What I've been working on...

I worked on a few projects this weekend and I thought I would share...

This is a little wallet/tiny purse.  I made two for some friend's birthdays.   They are very nautical as I am very inspired by nautical themes lately.  

This is a shirt embellishment I did.  I made two, one for a friends birthday and one for myself.  I think I may end up making one more for another friend's birthday. 

A close up shot

This was an accidental shot taken when I was working on the shirt pics.  I thought you might all enjoy pictures of my very 70's basement.  You gotta love the amazing wood paneling and fake rock bar.  It's pretty snazzy:)  In all seriousness, I have learned to love this little basement as it has become my crafting workshop.  

Here is a pretty great shot of my child who discovered her love for corn on the cob yesterday.  She hasn't quite caught onto how to eat it yet...baby steps.  

Adventures in Apple Picking

Last weekend was so much fun.  We loaded up on Sabbath morning, along with our "manny"(Kenneth) and joined the caravan (the other Murrill's, the Nudd's and the Brown's) headed to Wisconsin for apple picking.

I have never been anything picking so this was an exciting day for me.  The little farm was incredible.  They had fresh homemade donuts, cheese curds, fresh apple cider and so much more.  They even had a little petting zoo with sheep, goats and turkeys.  We picked honeycrisp apples, which are absolutely amazing.  It was so fun.  Here are a few pics from the adventure.  They are 100% stolen from Melissa.  We totally forgot our camera.

Our "manny" and friend Kenneth

The Kiddos 

Monroe enjoying an apple

  My main Squeeze...he stole Mason's hat for the day

The Girl's 

The other Murrill's 

On Saturday night we went putt-putting with the Meharry's.  It's always fun to get two 1 year olds together way passed their bedtime.:)  Then we went home and I crashed on the couch.  I was so tired.  Mark ended up going and playing tennis with Mike...where does his energy come from?

On Sunday we went with Mike, Melissa and fam to the Corn Fest in Hinsdale at Graue Mill.  It was so fun.  We had a long walk on the trail and stopped at the nature center for quite a while.  Later that night everyone came over to our house to grill.  It was yummy, but an unfortunate incident happened.  Monroe fell off of my chair and hit her head really hard on the ground.  I felt horrible.  It was on the rug, but it still had the loudest crash.  I don't think there is anything worse then seeing your baby hurt.  Ugh! 

Here are some pics from the Corn Fest:

Mason and Mommy

The little people weren't super chipper

Mason the Fireman

Max and Mark enjoying each other at the nature center

Blocks with Auntie

Here are some of the pics that we had taken when we were in Tulsa.  We were sad that Scott and the kids couldn't be there. 

A tribute to David

While we were in Tulsa, we thought it would be fun to swing by our old house and say hello to our favorite neighbor, David.  We hadn't seen him since we left, and although we emailed for awhile, we hadn't kept in touch very well.  I emailed to tell him we were pregnant, but I never heard back from him.  I was excited for him to meet Monroe.  

When we pulled up, we noticed a different car in the driveway, but the big metal "M" still hung on the chimney and the house was still meticulously and beautifully manicured.  When we went to the door a woman answered.  We asked if David Mudd still lived there and she sadly told us that she was David's sister and that he passed away in May.  

I have to say that I was completely speechless.   Our sweet friend is gone and I am so sad.  He was a very private man who rarely opened up to many people.  He lived alone.  No, actually he wasn't alone, he lived with is beautiful dog, Ruby.  She was an airedale terrier.  He got her when she was a puppy, and before we knew it she was a full grown beast that pulled him around the neighborhood.  She was so stubborn, but David loved her and was so loyal to her.  It didn't seem to matter how bad she was, he was so proud and diligently walked her every night.   

Somehow we connected and would spend hours sitting outside talking about the most random stuff...mostly home improvement stuff.  He loved to talk and it was hard to get away when you got started. He quickly became like a fatherly figure to us.  He was always there to help us with advice on home stuff and always knew the newest neighborhood gossip.    

As sweet and kind as David was, I knew that he was a sad person.  I remember many times contemplating inviting him to Church, but I feared I would push him away, so I didn't...if only I had.  

David Mudd, you were a wonderful person and a loyal friend.  You will be greatly missed.  My whole family knew you and appreciated your kindness.  You will never be forgotten.  

David Mudd 

1958-2010

Bread winner!!!!

So, I was totally inspired by Michelle the other night, when Stephen posted pics of her on Facebook with fresh baked bread and homemade minestrone soup that she had whipped up after school.  I thought to myself, "Stephanie, why don't you make stuff like that?"  I didn't have a good answer for myself, so I decided that I would wipe the dust off of my bread maker and get cooking!  Michelle generously shared her recipes and today I made a hearty meal of Pseudo Sourdough Bread and Minestrone soup.  They both turned out good!  It was definitely the best bread I have ever made.  With that being said, I have only made bread one other time when we were first married.  It didn't rise and ended up being about 2 inches tall.  It was the densest, hardest, grossest stuff I have ever seen.  I even made Mark try it!  So tonight I really wowed him when the bread actually looked like bread.

I'm not sure if that's what the bread is supposed to look like, but it was still yummy! 

My fam, enjoying the meal.

Tonight, after eating our filling meal, we headed on a long walk around the neighborhood.  The weather has been very brisk and cool.  It's truly been amazing.  I had to wear a sweatshirt and Monroe donned a hat!  We stopped and played tennis for a while.  It felt great to play again.  I hadn't played since we moved to Chicago.  I make it sound like I am really good.  Just for clarification's sake,  when I say playing, I mean that I run around trying to get the ball back to Mark, minus any rules, skill, or grace.  It sure is fun, though.

We then headed to Starbucks for a warm drink and then to Walmart, because I needed to return something. All in all, a very good night with my little family.

Now to our trip!  We truly had a great time.  The drive was a bit overwhelming.  Twelve hours with an infant is really pushing the limits.  The drive was even more complicated by the crazy storms we had to go through.  It was nuts!  There were points that I could only go 20mph.  We ended up arriving at Mom and Dad's around 2am.  I have never been so glad to get somewhere.  The next day we went on a frantic search for Monroe a dedication dress.  I hadn't been able to find a thing here in Chicago and was really hoping I would find something perfect in Tulsa.  After going through every children's store at the mall, we finally found the sweetest little dress in Macy's.  I never go in there, and was surprised to find exactly what I was looking for.  I wanted it to be sweet and little girl-like, if that makes sense.  It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures, but it is pink with little gray polka dots.  We also found her a little headband and pink shoes.

Besides doing some shopping, we made time to visit our favorite restaurant in Tulsa, DesiWok.  It was so amazing, as usual.  Later that evening, we went to a place that Mom has been talking about for months, a Self Serve Frozen Yogurt Bar!  Wow!!!!!  Why don't we have these in Chicago?  You start out by choosing between two sizes of cups (big and bigger).  Then you can choose from tons of yogurt flavors.  You can put as much, or as little as you want.  I ended up going with Tahitian Vanilla, Dark Chocolate and Cookies and Cream.  Then you can add whatever toppings you like.  They had everything you could think of.  I added almonds, coconut, strawberries, and raspberries. Amazing!!!
It wasn't super expensive either.

Sabbath was great!  After a wonderful Church service, we went home to have lunch.  All of my family, Mark's family and the Mattson's came.  That afternoon, we got family portraits made.  We hadn't done that for 17 years, so it was about time!  I am a little worried that they didn't turn out.  I just wasn't feeling it.  Monroe was super fussy and very hard to control and the whole situation kind of stressed me out.  That night we went to visit Mumsie!  It was great to see her.

After lunch, loving on Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Murrill

Sunday we celebrated Monroe's birthday (again) with our Tulsa friends and family.  It was wonderful.  I miss those Tulsa peeps so much.  They are so wonderful and will always represent home to me.  Monroe had a great time, but was completely exhausted after.

Later that evening, we went with Stephen, Michelle, Mom and Dad to Hunter Park.  The guys played Frisbee Golf and the girls walked and played at the playground(specifically Monroe).

Before we left on Monday morning, we went for breakfast at The Broken Egg and then we were off for another 12 hour stint.  (I swear, it gets harder and harder to leave our parents.  More and more tears seem to be shed.  You'd think it would get easier, but I guess the older you get, the more important family becomes.)  There were no storms, which made the trip a lot easier.  So that was our trip in a nutshell.  I probably over-shared...oh well:)

Dedication

Wow!  What an amazing holiday weekend.  In spite of the long hours of driving, it was a wonderful trip to Tulsa.  We just got home and I am completely and utterly exhausted.  I thought I would post a few pics from Monroe's dedication and a little video clip of Stephen, Michelle and I singing a special song to her.  Unfortunately, we didn't get video of the whole song.  (My crazy flipvideo camera started acting all funky, right when the song started and we didn't get any of Stephen singing his part).

Stephen did an amazing job on the dedication.  It was extra special for Monroe that her Uncle was able to do it!  

Her Winnings!

After an incredibly fun day at the Woodfield Mall with Melissa, Mason and Max, we arrived home to a box on our doorstep addressed to Monroe Murrill!  We have been waiting on this little package to arrive and were so excited to see all of the great things Monroe won for the photo contest.  We are still waiting on one more pair of shoes to arrive, but here are the adorable goodies from Tutu Girls Bowtique...

So, aren't they the cutest?!  I truly feel so blessed that Monroe won such a fun little contest.  We never could have afforded to buy all these cute things on our budget right now, so it was so cool to get them all for free! 

When we were at the mall I found the cutest shoes for Monroe at h&m.  I couldn't pass them up for only $5!!!  

On a more serious note, I ended up doing something today I vowed I would never, ever do.  Something,  if you know me at all, you won't believe...I BOUGHT SKINNY JEANS!!!  I know!  They are my arch nemesis! I don't know what got into me.  I think I finally got worn down by my mother-in-law.  She has literally bought me five different pairs of skinny jeans, attempting to introduce me to the trend.  Every time, I politely hand them right back.  I am already very slow to accept new trends, but one that involves something clinging tightly to my body was not on the top of the list.  So, like ten years after the trend started, I've gotten on board.  That's me for ya, always on the cutting edge:)  

Well, Teen Mom is on, I better run.  

A free Tuesday!

Yep! I never get to stay home on Tuesdays, so today is quite a treat.  Shelley couldn't watch Monroe today and I didn't want to work Thursday instead, since we are leaving for Tulsa that day.  I just decided to take PDO today and stay home with my little lady.

This morning we are going to Schaumburg to the mall there.  They have a giant h&m and I can't wait to spend some time looking around:)  This h&m has kid's clothes and I always love them.  I have already started "self talk" to myself about not spending too much money!

So, something exciting happened at work yesterday.  We interviewed a girl to be our assistant!  We loved her and HR is offering her the position this morning.  I am so happy.  She will be able to be in the office every day and that will make my job so much easier.  I can't wait to have someone who can do the day to day things.  Every Tuesday I go to work and have so many emails/calls/notes to answer that I never feel I have time to do anything else.  Having an assistant will allow for me to focus more on volunteer recruitment which has definitely been lacking.  This is a huge answer to prayer and I can't wait for her to start.  I am pretty sure she will accept.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I have never had to manage anyone (besides a classroom of kiddos), so I am a little nervous.  

I have two friends that are having to go back to work in the next few days after three months of maternity leave.  If you don't mind, send a prayer up for them.  It is such a hard transition to go back and I really feel for them as they figure everything out.   

Well, I hear Monroe.  I better go feed the beast.