Planting Trees

Trees were seventy-five percent off at Atwood's this weekend, so we bought a car load.

How many trees do you think can fit in the back of a Volvo with one child in the back seat. Apparently nine trees and two pineapple plants, because that's what we were able to get in mine. When my husband was unloading it, it looked like a clown car from the circus. You know the kind that seem to have an endless space available. Of course the tallest trees were also sticking out the sunroof.

We bought four plum trees, two peach trees, one weaping willow, and two pine trees, in addition to the two nectarine trees my husband already purchased this week. I always loved picking fresh plums from my grandma's trees when I was little. I hope these trees do well in my backyard so I can relive some of those old memories with some delicious fresh plums.

This picture is Coral's impersonation of child being attacked by a tree monster.

List of Swimsuit Tutorials

I'm thinking of making my own swimsuit this year. I've already purchased one, but since all of my old ones are too big this year, I figure I'll need a few more. This is a collection of the tutorials and patterns that I've found for DIY swimsuits.

Tie One On: DIY Swimsuits, at MarthaStewart.com.

Rockabilly Summer Swimsuit from Threadbanger.com.

T-shirt Bikini from Threadbanger.com. You'll find the tutorial in the second half of the video at 5min.com.

Bikini Top and Micro Mini Swim Skirt also at 5min.com

Free Swimsuit pattern from BurdaStyle.com.

Swimsuit from Cutting Edge Stitches & Seams.

Bow-tie Bikini from Weekend Designer.

T-shirt into a one piece from GiannyL on Instructables.com.

Little Fairy Girl

I had a little fun with Photoshop last night. I Was looking through old pictures, and found this one of Coral when she was about two and a half/ three years old. She looked so cute and dainty, like a little fairy, so I decided to turn her into one. Fun with Photoshop is always a good way to spend a Friday night at home. It feels much more productive than watching TV. Although I did watch Smallville in the mirror next to my PC.

Ballet Recital 2010

Coral's ballet recital this year was fantastic. She was in five dances. Two with her musical theater class, and two with her ballet class, and then there was a finale with everyone. She performed wonderfully. I'm very proud of her.

This is her in her Dew Drop costume after the show.

Evening of Fine Arts

The Evening of Fine Arts at LCS was a big hit. Kristen is a beautiful singer. A full article about the event can be found here on the LCS website.

Kristen is on the first row furthest on the right in this picture.

Here she is again. This time on the second row, still furthest on the right.

Mommy Rhapsody

The Mother's Day weekend service at Church on the Move was wonderful as always. The guest speaker was Joe McGee. He is the usual speaker on Mother's Day, and is one of my favorites...in the top five somewhere, depending on my mood.

The video below is the opening of the service this weekend. Top notch performance by these moms.

Mommy Rhapsody from Church on the Move on Vimeo.

First Orchestra Concert

This is Coral in her very first Orchestra concert, third grade, May 10, 2010. She was so excited about this concert. After all, she has been preparing since she was four years old.

She did absolutely wonderful. We could definitely hear her over everyone else. She said it was because her fingers were much stronger than the other performers. Most of them just started playing, and haven’t had enough time to build up finger strength. She is probably right.

I can’t wait for next year’s concert.

Summer is Almost Here!

Summer is almost here. Twelve more days of school left for my oldest daughter, and Twenty more days left for my youngest. This is going to be a great summer. We have season passes to the local water park; a season passes to Six Flags; and a zoo membership, so our weekends and evenings are going to be pretty full this summer.

New things I would like to do this summer:

Visit the Oklahoma City Zoo. I’ve never been to that zoo, but my cousin lives down there, so it would be a nice day trip to visit her and her family.

Visit Six Flags St. Louis. Again, never been there, but it is fairly close, and our season pass includes admission to the water park.

Drive to Amarillo. My husband father was from the area, and he has really been wanting to take a trip there.

Teach my daughters HTML. (I say that every summer.)

Teach my oldest daughter how to create 3D graphics. She wants to be a game animator when she grows up, and it is time to get her started learning the ins and outs of 3D design.

One Hour Snow White Costume

We were on the way home the other day when my daughter informed me she needed a costume for her fairy tale book report the next day. Luckily her book report was on Snow White, so her school uniform worked great as the top, and all we needed was a skirt. I made quick detour to Wal-mart for some costume satin, then headed home to spend a little time at the sewing machine. This is what I came up with. I think she looks lovely, but I sure wish she would learn to give me some notice.

Felted Sweater Purse

This is my very first felted sweater project. I used a green wool sweater that I found at Dollar Tree. The sweater was less expensive than the zipper I used for the inside pocket, and green is my favorite color. I love the long wide strap; it is so comfortable for long outings. The only thing that I don't like is that it isn't a very comfy purse once the temperature reaches about seventy-six degrees. At that point wool is no longer comfortable.