I <3 pi

I love math and I love to bake and I love to eat baked goods, so Pi day is definitely my favorite fake holiday :)

In case you've been living under a rock and don't know why this is the best Pi day you will ever experience...

pi or π, is just a ratio.  Take any circle or cylinder - your favorite can of soup? and measure around the circumference.  Write that down. Now, measure across the circle - the diameter.  Write that down.  Now get out a calculator, if you're math averse or paper and pencil if math is your super-power.  Take the first number and divide by the second and you should get π.

π = 3.14159265359.....

Something else magical?  It goes on forever and never repeats.

So, today is special because the date is 3/14.  (3.14  get it?)

But hold the phone because we get a March 14th every year...  This year is the best one in the lifetime of pretty much everyone you know because the date is 3/14/15. (so do something awesome at 9:27)  Cool right?

I admit it- I'm completely jealous of all those people who go to be at the truest pi day ever - 3/14/1592 at 6:54 AM.

Anyway, this year, I have decided to start a new twist on the tradition in which we not only eat pie on pi day, but we break our family rule of "no treats before lunch" and have pie for breakfast to forever commemorate our experiencing this pi day of our lives.

What can I say, math brings out my rebellious side :)

Kid Conversation

So, Hazel has been wanting to use the potty for months.  MONTHS.  She will decide to go sit on the toilet herself.  I'll get up the gumption to put her on at set intervals for a couple of days... but she just holds it really long- which is mostly awesome, except the accidents are bigger messes and it's harder to catch her accidentally going when you do put her on.  So, yeah, I've decided not to push and let it happen naturally.  (aaand I really don't have time to potty train her.  How do other homeschooling moms do it?!)

ANYWAY, Wednesday night, when I had to put my kids to bed alone (again), and I was super super tired and was planning to go to bed as soon as they went to bed, Hazel decides she wants to sit on the potty like her big sister.

me: No, pleeeeaasse!! I just got you all ready in your diaper and jammies!
Peach: I'll help her mom!  [Hazel], I will always help you use the potty.  And if I'm being mean to you, [The Frog] will do it.

glad she's got her bases covered.

I left to go get some floss so I could do something productive while waiting for her and amazingly, I hear from the other room, "She did it!!! She did it!!!!"

Hazel's reaction was sooo funny - you could see the excitement tighten through her body and she all out screamed!  (it was an excited scream)

I should have known a watched pot never boils...

My kids don't sleep much, so I cherish when they do

Looking through my photos from the last year, I noticed a lot of sleeping photos.  Must be because it's the only time I can capture them non-blurry. :)

 I think Peach wins for the most odd positions, and Hazel's are mostly because she looks cute.  

and since Hazel is basically non-napping now (except on days when I specifically don't want her to stay up late) it seems fitting to announce this milestone by looking back on the times when she was.

Without further adieu:

classic out-and-about shot.  classic for other people.  rare for my kids.

during loading the moving truck, she slept on a neighbor's (Shumways!) bed.  #miracle 

jumped into bed and fell asleep before landing?

head cold

awwww

The Frog's bed is alllways overcrowded with visitors and books and wait... is he wearing a swimsuit under his pjs? 

she slept in a pack-n-play until about a month ago.  now she sleeps on a sofa #poornomad

is that a chick with super long legs?  #onefootedfootie

oh the days of 3 carseats in the back of a civic  #idontmissyou

queen of weird positions

how many times do I have to tell you kids, not to play in the sofa cushions?!!

oh :)

Hazel's first (and last) time napping in a toddler bed

just like her dad - always poking feet out the bottom.  not just like dad, sleeping sideways (thank goodness!)

Collared Shirt Upcycle

I have too many pictures.

We had to change the way we stored them all last year about this time, and that's part of the reason I haven't been posting as many pictures during this last year.  I finally took the initiative to go back through all my pictures from the last year and get the ones that I would like to remember so that I can put them here.  Hopefully they'll all make it and I'll be able to remember what was going on at the time...  Stay tuned for some picture-heavy posts.

These next pics feel like a life-time ago (sigh, I miss our turquoise bathroom...).  It's funny to see me with hair so straight and short.

Anyway, my mother-in-law knows I like to tinker with clothes, and gave me some quality collared shirts from someone's wardrobe.

 It's just a thin black plaid, if you can't tell.  Nothing special about it.  Just a collared, button-down shirt.

 This is by no means a well-done tutorial.  I never really know what I'm doing, so I don't think to photograph every step since I'm not sure if it will be a good one :)  I forgot to photograph the next few steps but I just put it on inside-out and put pins in my sides to give the body more shape and show off my waist better (which I super need to off-set my super-flat chest).

Then I cut off the collar and cut off the sleeves just above the shoulder seam.

collar cut about 1/2" above the second button

 Then I shortened the sleeves to be short (it's been awhile, but I'm pretty sure I tried to copy another shirt with sleeves I liked.  In retrospect, it would be easier not to cut them off and sew them back on, I would just shorten them since this shirt isn't THAT big on me.  You only want to do this if the shoulder seams are off your shoulder).  Then I sewed the sleeves back on from armpit to armpit (going over the shoulder) and then ran a seam where the pins were at my sides all the way to the sleeves.  I never even trimmed the excess off, so I could adjust it later if I needed to.  (though I never did.)  I used the extra fabric from the sleeves to cut strips about 1.5" wide, pressed in half and then, well, look at the pic...  (Can you tell I've never taken a real sewing class? I don't know any fancy names for anything.  Sorry!)

 I pinned it to the neck and sleeves.

 Sewed the border on the neck and sleeves.  Note that I cannot unbutton the shirt all the way anymore.  I unbutton all the others when I put it on and slip it over my head.  It works fine, but this is no longer able to be put on like a traditional button-down.  After sewing on the embellishment, I pressed it and top-stitched to get it to lay right.

 The bow was an after-thought.  I took one of the cuffs from the sleeve and tied a knot in the middle.  If you look closely, you can see the button-hold on the left side of it.

 ta-da!

 The bow is just safety pinned on in this shot, because I wasn't sure if I'd still like it and if it would wash well.  I take it off when I wash the shirt.

I hate being in photos alone...

I'm actually wearing this shirt right now with a mustard cardi and different belt.  It's one of my favorites because it's long and hides my kangaroo pouch pretty well :)

Hup Cakes

How could I have forgotten to mention "hupcakes"?

hupcake princess, eating a hupcake

necklace and sunglasses are regular additions

We were hand-me-downed (that is not a word) a princessy-looking dress with cupcake fabric on it.  Peach probably wore it once.  Hazel found it a few weeks ago and is LIVING in it.  We're talking sleeping, errand running... she even brought it to church one time and I was late for a meeting so I didn't bother removing it from her clutches before we went inside.  By the time I got out of my meeting, the missionaries had helped her put it on over her church clothes and she wore it in church that day.  *sigh*

purses and crowns are regular additions also

all dressed up to do dishes

Really, though.  I think it's super cute.  :)