Refashions

So I have a friend who blogs about the refashions and crafts she does and it inspired me to do some of my own.  :)  Here's what I've been up to:

I am beginning to need maternity clothes and WILL NOT pay $50 for pants that won't be worn very long...okay really I won't pay $50 for pants ever!  So I found this tutorial:  Maternity Pants Tutorial on how to turn regular pants into maternity pants, it looked easy enough so since it was 50% off day at Goodwill my three kids and I took a little trip.  I found 2 shorts that were cute, modest and would have fit without the baby bump.  So on to JoAnns to buy stretchy fabric.  It took about 30 minutes to cut off the top and sew on the stretchy band; it was so easy and I LOVE them.  Every crafty pregnant mama should try this!!  (Sorry no picture, I wasn't in the mood to take a picture of my belly today.)

While I was there I also found a men's shirt to try out this tutorial: The Shirt Dress Tutorial  Once I got the pattern drawn up I was able to sew up the entire dress in about an hour!  I LOVE IT!!  Instead of sewing the waist band on top I cut the dress and sewed it in and with that was able to make the skirt fuller.  To make the skirt fuller I cut the entire bottom of the shirt off and gathered it then sewed it onto the waist band.  The shirt I got was strait across the bottom so I didn't even have to hem it!  I removed the buttons from the left over part of the shirt and added them in between the original buttons because for a little girl's dress they were too far apart.  (I didn't make new button holes just sewed them on-Button holes get very time consuming)

I can't wait to do another one!  Sleep in fear Robert's dress shirts because you are next...you know which one's you are...the one with the little stain on the collar and the one with the stain on the sleeve...You will soon be a lovely little girl dress!!

Happy Crafting!!

Califonia Pictures...Finally

I really struggled doing something with the hundreds of pictures we took in California but I FINALLY narrowed them down to the best and here they are.

A Good Dog!

So an update on Chelsea, the dog. She is still driving me crazy digging up the gardens, I swear she knows what plants we are especially proud of and tries to destroy those ones-never hurting the weeds of course! I have tried every suggestion out there besides a 6 food fence (a bit much for a small back yard though). If anyone has any more suggestions, I'll try pretty much anything.

When we got her we also got a cage for the bird, Cookie...just in case... Well, today they had an encounter...

Cookie flew out the open door. Robert and Michael thought that she flew out of the yard so they started searching down the street when they heard Cookie squawk in our back yard. Then they heard a lot of squawking from Cookie and from other birds.

They ran fast and when they got to Cookie they found her in the corner of the yard with Chelsea protectively laying in front of her keeping away the larger, meaner black birds that were circling above!

Cookie had a minor foot injury and she's missing some feathers off her back but she was so happy to see Robert and the inside of our house again. Perhaps she won't be as eager to get outside and she won't fly into the windows as much.

So good dog Chelsea, you passed the "are you friendly with birds" test!

This is a good post!

Do you ever have great news that you just don't feel like sharing right away?  You just want to be selfish for a time and keep all the joy to yourself?  Well, I do.

Sometimes I just don't want to share things because sometimes people just aren't as excited as I am about my joy or they say, "I knew it!" instead of the "That's so wonderful!" that I hope to hear.  And other times I just don't want to tell because of all the work it takes to tell everyone that must be told...all the phone calls to parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends...and the list goes on! (Not that I don't LOVE talking to all of you but sometimes knowing that I must call all of you in a short amount of time while taking care of my children too can be a bit overwhelming-I know you have all heard them screaming for my attention in the background!  So please don't be offended that we didn't call.)

So, I am telling how I want, when I want and if you are reading this congratulations, you may be one of the first to know.  To those of you who wanted to know sooner but didn't check our blog, you should check our blog more often because there are some really fun pictures of our kids (that some of you have probably requested to see) and fun movies of, what else, our kids!!

Speaking of movies of our kids, here's a great one, they are SO SILLY! Enjoy!



Come back again soon to check out more fun stuff about our kids on our blog!!

Hello from California!

Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, CA

Some of My Favorite Library Books

I love checking out new and interesting books from the library. You can learn so much about anything this way! Most of the books I check out have something to do with fabric or food. Here are some of my favorite books I have found so far:

I love the diversity of foods this book teaches you to can. The recipe I can't wait to try out: Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate on page 192. It is so rosy pink and crystal clear and sounds yummy too!


I love this canning book because it is written by someone who has done a lot of it. I loved that she teaches the difference between jams, jellies, butters, preserves, conserves, marmalade and curds. Who knew there were so many things to eat with your peanut butter and bread! My favorite recipes I have tried and love: Orange Marmalade, Lemon Curd and Banana Pineapple Jam.



This quilting book is awesome! I love the asymmetrical designs that look like you sewed it crooked but really that's how the quilt was designed!



These two quilting books have some great quilts in them I just love the colors they have used and all the shapes the quilts have.

I like that this book shows you how different a quilt can look if you just make it in different colors.




And last but not least if you live in the Phoenix area and TRY to garden, you NEED this book! I loved it so much I ended up buying it! The author is from here and explains what to grow and how to grow. It's great!!

So "check them out" if you need a new read.

Changes in the Bond Home

March has definitely been the month of change so far for us.  At the beginning of the month we changed around some of our stuff to make room for Emily to live with us again.  The kids sure love having her around.  I don't know if they like her so much because she plays with them or because she sneaks them candy when mom and dad aren't around...probably both.


Yesterday we had some changes too.  We have been talking for quite a while about getting a dog and although we can't decide on color, size, breed, or even if a dog is a good choice, we did finally make one choice:  we are now a doggie foster home.   :)  We decided that fostering a familyless dog would give us the chance to decide if we want to make the life long commitment of adopting a dog. We picked up our first dog last night.

Her name is Chelsea she is a 1 year old German Shepherd Lab mix.  She has short hair and she comes up to just below my knee.  She thinks she is a lap dog... 

She is really playful and patient with the kids.

She is sweet and loving and well, perfect...so far.

I'll update you later on if she stays that way after the first 24 hours.


Oh and don't worry, there have been changes for Cookie, our Cockateil, too.   She now has a cage to call home. 

I don't know if she likes the cage as much as her home on the shelf but this is just how it's going to be from now on.  I am going to enjoy not stressing about her flying out the door or into the kitchen while I'm cooking.  (Besides we really didn't want to find out the hard way that the dog, ahem, likes birds...)

So there you have it.  Exciting changes in our home!

Happy Birthday James!!

Today James turned 3!  He is such a sweet and fun boy that loves to make people happy!  However, when he wants to be a stinker he knows exactly what bugs each person!  I love that he quickly comes to Katelyn's aide when she is sad or throwing a tantrum. Without being asked he will begin to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to her and by the end of the song she is happy and smiling again.  He loves doing Preschool and knows many if not all of the letters and can count to 10.  He is very proud of his name and if he is ever referred to as something other than James, such as handsome, he gets very defensive and says, "No, I'm James Robert Bond!"   We love him so much and we are glad he is in our family!

For his special day we had cake:

He was so excited about new "Cars" cars.

He loved that he got to pick what ever piece of the cake he wanted, he picked Lightening McQueen.

The cake was really, really good.

Good thing his gift was a bubble maker for bubble baths--trust me they all needed a bath after that cake, especially Katie.

Happy Birthday James, WE LOVE YOU!!