The Mo Tab

A few things first, I am a terrible blogger I really need to be more on top of things. Also I took all these photos and didn't know that some small child had touched the lens and for some reason no amount of editing will take that away so if it looks fuzzy sorry I tried.

Anywho moving on. A few years ago we started a tradition of going to hear the Mormon Tabernacle choir sing Christmas songs for their music and the spoken word program. I started the tradition that when we would go hear the choir sing, I would make new fancy dresses for the event. My husband really wishes I would give up on that part of the tradition. A tradition is a tradition and you got to stick to it.

This year we went with my Dad, my Mom was out of town. It was fun to spend the day with him.

They have a rule that only children 8 and older can go in and listen, all the younger ones have to go in another room and be as loud as they want. Good looking usually has that task, but this year I told him I would take it. Most of the pictures are of Baby Sister and Lala.

So off we go, I started these dresses on Wednesday and I wasn't able to finish Baubi and Gowyn's dresses in time, so when they are going to be done for church on Sunday I will show those pics and some close ups of these dresses later. I know, I am just falling apart in my old age.



Their dresses are red velvet that I tucked and then I sewed the tucks down one direction, and then in the other direction. They have fancy ribbon on the waist and big skirts. The skirts are made of green chintz, two layers of gold tulle, and then a final layer of gold sheer. They make a really great sound when they walk.



Here are all the girls, and yes this was the best picture I could get. Seriously how hard is it to look at the camera, smile and make a normal face. They are still cute though.

After the broadcast we go to the Little America for their breakfast buffet. It is the one big splurge we do every year and it is yummy.



Baby sister only would eat the fruit, we did talk her in to some bacon, but she didn't want anything else.



The girls liked the giant gingerbread houses.



All in all it was a fabulous morning. If you live in Utah I highly recommend it, and the best part is it is free. Not only is it free you don't even need a ticket just show up and they will let you in.

Lala came up to me at breakfast and said that on her way to the bathroom and back 18people told her how pretty she was, and that she was tired of saying thank you. The poor dear I don't know how she is going to survive.



Baby sister had so much fun she just couldn't stand it any longer.



I also have another funny story that happened that morning, but I think that I will save it for another day. Have you ever left the house thinking that you were fully dressed and ready to go? Let me know because I think that I got you beat.

Tato skins (otherwise known as Potato Skins)

There was a really big football game here in Utah on Saturday. University of Utah was taking on TCU, They were both nationally ranked, ranked number four and six or something. ESPN even came with their whole crew broadcasting Game Day which I guess is a big deal for our little state. I knew close to nothing about this, my husband had to tell me that this was a big deal. Once again when it comes to football blah blah blah ESPN Game day blah did blah. That was the gist of my knowledge of the event.

The Utes LOST, not only did the lose they got a bushwhacking. Truly brought joy to my heart, they are after all our rivals. Both my parents and four of my siblings graduated form the Y (BYU). That is where my heart lives when it comes to football. My mom used to even wake us up to the BYU fight song, "Rise and shout the cougars are out..."

What does any of this have to do with potatoes you may ask, well I will tell you. When there is a big game I make potato skins. It is my assignment for the Superbowl every year, and they are really tasty.

Are you ready here we go. Heat up your oven to 425.

Next potatoes I like to use Idaho russets. I also like to look through the bag for little ones, Potato skins are suppose to be an appetizer and not a side dish so I like small ones.



Next you are going to need to wash them and you really need to scrub the living life out of them a clean potato is a happy potato.



Here is the tricky part and the part that makes all the difference. In a large bowl put in about 1/4 cup of oil, nothing fancy just veggie oil works. Add two teaspoons of salt, I used sea salt.



Now throw some potatoes in the bowl and toss them around, until well covered. Continue until all your potatoes are thoroughly covered.



Next step is to line a pan with foil and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Put the potatoes on the middle rack, make sure that they are floating over the pan. As they cook the oil will drip, and when they steam up the pan catches the mess and saves your oven and your house from getting smokey.



Cook your potatoes. I wish I could tell you that I have timed this, and have it down to the second on how long to cook the potatoes, but the truth is that I wait until the house is starting to smell like potatoes and then check them by seeing if I can squish them. If I can't squish them I cook them longer. I know you can call me crazy it's OK. If I were to say how long, I think it would be 45-55 min. You really want to get a hot pad and see if they squish before pulling them out. See don't they look fabulous.



Next you need to cool them a little. If you cool them to much they will get a little to gummy and then be yucky. I usually cool them just to where I can hold them with a rag and not burn myself.



Next is to cut them into quarters. You can cut them in half but they will go farther if you quarter them.



After that you need to scoop out the inside. You need to leave about a 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skins. Just take of the point I use a spoon or you can use a paring knife.



Now lay out all your skins out on a tray. I like to line it with foil because I really don't like cleaning baked on cheese of my cookie sheets. Taking the time to line your tray will save you hours of soaking later.



Yep you guessed it cover the skins with cheese I use the shredded Colby Jack or, you can use Cheddar. You don't need anything too fancy but you really want a lot of cheese because lets face it, cheese makes it tasty.



Next you cover them with bacon because if cheese makes it tasty then bacon is going to make it outstanding. You can buy already cooked crumbled bacon, that is what I used. You can also make your own by cutting bacon into small pieces, and frying up until crispy, take it out of the grease with a slotted spoon anddrain on a paper towel. If you don't like to be burned by popping bacon grease then you can buy it already done for you with out any fear of grease popping in your eye.

Cook them at 450 for 10-15 min. until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Take them out and top them with chopped chives or green onions and serve with ranch dressing.
I really wish I had a picture of them all hot a yummy, but while I was making these guest arrived as I pulled them out of the oven and they were gone before I could get a picture.

If you try them let me know what you think, I think they are super tasty.

Also if you are wondering what to do with this.

I usually fry them up the next day with an egg on top. If you are really handy and can make bread, you can use it for potato bread. I am open to any other ideas let me know what you did with your potato guts.

The other two.

It is true that I have two older children and they also dressed up for Halloween. Baubi was a gangster and Gowyn was Cinderella the bride. Here is proof and details.

Baubi changed her mind at least six times. Some of her options were Victoria from twilight, zombie, prom zombie, Mulan, Jessie, etc. She finally decided on a Gangster or should I say Gangsta.


I was making matching outfits for her and her best friend, since I was running out of time I decided to make just a vest.


If I had more time I think I would have made a short dress and have her wear fish net stockings and maybe a gold chain to a pocket flap. I still may do that since we haven't had our official photos taken.

She liked it the way it was I guess that is all that mattered.


Gowyn is her own sort of crazy or quirky how ever you want to see it. She is obsessed with Cinderella one might think that since she is now 10 she would be over it but nope she is not. She has been every version of Cinderella, the ball gown, pumpkin fairy, Fairy Godmother, the maid, the pink dress the mice made, and this year was the finale, Cinderella the bride. I have told her that we have worked our way through the entire movie and we are done. She is still hoping for the stepsisters or Mary the mouse, I say we are done.


Her dress is pretty simple it crosses over in the front and has long fitted sleeves. I made her veil to be like the one in the movie I used heavy interfacing covered in satin and gathered it on the top and put elastic around the base of her neck. I wanted to wire the sides and use fishing line to hold it up and then put little blue birds on the ends. I figured that way people would totally know that she was Cinderella. She didn't want it whacking people so she wouldn't let me.

I had her wear the hoop skirt I made for the ball gown and a petti skirt. We found out that if she twirled and sit down she looked like a giant marshmallow. It was her favorite part.


Gowin's best friend is a boy named Tia, we told him that he should go as Prince Charming so that when they go trick or treating people would know who they were. Also I don't know if you knew this but it is Prince Charming and Cinderella's 60th wedding anniversary this year(and we still don't know his real name). I think that Tai's mom did a fabulous job he looked great.


They were so cute together I wouldn't be able to say the next year they want to go as zombies or vampires. From super cute to super spooky. Maybe we will think of something else less gorey.

Watch Out For Falling Houses

Baby sister was the Wicked Witch of the East. She has cousins that are all the same age, so we thought it would be fun if they were all different characters from the Wizard of Oz. I have always wanted to make the Wicked Witch of the East since all you ever see of her are her legs there is a lot to be left up to the imagination.



See what I mean what ever you want above the knees. Fluffy skirt, peasant blouse, and a corset.



Her skirt actually has 14 skirts. Each tulle layer has three skirts. When I layered them together it looked like a bruise so I then lined the tulle layers, under skirt over skirt and there you have it 14 skirts. I added the orange ruffle with my ruffler foot. Tucked the over skirt up with a red sparkle bow to match her shoes.


I made the blouse and the corset and then bought her hat. Her favorite color is orange after all, how could I just leave that hat at the store.


She developed the greatest witch cackle and worked it perfectly. I think that trick or treating was started for three year olds. They were the cutest running from house to house excited every time they got a piece of candy. Can't wait until next year.

All for One and One for All

Lala has wanted to be a musketeer since last year, and it had to be pink when it comes to Lala the more pink the better. Here are some of the details.




I quilted the bodice and sleeves. The sleeves ended up being to short, I added a lacy flounce for a cuff. Sometimes mistakes turn out to be blessings it turned out to be the perfect touch.



Since I have made capes in the past and had to deal with a small child telling me all night long that the cape was choking them I added a little loop to hold the cape to the dress. I also added a loop at the waist to hold her sword.



Lala loves to twirl, and I wanted the skirt to stand out to show off her boots, so I added a petty skirt. The boots were spray painted pink, I then made the cuffs and velcroed them into the lining.



Finally the hat, I looked all over and couldn't find a pink hat. I ended up making hers. My computer is not letting me link up to her site but Brown paper packages had a great tutorial that I followed. Last but not least was the sword, now if she was being a pirate I could have bought her one but since she was a musketeer and needed a fencing sword I made that too. I used a dowel, pickle jar lid, fabric, and some electrical tape. Throw it all together with some silver spray paint and there you have it.

She loved it and really worked it all night long.

Busy Working

I wish I was all done with my costumes so that you could see but the flower girls wore me out.

This is what we are being.

We usually know a year in advance what everyone is going to be. They get very excited and talk about it all year. This year Baubey changed her mind a lot. First she wanted to be Victoria from Twilight. I told that no one would know who she was because really how would you know without buying the freaky contacts. This is the list of her other options, Zombie, Prom Zombie, eighties girl (who knew that what I wore when I was her age would be a costume now) rock star princess, Mulan, Jessie and the winner was a gangster or should I say a gangsta. I am buying the fabric today. Wish me luck.

Gowyn has a long and undying love of Cinderella. She has been every version you could imagine. Cinderella, Pumpkin fairy, Fairy Godmother, Cinderella the maid, Cinderella the pink dress that he mice make. This year she is being Cinderella the bride. I have told her that we have worked our way though the entire movie so now we are done. She still has hopes of being both the step sisters. I am just not in the mood for that one. Her very best friend is a boy and has agreed to be Prince charming. This is all very appropriate, it is Cinderella and Prince charming's 60th wedding anniversary this year.

Lala is being a musketeer she has had her heart on it since last year. She really likes the idea of the hat, and the sword, the two trickiest things. One can find many piarte swords but not fencing swords. Since her favorite color is pink, it is pink, on pink, on pink.

For fun a little pointless background four of my siblings including me all had babies with in one year, I know we were busy. So this year the three year olds are all being characters from The Wizard of Oz. Baby sister is being the Wicked Witch of the East. Niece 1 is going to be Glinda. My sister in law has always loved the movie and since Lala was Glinda when she was three, I have promised it to her. Niece 2 is going to be one of the ballerina munchkins, she didn't want to be black and have a green face, for some reason no three year old girl does. Niece 3 is going to be Dorothy she has long dark hair and will be perfect. I still haven't forgiven my brother for moving across the planet, because he did will not have a lion,scarecrow, or Tin Man, I am positive my nephew would have been the cutest one ever. The Wicked Witch of the East was the one that the house landed on, all you ever see is her legs so this leaves quite alot up to the imagination. I have decided on a tierd skirt, corset, peasant blouse, and of course black and white striped legs and ruby red shoes. So far it is looking pretty cute.

My husband and I never dress up. I know we are very boring. My girls always want him to dress up but he is not having it. We were watching Glee once and he said that I could make him a Kiss costume I think going from never dressing up, to going as Gene Simmons might be too much of a leap. I did buy a musketeer hat the turned out to really be a Zorro hat. It was to big for Lala so he is going to wear it while he drives the girls around on our scooter he thinks it will be cool to have the cape fly up in the back. Goofy man.

I'm sorry I don't have any photos I keep forgetting to take them as I go. I will be taking a bunch the day of promise. Until then pray that the sewing gods will be with me the next two days. Trust me I am going to need it.

Done Done Done!!!

The grand total was. 22 girls dresses and 2 adult skirts. To break it down further I can say that I made 55 skirts, 22 fully lined bodices, set 44 sleeves, 78 button holes, 78 buttons with 10 being sewn on by hand. Now in case you are reading this thinking you only made 22 dresses what's up with all those skirts. Each dress size 18 months to seven had three skirts one sheer, one satin, one cotton slip. The dresses size eight to 12 each had two skirts one sheer one crepe. Sleeves and bodices were fully lined and understiched. I made three baby outfits that were basically a bubble with a skirt, so I guess I can say that I also made three pants. Now you know the extent of the crazy that goes on in my mind, if you are going to do it, do it fabulous.

The wedding was Saturday and amazing! I couldn't have been more excited for her. She waited so long and found the most perfect man who loves her 100% and than some.

I was finishing up my sewing at the rehearsal dinner at my sisters house. I had run out of orange thread for the skirt I was making. My choices were buy the thread finish at home and show up to the wedding with the skirt for the sister in law, or buy the thread and take my machine and finish it that night at the party, so that is what I did.

I was wanting to get a picture of all the dresses lined up in a row, but every one was so excited that they went fast.
This was the best I could do.

Since that picture doesn't tell you much I will break it down further.
I made six straw colored dresses like this one Lala is wearing.


I made four ginger colored dresses like this one that Lex is wearing. In this one you can see the slip peaking out from the bottom.



This super cute girl is our cousin. I made four of these cranberry dresses. Isn't she so good at walking like a princess, and swirl, and swoosh and hold up your dress like Sleeping Beauty does.


The big girls thought that they were too cool for our little photo shoot and left, so I couldn't get a picture of them that day so here is a picture of their dresses. I made six of these, they are crepe and chiffon.
Each dress got one of these super cute flowers I made to make the dress more exciting.

My sister not only got an amazing husband, she also got two sweet girls.
They obviously needed something more exciting since they were part of the wedding party so they got theses two piece dresses in this dark plum color.

Just for fun some more photos. It is important to walk like a princess when going down the stairs.



Even a princess needs to have a little sass.


It was fun to have the challenge, fun to see all the cute girls twirling in their dresses, and fun to hear over and over how amazing I was. Compliments are always fun. I wish I could say I did it once and I don't have to worry about doing it again but alas I will. My sister's sister in law is getting married in January. Bring it on!

And there you have it. Now on to Halloween. Let the games begin.

Dresses

I have been known in some circles as a good seamstress (I do have a large collection of blue ribbons to prove it in case you don't believe me) I am the best at sewing little girls dresses. The Lord knew what he was doing when he sent me four girls. Now I am paying the price for my greatness.

My dear sweet sister Vicki is getting married! She is the last sister to get married and since she waited she gets to have the most flower girls. We started counting and just her nieces made the total 13. Now we didn't want to make the in-laws feel left out so we started counting again. Now the grand total is 23 that is not a typo. If you have been thinking that Robyn is a terrible blogger and doesn't post things very often now you know the reason.

I am currently chained to my sewing machine and staying up way to late. To top it off the wedding is not this Saturday but next so I have less than two weeks to get them done. Please stop and say a little prayer to the sewing gods that they may be with me this week. I really need to finish these this week so I am not crazy the week of the wedding.

In case you were wondering why on earth I would take on such an endeavor it is simple I really love my sister. Also the thought of 23 little girls running around the wedding reception in all the fall colors and poofy skirts makes my heart happy.

Names

My oldest started Jr. High this year. Her first English assignment was to write a five paragraph report on her name. Was she named after anyone, what her nick names are, if she would change her name, etc. This made me think about this new blogging adventure. What would I call me children. Some blogs let us know what their children's names are, and some only call them by the number that they are in the family.

After much thought, I thought I would tell you now the names of my girls and from now on only call them what my three year old calls them


My oldest is Aubrey Del. She was going to be Madison we were liking that name up until a month before she was born. Every one that I told that we were going to name her Madison would say "Oh how cute I know two little girls named Madison" or they would say "I have three little girls in my ward named Madison." I came home from work one day and told my husband that we had to change her name. I told him that it would be like naming her Kimberly or Lisa or Jennifer and that she would go through school as Madison T. and that she would not be her own person. I remember Lisa B and Jennifer M in school and I didn't want that. I wanted people to say do you know Aubrey and for people to know who they were talking about and not which one. My husband got out the baby name book and got as far as the A's. He decided that he liked Aubrey it meant golden ruler and since we were hoping that she would have red hair, and that she would be the oldest we thought that it fit. Her middle name is the same as mine, which is the same as my aunts. From here on out she will be known on this blog as Baubey our baby had a hard time saying Aubrey and would only ever say it mixed up so Baubey it is. Now that she is three and a half she can say her name and it breaks Aubrey's heart a little that she calls her Aubrey instead of Baubey


My second girl is Jordyn Marie. When I was pregnant with her I did not like any of the names my husband did. Abigale, Lauren they all left a bad taste in my mouth and I did not like any of them. I thought and thought and than landed on Jordyn. When I
young my mom gave birth to my baby brother, there were complications with his birth and he had brain damage and only lived for six months. It was a sad time in our family and the name Jordan always reminded me of that sadness. A few years later my maternal Grandma was diagnosed with ALS a terrible decease that slowly kills your muscles. Needless to say the eighties were not fun at our house. I thought naming her after these two people who gave the good fight would be inspiring. A friend suggested spelling Jordan with a Y instead of an A to make it more feminine. So there you have it Jordyn Marie. Although from here on out she will be known on this blog as Gowyn once again Jordyn is hard for a baby to say so it always came out Gowyn. It is fun when she messes up on something to say " nice goin Gowyn"


My third daughter is Lillian Kathleen. I had had two negative pregnancy test, I had felt like I was pregnant, tired, hungry all the time. I thought for sure I was but I would take the test and nothing. A family friend of my husbands had died. I had always known her as Irene but standing in the viewing line I learned that her name was Lillian Irene I thought to my self that if I was pregnant and if it was another girl Lillian would be such a cute name. I cried harder at her funeral than her own children did I thought for sure after that i had to be, and sure enough I was pregnant so Lillian it was. Now the Kathleen part might take a little longer to explain. When my husband went away on his LDS mission his father blessed him that he would find someone on his mission who would be like a second mother to him. He is the only boy in his family and the first to go away needless to say that his mom and dad were anxious. This gave them all peace of mind knowing that the Lord would step in and help their son feel a sense of family. Some one that could watch over him, feed him, someone close that could take care of him if needs be. Two weeks into his mission he found Kath she was everything anyone would want as a surrogate mother. She is caring, loving and always gives great advise. She has helped him through out his life with all sorts of things including picking a wife (she says that he did a good job) She loves us like we are hers and the same goes for us. She is our Grandma Kath and we don't know what our lives would be with out her. I remember calling her and telling her all about Irean and that we were going to name her Lillian and when she asked what her middle name was going to be I said Kathleen all she could say was "really" and than she cried a little. So there you have it Lillian Kathleen, but from here on out she will be known as La La. We were trying to get the baby to say her name and we would say la la Lillian, la la Lillian all she could say was the la la part.


Now on to the baby sister. Her name is Alexa Ann. I have a brother who is eight months younger than me. No I did not miss type that he IS eight months younger than me. I was adopted. My parents got pregnant with my older brother as my mom says nine months and fifteen minutes after they were married. Then they couldn't get pregnant again for five years. In between that time they adopted my sister Ann-Marie and were getting ready to adopt again. They went to the doctor on Monday for physicals and told him all about adopting again. Wednesday I was born, the family I was suppose to go to had just got another baby a week before since my parents had just been there the doctor called them and asked if they wanted me. They snatched me right up. A week later they got all the blood work back showing that my mom was pregnant. People always thought that Alex and I were twins. We were inseparable and best friends. I had always wanted to name a baby after him and since she was our last I insisted. My husband said that if I was going to name her after my brother than he got to name her after one of his sisters (he has four) He wanted to name her after his sister Becky even though there are eight years between them they are the most a like in their family. The only problem was the Alexandra Rebecca was just way too long, Alexis was to sassy and Alex to short it was my dad who first suggested Alexa and that is what we went with. We still thought that Alexa Rebecca was still to long and too many a's. Becky's middle name is Ann we liked it Alexa Ann it was and is. Now this is a tough one she does not have a nick name for herself we call her Lex and that is what we might go for, or we could call her baby sister on this blog because that is what I call her, or number four what her dad has been known to call her. I might have to think about that one some more.


Now on to my husband his name is Troy but I rarely call him that. My mom says she knows when he is in trouble if I only call him Troy. I usually call him Troy Tischner or just Tischner. Like in Pride and Prejudice how it is Mr. Darcy and only Mr. Darcy. I like how in some blogs they call their husband something that has to do with the title of the blog but I don't think that he wants to be known as Mr. Bolo since bolo in Hawaiian means bald. I could always refer to him as Good Lookin since that is what I also call him. I might have to think some more on that one too.

There you have it all the names of my super cute family. Maybe a little to much info but now you know something more about me, and my family for that matter. So what are your family's names? Do you have a funny story about naming them? Are they named after someone? Did you and your significant other get into fights about it? Some thing to think about.