Standiford Family

Five years ago this week we bought our blue bus, as it’s kind of lovingly called.  The van has taken us to a lot of places:  Chicago several times, Indianapolis a few times, Cincinnati once, Sandusky, OH I think once or twice, and I can’t forgot our trip to Virginia last year that also included Washington, D.C. and the coast in Maryland.

Last week I was talking to my sister-in-law and we were discussing our vans.  The mileage was one topic.  I was happy to announce we only had 30,000 miles (maybe that’s a little pathetic but we’ll be driving it forever) and Sonia said they had 50,000 in 3 years.  Well I was wrong about the number.  We haven’t even hit 30,000 yet!  The odometer says 29,921.

There are days when I would love to trade in the van for something smaller (and a little less mom-ish) but then I remember how awful it would be for the kids to actually have to sit next to each other, possibly touching.  I will try to be happy with the blue bus for a few more years.  At least until one or two of the kids are out of the house.  Then I’m buying myself a nice little, fast car.

Even the Tooth Fairy is feeling the effects of the bad economy.  Today she has to scrounge up enough money to pay not one but two children in our home.  That’s right.  Mat and Meg both lost a tooth today.  Here’s the proof:

This lovely lily is growing in one of our flower beds.  I just had to share the beauty of it.  It’s about 8 inches across and a lovely wine color.

On May 31st Mattey got baptized.  We had a lot of family attend and a few friends and neighbors.  It was a nice day.  We’re so proud of Mattey for making this decision to follow Jesus.

Grandma and Grandpa were there too but didn’t get their picture taken.  Megan and Kade wanted to participate in some way.  Meg played the prelude and postlude.  Kade passed out the programs.

Afterward we went to our house for a family party.  There we got to eat Mattey’s big cake and she got enough money to buy herself a DS.  Nice hair extensions, Mat.

May 21st was Mattey’s birthday.  She got to open a few presents from us and later had cup cakes.

She took cup cakes to school, the last day of school that is.  Mickey met her there for a birthday lunch.

The next day she had a few friends from school over for a party.  They were a fun bunch but none of them had a very long attention span.  At their pretend sleep over they ate pizza, did a craft, painted their nails, sang songs, and played hide and seek.  Mattey got even more Webkinz.  Lucky girl.

I’ve done a few projects/orders in the past couple months.  Thought I’d share pictures.

This is the wedding invitation I made for my brother and his fiancee.  I made 80!  What was I thinking when I offered?  I don’t know but they got done and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on them.

These are little treat bags I made for St. Patrick’s Day.  I spent a fortune on the m&ms buying the two greens separately.  Oh well.  They turned out really cute.

This Fresh bag was an order.  I think it turned out really nice.  I love that main fabric.  Sadly I can’t get anymore of it.  I had wanted to make a skirt for myself out of it.  Next time I know to buy a few yards of the fabrics I like.

These eye glass cases were a request from a former neighbor.  I had to make 10!  I think I’m going to come up with a different design that could hold a small or large pair of glasses.

That same lady wanted the scripture tote but in an X-Large size.  It ended up being about 12″ X 11″ X 3″.

This was another order.  I added the ribbon and loved the way it turned out.

The small Mom bag is popular.  My cousin ordered this one.

My brother ordered this for his fiancee.  Love the Lila Tueller fabrics, Woodland Bloom.

This was a wild Modern bag.  The inside is a very BRIGHT lime green.

I made this Mom bag for our piano teacher.  She loved it.  And she’s been showing it off and I got another order.  Thanks Shanda.

I was asked to make a little wallet/change purse.  It has two little pockets for cards and then a bigger open pocket for money.  I tried a few designs but this is the one that I got to work.  I plan to work out the kinks in the other patterns but I don’t know when I’ll get to it.

This was my most recent order.  I didn’t think black and white would really look summery but they do.  It’s lined in the yellow from the wallet above.  You can’t really see it but I used a yellow thread for the top stitching.  It looked nice.

I know these aprons needed a model or something but I was in a hurry.  I made these for bridal shower gifts.  I found a great little pattern and used up some fabric I had laying around.  Now I have to make one of these aprons for myself.  Hmm…what color do I want?  And at the shower I had a few people say they wanted one too.  I may get busy again.

A few months ago I somehow stumbled across a highly talented composer I had never heard of, which isn’t weird since I get so wrapped up in my own little world.  After listening to a few of his songs I just had to buy an album, “First Love”.  And then another, “From the Yellow Room”, and now I’m ready for another one or two.  I listen to his music ALL the time, driving the kids nuts.  (I’m all about payback.)

Are you curious as to who I’m talking about?  His name is Yiruma.

I’m not really “in the know” with the music world but I thought all classical composers were dead.  Yes, I’m that ignorant.  I’m also not a huge fan of classical - I’m very picky about what I like - but this is a totally different kind of classical, light and lovely.  Even Mickey listens to it.  I’ve found some of Yiruma’s sheet music so I can play these lovely songs on the piano.

Here are some of my favorites:

River Flows In You

Kiss the Rain

Time Forgets

Passing By

It’s Your Day

Maybe

Love Me

Actually most of them are my favorites but I can’t list all the songs I have.  Go out and find them yourself.

On June 4th Mickey and I celebrated our 16th anniversary.  We decided last year that we need to get away at least twice a year, once for our anniversary and once for our birthdays (they are about 10 days apart).  We scheduled the grandparents (thanks SO much!) for the weekend and found ourselves a cute little B&B in Middlebury.  “That Pretty Place” is a great spot for a get-away. We totally recommend it if you’re in the area.  Debbie and Dave, the innkeepers, were great.

We really enjoyed our time there.  We had the cabin all to ourselves.  It was SO peaceful.  Here are a few fun shots of us.

A little bubbles go a L-O-N-G way.

We plan to go back sometime.  I hope in the fall because I’m sure it will be beautiful with all the trees changing colors.

I’m really blessed to have spent the last 16 years with my best friend.  I’m so happy I get to spend eternity with him.  Love you, Babe.

I know this a little (more like a lot) late but….sometimes things don’t get done when you want them to.

Kade turned 4 on March 29th.  When asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he said he wanted a skating party.  So that’s what we did.  We invited all our family.  A lot of us skated.  We had some pizza, ice cream, and cup cakes.  And Kade’s favorite part, opening presents.  I think the party was a success.  The best part was I didn’t have to prepare or clean up much.

Here’s a few pictures from the event.

There are a few more pictures here.

We are really enjoying our little man.  He’s quite the character.  He’s really funny.  There will be more posts of his funny character to come.

This morning Kade was downstairs playing.  I guess he really got into whatever role he was playing.  He came up crying and told me he had a Lego stuck up his nose.

“How did that happen?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

What?!  How can he not know how a Lego got up his nose?  I realized he’s only four and went with it.  I got the flashlight and looked up his nose thinking he could blow it out or I could dig it out with the tweezers.  I couldn’t even see the thing.  I asked what color it was.  He told me it was red and it was a jewel.  Great.  He’s hiding treasure.  Not the best place but really no one would think to look there.

I called Mickey at work and told him what was going on.  I then called the family doctor.  They suggested that we go to the ER.  That sounded like a lot of fun.  Me and three not so calm kids sitting in the ER for hours just waiting to be seen.  Then Mickey called me back.  His office mate had given him the suggestion of calling our ENT.  That was a much better idea.  Mickey decided to meet us there.  I think he wanted to get out of his 10 o’clock meeting.

We saw this doctor one time before (about Kade’s ears that don’t like to drain).  He’s great.  He came in to go treasure hunting.  In just about one minute he had the red jewel out.

After getting a little lecture about not putting things in our nose or ears Kade and the girls were given a sucker and sticker.  I really hope we never have to experience this again.  Not that it was really bad, the crying was finished in about 5 minutes.  But I hope they all are old enough to know better.  You’d think.