect fabric.

The third pillow is from one of the red chairs, I got over my love of symmetry and put the blue flower pillow on the couch too because I love how it looks with the floral.

Our living and dining rooms are red and gold (as seen here), and so was our family room. The kitchen has blue and white, which is what we've always had. I have been wanting to tie the kitchen and family room together better since they are one big room--thus the red, gold, and blue in the new pillows. I am so happy to have blue in the family room now!

Crafty details:
All three pillows have invisible zippers and are fully lined. I got to use my serger which made me happy. Tutorial here. The flower pillow was made using felt and this tutorial.

Fall Garland

While at Target today I found some glittery pumpkins and leaves in the dollar section. They were $1 for a pack of 5. I wanted to buy them, but I needed a use for them. I decided that I could make a fun fall garland for our fireplace.

I like how the pumpkins match my glittered pumpkins and the leaves match my red vases and chair.

Kaylin loves it. When she saw it hung up she said, "Look, Mom, a pattern! Leaf, pumpkin, leaf pumpkin..." She also thinks that I need one more pumpkin on the end to finish the pattern. I then explained the symmetry of the garland to her. I was happy to have an opportunity to talk math :-).

In case you're curious, here's how I made the garland:

I punched two small holes at the top of each pumpkin/leaf, I think I used a 1/8" punch. I wove hemp twine in the left hole, around the back, and then through the right hole so that the twine will be behind the pumpkin/leaf. {Side note... I have hemp twine leftover from when I used to make hemp necklaces in high school. They were so cool. Did anyone else make those or was that just cool at my school? It's come in handy for many craft projects, it's thin and sturdy and I love it.} That's it. It took me around 5 minutes and cost $2.

Boise

At the beginning of September we went to Boise to visit Eric's sister and her family. Our newest nephew was born only a month earlier and we were excited to meet him. I realized when I got home that I didn't take many pictures. I don't even have a picture of our new nephew!

The drive went okay. Kaylin did really well and Lauren was alright. The travel toys helped a lot. They kept Kaylin really busy. We stopped in Richland to see the Columbia River Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Neither of us had seen it before. It's a beautiful temple with really nice grounds. We let the girls run some energy out in the grass.

While in Boise we swam in the pool a few times. We invited our cousins to our hotel for a swimming party. Hey... It looks like a did get a picture of the new nephew. Do you see him in his car seat in the background?

We also swam in one of Eric's uncle's pools and then went to another uncle's house for a BBQ.

Other highlights:
*We went to one of Eric's mission companion's house for dinner and got to hang out with his awesome family and see their amazing garden and yard.
*We went to Boise State for an hour. We saw the blue turf and decided that it doesn't look as awful as it does on TV.
*We saw our brother-in-law's new chiropractic office. If you're in Boise and need a great chiropractor, go to Action Chiropractic :-).
*We ate lunch at Cafe Rio.
*We went to a few fun local parks.
*We drove around the Boise Temple that is currently being renovated.

The last night we went to Texas Roadhouse Grill for dinner. Some friends from Boise convinced us that we needed to go there just for the complimentary rolls and cinnamon butter--amazing.
Lauren and Jack entertained each other. They couldn't stop laughing at each other.

The one thing I didn't do that I wanted to... go to Hobby Lobby. I didn't realize there was one in Boise, and right by our hotel, until it was too late. Sad.

The drive home went alright, I think it was a little better than the drive there. Lauren slept for two 30-minute stints whereas she only slept for 15 minutes on the way there. It was a fun trip, I'm glad we were able to go.

First day of preschool!

Today was Kaylin's first day of preschool. She is going to a co-op preschool that we're both really excited about. I'm excited that I still get to be a part of her school experience since I'll be working in the classroom twice a month. We've been talking a lot about preschool and about being nice to others, but this morning I found out what her real concern was. While I was getting ready for the day she asked me, "Mom, is there a bathroom at preschool?" She was happy to hear that there is.

printable found here

"Mom! Look at those birds!"

Kaylin is such a sweet, smart girl. We are excited to see how she grows and develops this year.