6-0!

This past weekend we took the girls to another Chiefs game. The day before, they had made these felt paper dolls. I knew they would like them, but didn't realize what a hit they would be! Kara handed me a notebook page full of clothes and accessories they wanted to "order" from me. They spent a good amount of the car ride, and the evening in the hotel playing with them. My original intention was to take these with us when we drive to Texas, but now I'm not sure with how much all the pieces got all over the place. It is cute how into it they are. Kiersten asked me to make a wedding dress for hers, so it could get married to her purple teddy bear. A few days ago, they came home from school, and started designing some Halloween costumes for them. 

I just cut out a paper template to trace onto the felt boards, so I could use the same template to make all of the clothes. It has worked out quite well. We glued on yarn for the hair, and the girls drew bathing suits on them so they would be modest. They also drew on faces and jewelry. I sort of wish I had cut the body out of cardboard, instead of just drawing it onto the board, but it works, and they haven't complained. 

I had every intention of drawing Evie's face for her, but she got to it before I had the chance. Of course her little face is more charming than anything I would have drawn. She drew eyes, cheeks, a nose, a mouth, and even drew on a forehead. 

Ben is pretty annoyed with the entire thing, so I may have to come up with some alternate ideas for them on the drive to Texas. I think I'll do some bingo cards with items they might see while we're driving, and maybe I can come up with a few more ideas. I just don't want them playing video games, as both Kara and Kiersten have gotten carsick from that in the past. 


Sunday was the big game! Of course we got there early for some tailgating fun. All the girls had fun in this bounce house. 

waiting in line for the bathroom. Evie was about to pee herself, so everyone let her jump to the front of the line, but these two had to wait patiently. Kiersten got really upset when she realized that Kara gave her bunny ears. 

Ben kicking a field goal. Is it horrible that I can't remember whether he made it or not? 

This time we were sitting just above the tunnel where the team runs out onto the field. It was a pretty fun section that we were in. Ben is so happy to have his team doing well this year. It's been so long since they were good. It was fun to watch them destroy the Raiders, and remain at an undefeated 6-0! (especially since when we went to their game against the Raiders last year, they got creamed..)

We didn't realize when we left home, that they had the Guinness world record people there, and were attempting to break the record for the loudest stadium. I think it wasn't til the 4th quarter that we finally took the record back from Seattle. The girls are pretty proud to have been part of it. They were screaming their loudest, even Evie. It got really loud. We kept having to cover their ears. My ears were ringing the whole drive home, and a little still the next morning. None of the girls complained about their ears, but I'm still a little worried about it. The Seahawks stadium is really loud too. Until this game, I would have said Seattle was louder, but after being nearly deafened, I have to agree that Arrowhead deserves the title. 

I forgot to bring the red and yellow nail polish, but we did have a bunch of cool tattoos.

We had a frantic search for Kara's foam finger as we were trying to leave home. Of course it ended up being somewhere I had told her to check, and she claimed she did.

Everyone is so happy on their way out of the stadium after a big win! Everyone was singing, chanting, and laughing. 

And a super nice lady offered to take a group photo for us :)

Here's the close up pic I promised to get of Kiersten in her soccer gear, for a moment of randomness.

Taking a much needed break...

I have decided that I'm going to take a step back from my etsy store for a while. I love having it, and creating my items, but I have so much else going on that it's causing unnecessary stress in my life. As sad as I am about it, I'm also really excited when I think of having 6-7 hours a day freed up that were previously spent on making my items, listing, advertising, promoting, and shipping. What really sealed it for me was when I was helping Kiersten clean up her room, and realized I don't even remember the last time I played barbies with the girls, or played a board game, baked, or made a project. So I am pretty excited to start doing all of those things more, and spending less time on my shop. I hope to get back into it in a few years when the kids are all in school full day, or as they get more involved in their sports and activities. For now, I went ahead and deleted all of my "made to order" items to free up my time, and it has been so nice. Ben already noticed a difference when I had time to just sit and hang out with him this weekend. It felt great not to feel guilty about an order I should be making, or a listing I need to photograph for my shop. To help my inventory sell through, I made a coupon code for 25% off if any of you want to get some bows for cheap. COUPON CODE: CLOSEOUT. The other great thing, is now I'll be able to make stuff for friends and family again, (not to mention my own girls). So while it's sad to let go, I am really looking forward to all the fun projects and ideas I've been pushing to the back burner that I will finally be getting around to!
So long for now, My Little Bows

Kiersten Joy- soccer star

Kiersten is playing soccer again this fall. I just realized when I uploaded the pictures that I didn't get a close up of her in her uniform. I'll have to get one next week. She is so proud to have gotten 10 goals in her first game. The team she played were all new to soccer, so it was easy for her to dominate. This past weekend she played a more experienced team with a few older kids. She still got 2 goals, and did really well. She also passed the ball a few times, which made be happy because it was something I talked to her about after getting all those goals the first week. Her team is the red dragons, (funny as her last team was the black dragons). And she is number 4. There is one other girl on her team, and Kiersten tries really hard to help her, which I think is very sweet. 

I am amazed at how much better she is than in the spring. confidence is her biggest area of improvement, and it has made a pretty big difference!

On friday the girls wanted to make fairy houses. So we found any leftover or empty box we could, and I let them go around the yard to gather leaves and stuff. 

Evie was the mastermind behind the idea, and I'm still not sure how she came up with it. 

Kiersten's fairy house. She even glued rocks to the top. 

Kara spent a lot of time helping with her friend's house, so hers is pretty basic, but she plans to make some more things for it. 

Evie's fairy house. she checks every morning to see if there is a fairy in there. One morning Kara put a "polly pocket" fairy in there, and that caused a big commotion, Evie and Kiersten were so excited. 

Chiefs vs. Cowboys

We took the girls to their first NFL game on Sunday. We originally intended to drive to Kansas City and back on the same day, but decided we'd be better off going on Saturday and staying in a hotel. Of course the girls were excited to get to go swimming. 

Kiersten was especially excited to see the game.She has been watching football with Ben to try to learn more about it. Though she is still confused about the difference between football and baseball, and the difference between the Chiefs and the Cardinals, much to Ben's chagrin. 

Evie started out pretty excited to be there, but was wanting to go home and take a nap by the 3rd quarter.

Kara had fun, but it seems like she really just enjoyed it because of the snacks. 

We showed up early so we could walk around the tailgating area. The girls won beads playing this bean bag toss. 

Evie didn't play, but ended up with some beads of her own.

I feel like this is the moment Ben has been dreaming of since we first found out I was pregnant with Kara in 2005.

More games. They won temporary tattoos and bouncy balls at this game. 

I had made hair bows for the girls, and Evie started crying because she didn't like hers. She insisted I make her 2 pink ones so she could wear pigtails. I think she was worried about the original one not matching her cheerleader outfit. 

Last year, Ben hit 4 out of 4 shots at this booth, but this time he only nailed one. hehehe

The girls really liked running through this obstacle course. I don't think they won anything for doing it. 

We ran into some cheerleaders in the gift shop and they noticed kiersten right away. So we had to get a picture. All three girls were just in awe of them. It was nice they spotted Kiersten right when they walked in, because within minutes there was a huge line of guys to meet them/get pictures. 

The girls all made out pretty well at the gift shop. Ben has a pretty hard time saying no to anything that says "chiefs" on it. 

This was by far Evie's favorite moment of the game, when the KC wolf came zip lining into the stadium. 

I complained that I was at a bad angle to try to get cheerleader pictures, so Ben took the camera and made sure we ended up with plenty. We had over 30 pictures just of cheerleaders. 

I was a few seconds too late to catch this touch down. 

We are so happy to have Alex Smith for our QB! Ben got Kara a Smith jersey to wear, and now she claims him as her favorite player. Kiersten got a booklet with all the players names and pictures, which is her current prized possession. She likes to go through it and read all their names, and has decided that Colquitt (the punter) is her favorite player. Evie does not have a favorite player. But she said that all of the cheerleaders are her favorite. 

We have tickets to go again in October, but can't decide if we should take all the girls or not. They all say they want to go, but there was certainly a lot of whining by the end. I guess it's all a matter if we can find somewhere else for them to be or not.