May Projects

K, here's a report of what sewing projects I accomplished for May.

#1- Aloha! Using some free fabric from a fabric distribution, I tried my hand at smocking. I think the fabric was too heavy weight for it to work right and I had a bit of a rough time working out the tension with the elastic thread (any tips on this is welcome) so the results are not as "smocked" as I would have liked, but hey, it works. She looked very cute for her luau.

#2-This is the first (and somewhat likely the last) thing I've ever sewn Boz. We got him a bunch of bbq stuff for his bday so this apron seemed appropriate. The kids had a lot of fun painting it with me (the pants I was wearing at the time were the only causality).
#3-Finally finished this set of PJ's for Elyette and her cousin McKenzie. Can you tell which one is for which girl? I got this flannel backed satin (awesome stuff for pj's, but a bit tricky for me to sew--slippery!) with the intention of making them for Christmas...hmm, better late then never, right!

#4- This dress was from some $1 per yard fabric from Walmart. So its nice to sew on cheap fabric, I feel less nervous about messing it up. Doesn't she look cute. That girl can make anything thing look good!

Oh and for #5, "lil' bee" got in the action even. She thinks I'm a wonderful :)... Although I think she's just glad to not be naked anymore.

Elyette's Aspiration

Happy Birthday Boz!

With a name like Boz, you can expect a unique individual. That he is. This now 26 year old is unlike any other. Its almost unfair how much time and care the Lord seemed to take in creating this amazing man. He's oozing with talent all across the spectrum from once being a gymnast to music composition. He's one of those people you want to hate because they can easily do anything they want and yet you can't help but love them. I'm inspired by Boz's fearless drive to try and do anything and encouraging me to do the same. When he's interested in something he becomes a total sponge. The best is when he tries to explain what he's learning to me in laymen's terms. He actually does a really great job at helping me understand, but often I just smile and nod, but its his excitement that I love watching.

Boz is real. He doesn't try to showcase himself as anything more or less than he is. He doesn't let who he thinks he should be or who he was get in the way of just being, which allows him to grow unrestrained. Somehow Boz has lived in this world and gotten along well with it and yet has remained untouched by it. I believe this to be one of his greatest gifts. To live "in" the world but not be "of" the world (something most all of us have to keep ourselves in check with, he does naturally). I think he also achieves true humility. He can accept a compliment without shirking it off or feeling inadequate as well as not getting puffed up or cocky. His actions are always honest and with true intent. He's extremely even tempered (a good balance for is crazy, emotional wife) which can be incredibly frustrating at times :).

He is a wonderful husband (regularly taking a beating from me or kindly listening to my opinionated verbal diarrhea) and as a father...well they don't get any better than him. He is patient and loving with his little ones, while also being firm and steadfast when they need him to be...well...with the exception of his little girl at times. She's got him wrapped around her slender little fingers! He's fun and wild and somehow musters up the energy to play with them no matter what. Its obvious how fiercely Boz adores his children. He truly is a one of a kind, amazing man. Today we celebrate you, Boz. Happy Birthday! I love you!- wife (aka: Maegan)

A Precious Gift

This is my dad's cello. Like me, he's been playing the cello since he was young, though I admit, he has always played much better than I. I remember the first time I sat down with a cello. I was in the 4th grade when the middle schoolers came to "draft" us grade schooler into band or orchestra by letting us try out any instrument we wanted. I first tried the flute. After getting very light headed and dizzy I decided against band altogether. Next I tried the violin. I thought that I would love the violin and was really excited about making it my instrument of choice, but it didn't quite fit. The music teacher there suggested I try the cello. I didn't have plans to try the cello, in fact I didn't really know what it was since my dad didn't yet own one for himself and I was unaware at the time that he even played. Reluctantly, I sat down with a little half size cello that fit my 10 year old self and something clicked. I know it sounds cheesy, but it seriously felt right. I imagine we all have things in our life that just feel good and right and a part of us, for me the cello is one of those things.

Lets set the record straight though, I'm not that good. Though I love it, I regret that the perfectionist in me has kept me from taking lessons or practicing much (if you are like me, you'll get what I mean by that). Only now am I learning to let that go and enjoy the process of learning and improving in pretty much everything in my life, flaws and all (and they are many). Anyway, once I started playing, a cello was often in the house and I got see my father play. He often played the Prelude of Suite I from Bach's Six Suites. Whenever I hear it, I think of my dad. In fact, that is the piece that my dad and I danced to on my wedding day.

I think my dad never owned his own cello for the longest time out of selflessness. You see he was a music major before serving his mission for our church, but after going back to school he realized that for him he needed to do something that he knew he could support his family with and music as we all know is risky. And cello's aren't exactly cheap (especially before cheap chinese imports, like my handy makeshift cello, were available) so it wasn't really an option to own one or to even have time to enjoy one when he was busy giving all of himself to his family. I was a senior in High School before my dad finally got one. Now I'm his 7th child, so he went a good 30 years or so without one. I was so proud of him for getting it, and he's been such a good example to me. I like to think that maybe I'm part of the reason he got it.

Now this precious instrument has come to me. I always knew it would come into my care some day, but I regret the circumstances surrounding my premature possession of it. Without going into personal details, my dad can no longer physically play and so, it comes to me. My dad even got his coda bow re-haired for me. My parents brought it when they visited a few weeks ago. I feel like I have received a part of my father. A part that is just for me. I wish I could have beautifully played Bach's Suites for him, but unfortunately its been quite awhile since I've played much. Though time and neglect have taken their toll on my skills, I've been working those weakened muscles and rebuilding calluses this past week, and its been a lot of fun. Truthfully, I've never been able to play Bach's Suites, but I hope soon I will be able to. (Practicing for the first time in my life :))

I'm not very good at articulating myself both speaking and in writing, but if, Dad, you ever read this... thank you. I am honored. I love you. -Maegan

My Sick Buddy

Some stinky cold hit Elyette and I really hard and fast yesterday afternoon. Last night I woke up around 1:30am and couldn't get back to sleep till 4:00am and I could tell that it was plaguing Elyette as well, so I went in to give her some motrin and she was such a sweetie. Our dialouge went something like this.

Mom walks in with a dose of children's motrin.

Elyette: MEDICINE!?!
Mom: Yep.
Elyette: Thank you
Mom: You ok?
Elyette: yeah..(in a achy voice)
Mom: does it hurt? Where?
Elyette:(pointing inside her mouth) throat.
Mom: Oh, mommy too.
Elyette: Mommy sick too?
Mom: Yeah.
Elyette: Mommy medicine?
Mom: Yep. I love you.
Elyette: Love you. Nuh night.
Mom: Good night sweetheart.

Her sweet concern for me made me feel tons better. She's my buddy! We both have been camping out on the couch munching on apple slices, sipping juice, watching movies (Beauty and the Beast twice) and letting Jack climb all over us and try stealing our food. She even helped me out when I was getting some lunch for us. Jack was whining for me and without me asking her, Elyette went over and started playing peek-a-boo with him and hiding him under her blanket with her. He was giggling like crazy, it was very cute. I love that little girl, she's one of my best friends!

Visit from Gramma and Grampa Smith

My parents were able to come for 2 days to visit from Washington this weekend on there way to Utah. I was really excited since it was the first time someone from my family has been able to come see where we are living now, plus I happen to love my parents a ton, and I got to show off Jack and Elyette.

Jack, of course, loved all the attention and hammed things up on many occasions and Elyette wanted to make sure she knew where gramma and grampa were at all times. Jack liked head bonking with grampa and after gramma created some beautiful towers from blocks, Elyette took ever opportunity to get gramma to "build a house". And I certainly appreciated the extra help with dishes. Thanks Mom!

While they were here we went up to San Francisco and walked around on Pier 39 and ate lunch at Swiss Louis. Jack was very fun and lively during lunch and since gramma gave him some tastes of her food he begged her non stop for more. Then we drove by 2000 Post, where we lived for a bit, and drove through Golden Gate Park. That night we ate pizza and watched "Chronicles of Narnia" where Elyette pointed out the "scary cow" to us (it was some creature that was with the Witch). We had a lot of fun and wished they could have stayed longer, but I have to share them with the rest of the fam. :P

Under Construction

So, I'm learning some html so I can design my own template for my blog, so bare with me if you see some odd things going on while taking a look...

Oh and I want the color box that my text is on to be opaque so you can see the background pic, but it makes the pictures that I have on my posts opaqued as well, which I don't want. If anyone knows how to fix this PLEASE let me know.

Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa

I do like variety when I eat out, but when I find something I really love I can't help but get it every time I go. Thats what happened when I had Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa Burrito (enchilada style) . Its all I ordered there and I started to crave it when not there. I've tried other places, but what ever Cafe Rio did for their barbacoa it hooked me. I poked around for copy cat recipes, but never tried making my own. Now with miles between us, I got serious, did my research and the results were AWESOME! Seriously tasty!!! Now Boz and I will have to master Brick Oven Root Beer and we'll be set. So, here's what we did for the pork (a combination from online sources I found, and my own tweaking)

Pork Barbacoa

2 lbs pork (we used pork loin)
1 cup Dr. Pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt

Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Let cook on low for about 8 hours, then shred pork. (You may also want to drain some of the liquid, depending on how runny you want it). Then add the following to the cooked pork:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 (4 oz) can mild diced green chilis
2/3 c salsa verde (green chili sauce) - we used La Victoria's Chunky Medium Salsa Verde
garlic powder and salt to taste

That's for the pork. Now, these measurements are guesstimates :). I originally put 1 cup of brown sugar in, but then I'm thinking the recipe I read maybe didn't intend for people to assume that brown sugar should be packed cause it recommended 2 cups. So I had to adjust for that, but the above is about right proportionately.

To fill the burrito:

Black Beans (or whatever kind you like)- we cooked our beans with some sugar, salt, and onion powder (more due to lack of dehydrated onions on hand). Measure about 1 cup of beans before cooking or use 2 cans of black beans for that much pork.

Rice - We threw some chicken bouillon, lemon juice, and fresh cilantro in with the rice in the rice cooker before cooking.

Monterey Jack Cheese and more of the Salsa Verde

First, preheat oven to 350, lightly grease a 9x13 pan and put a thin layer of salsa verde on the bottom of the pan. Fill tortillas (we used the partially cooked ones from Costco) with pork, rice, beans, cheese, and a little bit of salsa verde (or whatever sauce you want). Close and put seam side down into the pan. When finished, top burritos with salsa verde and cheese for enchilada style...mmm.

We used a little over a third of the pork and made 4 good sized burritos, so I imagine you could make 10-12 burritos with 2 lbs of pork.

Serve with:

Lettuce
Fresh Salsa - Tomato, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lemon/lime juice, salt, and garlic powder

To garnish:

Orange Slices - of which Elyette ate almost all 4 oranges worth. If there's gonna be a garnish it better be tasty!

Elyette-isms

I love it when kids give you the occasional window into their cute little minds through the silly things they says and do. I decided I better document some of Elyette's from the last couple of days.

-While on the way to the grocery store today, she pointed out to me that her new polka dot shoes have "bubbles" on them.

- We got a Jamba Juice to share at Safeway today and she got it on her pants. Once she saw that I wasn't mad, she went "opps, silly Eh-y-ette".

-Yesterday, she put me in time out. She came to check to see if I was ready to be nice after a minute or too, but then decided I wasn't ready to come out yet and left me again for a little while. Finally she felt I was ready to come out if I was nice. (mind you, all I was doing was brushing my teeth at the time).

-Lately when we cross the street she gets very anxious, wide eyed and speeds up "huwee... huwee, cows a' tumming" (i.e. "hurry, hurry, cars are coming"). Probably because she got busted for running into the street without me the other day.

-When I was gone Wednesday night, Boz told Elyette I was at a baby shower. Later she told him I was gone at the baby bath.

-Last Friday we went to Half Moon Bay for a picnic dinner on the beach (I'll blog on that when I get a chance). On the way home she was munching on a cookie in the car and we had just gotten past the winding roads when she told us "cookie hurts". She gets car sick easily so I figured I knew what that meant but we didn't pull over till it was too late. She called it "choking" when she threw up, which is a pretty good description I thought... poor kid.

- Jack is very obvious now when he poops and it worries Elyette. She yells for me and tells me, "Dack's poo'd da floor" or couch or where ever he is and turns to Jack and says "buddy, no, no...no poo'd da floor, li'l dude" in very concerned sort of way.

Well, I could go on and on, but I think this post is pretty long already. I'm sure this won't be the last post of its kind though.

General Conference

In all honesty, I've had all sorts of feelings about conference. I often dreaded it as a kid since it was like a super long sacrament meeting without the coming reward of primary. As my own testimony sprouted more and I realized what it actually means to have a prophet to guide us (I admit I still am discovering what that means) I started to enjoy conference more. It was in High School when my parents said that they wanted us to listen to every session on both days that I started really loving and looking forward to conference.

I remember thinking it would be torture, but the opposite became true. By the time I was a freshman at BYU and didn't have my parents initiating conference anymore, I realized I was really looking forward to conference. Since then I truly have had that excitement when conference is coming and been able to watch every session. I love it! I was particularly excited for the Solemn Assembly this morning and am very grateful for having been able to participate and sustain our new prophet Pres. Thomas S. Monson and all of our general authorities and leaders. I hope you all feel uplifted and sense the optimism that I think is always exuded during conference!

Also, my sister passed along this packet for kids. I looked through it, it looks really good and has a lot for all ages... even if you have a 2 year old like mine who can just look at the pictures and color on them. (depending on your internet connection you can listen to conference here)

Getting Crafty

Since I've graduated, settled in our new place, and have become more adjusted to having 2 little ones, I find I have a some time for... what do you call it... oh, HOBBIES! Its been a while... I'm not a very crafty person, but I have a whole lot of ideas rolling around in my head. Unfortunately, I don't yet have many of the skills necessary to create all that I'd like to. Out of laziness I skip the pattern and come up with my own way of making something, which isn't always a bad thing, but it's robbed me of learning some basics that can get me so much further. I often get ahead of myself and become overwhelmed and end up with a rather pathetic end result that is far from what I intended (if I finish it at all). So here's my goal: slow down and learn what I should already know! (Any and all help is more than welcome). I've been inspired by many of you to start posting some of the things I've made (if I'm not too embarrassed), in order to encourage myself to keep it up.

Thanks to my extremely talented seamstress mother, I'm not totally starting from scratch. I really wish I had picked her brain and used her experience to my advantage a whole lot more when I was younger and living at home (like my now very skilled little sister Marissa). I, instead limited myself to making pajama pants and scrunchies. I've tried a lot more since and here are some things I've sewn in the last couple of weeks (keep in mind I'm no photographer):

#1- Outfit for me. I decide I too could use a little something for Easter. Since I don't have a ton of patterns, I made both the top and skirt myself. The skirt, you can tell! Its pretty bad, but I had limited fabric since it was a free sample. I'm pretty proud of the top though. Like all things, I'd make several improvements, but it worked out well. Best part of this outfit is that is cost about $3. No really, free sample for the skirt and the top was $1 a yard fabric at Wal-Mart.. and I'll give a buck to thread, bias tape, and buttons used.

#2- Shirt for Elyette. I got this fabric and rick rack last summer for Elyette, cause I love her in yellow. Still needs buttons, its a bit on the big side, and I think the sleeves are too "fluffy", so after a little more work, it'll be cute on her... everything is :)...it probably could use some ironing.
#3- Nightgown for Elyette. Pajamas are the best since they can really be less than perfect and still be usable. She loves her green "Fiona" nightgown I made her for Christmas so much that I thought she like another. This one she calls her "Belle" dress. Yes, more yellow. I love yellow and this fabric I got for cheap before she was even born. If it looks like she could fly away in those sleeves, its because she could. Next time I do this pattern, I won't be gathering the fabric as much as suggested.
So there you have it!

Easter 2008

We hope all had a wonderful Easter. We sure did. We got to go to the Ranch where we enjoyed seeing family, checking out the Millar's new "theater" in their family room, a trip to the temple (what could be more Easter appropriate), eating lots of yummy food and of course, the outdoors. The weather was gorgeous and we spent Easter afternoon down in the canyon by the creek. I couldn't decide on just 1 or 2 pics, so here are several :)... enjoy... Basking by the falls

Enjoying the spoils of the egg hunt

Wearing the flowers Elyette picked for me










WEEEeee!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

And a big Happy Birthday to Stephanie!

Born to Blog

Princess Elyette

So if you know us, the last thing we'd call our little girl is "princess". In fact, even after some pleading from his mother to call Elyette something sweet, like princess, Boz still calls her "wad" and of course "Slim". Well, despite us, Elyette is ALL girl. Here's a list to make our point:

- She loves shoes! What true girl doesn't? She tries different shoes on all day. Brooke, (her aunt) on one occasion while babysitting, found Elyette lying on her bed after her nap with dolls all around her and tap shoes on her feet. If she sees shoes (whatever the size) while in a store she'll go straight to them and start trying them on. A couple months ago we went to chauffeur Elyette's uncle Ray and his friends to their winter formal. Elyette admired the girls in their formals and had to try on all their shoes! Whenever we visit somewhere she'll proceed to try on the shoes that are left by the door. Beginning with the high heels. I could go on...

-She loves dresses! Skirts will do fine, but dresses are best. I made her a green nightgown for Christmas (I'll have to make her more) and if its clean, its her first pick for bed(her next pick is large T-shirts that resemble dresses). She calls it her "Fiona dress". She likes to watch Fiona in the scene on Shrek where she sings to the bird and makes it blow up. She does all the actions and sings along, complete with the high screech at the end. She loves Fiona, even as an ogre... a princess is a princess to Elyette :)

- Spinning and dancing... I think the biggest appeal of dresses is that they are fun to spin in. We were at Target the other day and I tried a dress on and Elyette got really excited and said "Spin, mom, SPIN!" Whenever I put a skirt or dress on, she gets me to spin. After her aunt Hannah taught her a plie, she practices them all the time and of course she has fully adopted her daddy's goofy finger and hip shake dance...I'm sorry if he has ever taught this to your child (they all seem to love it though :)).

-Shop till you drop. Literally for Elyette. I was never much of a shopper until Elyette was born. She was very colicky in the beginning, and for some reason she calmed down whenever we were at the grocery store. So I took her out shopping almost daily when she was a newborn to keep her from crying. By about 9 months she began to refuse to sit in the cart or stroller while shopping because she wanted to help me shop, I'm sure many mommies can relate. Now I can get her to sit in the cart, but if she sees something she likes, she wants out. She doesn't demand that she get it, she just wants to look and will put it right back. We go to Target quite a bit and she loves to show me things, "look, mom... look, mom", and puts clothes up to herself in the mirror and spins. The best is when she sees something she likes and exclaims "oooo, tute!" Shopping with Elyette is never a short trip but its fun!

-Hair and make-up. She likes to brush her hair and dolls hair. I don't put her hair up very often, but its cute to watch her try and gather her hair together to make pig tails. She is also just starting to discover that she can dress up Jack :). She put a bow in his hair last week and said "pretty, Jack" to him as he brightly grinned his gummy smile at her. When I put my make-up on she hands me what I need and sometimes when I'm done with it, she'll say "Ette's turn!" (explanation: She's a lazy little speaker and has decided to drop the "ely" out of her name and just refer to herself as "ette").

-She runs like a girl. Her strides get faster but shorter, so she runs about as fast as she walks and she sticks her belly out. She looks very dainty when running, hehe, you have to just see it really. We were convinced she'd be a goalie or something, because at a very young age she was an awesome catch. Before she turned a year old she could catch almost any size of ball from any distance and throw them back both underhand and overhand, but somehow, she's lost it. She either can't or pretends to not be able to catch anymore... any help with this is welcome!

-She loves chocolate! She'll of course eat anything sweet or called candy, cookie, cake, etc., but if given the choice, she'll take chocolate! (a girl after my own heart).

-Recently she has really gotten into all the girly Disney characters. This morning she informed me that she wanted "Tinker Bell cereal" aka: Luck Charms (well the Safeway store brand kind). She got this new little yellow shirt that she calls her "Belle shirt". She has this new found love for Sleeping Beauty pillow that Gramma and Grampa Smith got for her. When she's changing her clothes she puts one arm out threw the neckline and says "look, like slella, mom" (translation: "look mom, I look like Cinderella" she has this funny slurred "L" sound she likes to use with "L" words). I think the one shoulder showing thing must look like Cinderella's dress thats been ripped by her sisters. She also like to put her headbands on us, especially Boz and shout in a super excited voice "slella, daddy!", Daddy loves to look like Cinderalla. She regularly quotes the Little Mermaid, especially from the scene where King Triton destroys all of Ariel's human things. Elyette likes to turn to daddy and shout "but, Daddy, I love him"... Boz is really loving that one ;), I'm sure he can't wait to hear it in 14 years.

-She also seems to have all the traits that we as woman are most blessed to have. She doesn't forget a thing (for both the good and the bad as is the case with most women), and She is very nuturing and loves to selflessly serve and care for those around her. I could definitely (and do) learn a few things from her.