People of the Valley

I am really really excited for this boutique! It will be so much fun. And me and my dresses will be there. Don't miss it!

Holiday Dresses

Christmas Plaid Tie Dress:











Holiday Tuxedo Dress:









This Tuxedo Dress is one that I have been dreaming up for a while now.

When I first sketched it, 1) I didn't know how I was going to create the pattern for it, and 2) it kept me awake at night I was so excited about it. It took a good time to figure out how I was going to make it. And then when I figured that out, there were so many pieces and so much construction that it took me a good time to actually make it. But the finished dress makes every ounce of energy worth it. I love it.

I love the tuxedo ruffles, the length of the sleeves, the sleeve cuffs, the pretty collar, and the poofiness and flow of the skirt pieces (poofiness is a great word). It is made out of a poplin fabric that gives it just the right weight and feel. For me, it is perfection.

And Drew has the sweetest lips in that last picture. I will look back at that picture ten years from now and remember what her sweet little two-year-old kisses were like.

Minnie's Halloween

Though she had been milking sickness for every ounce it was worth for the days and hours preceding Halloween (crying all day and all night), trick-or-treating may have been the happiest we have seen her ever. I love Halloween in the Valley where the weather is perfect and no bundling up over the costume is required. I have the best childhood Halloween memories (what up Hawli!) and I can tell Drew will too. She was born for trick-or-treating.

Cast Your Ballot

The flesh has been cut. The guts have been pulled. The seeds have been spilled. This year there are five pumpkin contestants in the PPCC '09 running. You decide who takes the title. Without further ado, meet the contestants...


Frederique. Frederique is from a small cannibalistic tribe in New Guinea and enjoys “hanging out with friends”. He really shines in the light of a campfire. A true friend till the end, just don’t cross him. Frederique is sure to bring the fun to any party!!!





Jack-o-Maggot. More than every fisherman's dream, Jack-O-Maggot is a perfect addition to any halloween decor. Despite his obvious charm, Mr. O-Maggot is also a connoisseur of fine wine and enjoys classical piano. A dynamite challenger!





Meet Your Maker-go-round. Not a ride likely to be seen at Disneyland, the Meet your Maker-go-round leaves every rider breathless... literally. Complete with custom wooden spike seats and hanging bats, spiders, and guts, this ride will surely be the last thrill of your life!







The Pumpkin Queen. What's worse than laughing so hard milk shoots out your nose? How about a 5 foot flame of fire, thats what! And as any jester in Ms. Queen's court will tell you, every act is hot, hot, hot! (see video footage)







There was an Old Lady.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
It wiggled and jiggled but she didn't die,
Be warned if you don't see eye to eye,
She will gobble you faster than pumpkin pie.




Please vote by filling out our survey HERE.

Anyone and everyone can vote!

Polls close on Halloween!

My Birthday and the Skunk

Oh this was a good weekend. One of those weekends I've been needing for a very long time. As the title suggests, it was my birthday. Jason and I drove up to Fossil Springs for some camping and hiking and perfect weather.

After eating some campfire-grilled steaks with our fingers, trying eight unsuccessful times to cook a biscuit on a stick, and telling Jason to stop waving the burning branch of fire around in the air (to which he asked me if Smoky the Bear was my uncle), we decided to cash in our chips for the night. We were watching 24, Season 7, when we heard rustling outside our tent. Realizing we should probably bring our bag of food in the tent, I drag myself out with the flashlight, take two steps, and stop dead in my tracks. There, rustling in an empty box, was a horse of a skunk with his tail high in the air.

I do not like skunks.

I dove back into the tent. And though we eventually got the food in, it did not stop horse-skunk from hustling and bustling all night through our stuff. All night. Just as my aching can't-sleep-on-the-ground body would allow me to find some form of peaceful sleep, skunk would bustle along and wrestle around with an empty lantern box. Jason tried to hiss it away once with the flashlight and he quickly got the raised tail warning. We didn't bother him again.

Skunk aside, Fossil Springs was perfect. We hiked alongside the creek, Jason bouncing and gliding from rock to rock like Legolas. Me trudging up and around the rocks because I have zero hops. Malia, remember going to watch Lord of the Rings and being in love with Legolas? Ha. The end of our hike was a nice little waterfall. No Havasupai, but beautiful still.

Jason asked me if I would rather he of taken me to a nice restaurant instead for my birthday. I would not have traded this weekend. Not even the skunk.

Oh, and Wednesday morning I am going to post the pumpkin contestants for your vote! Make sure you check them out.

Goings on

This is the last picture taken on our camera. It was taken September 9. Folders on my computer are bulging with pictures from each month of her life, but as a two year old this one lonely photo sits alone.

It's like she is looking at me saying, "Mom, don't you love me anymore?" Really she was just taking stock of her garden and watching for birds and lizards, turning for a smile and a picture when she was told. But I know what she is telling me with that look.


Goings on in the Patterson household:

Singing lots of Ariel songs. Drew asks me to sing Ariel all the time. It takes me back to certain childhood videos when I taped myself singing Ariel, convinced of my musical talent, tossing my hair from side to side. Except I wasn't two years old. Or five years old. Or even eight for that matter. It is blackmail footage, let me tell you.

Planting grass, sewing a duvet cover, decor projects for Drew's big girl room (when she moves out of her crib). I want to share the results of all these.

Drew plays computer games. She will spend an hour on the computer playing games on Dora the Explorer's website or Sesame Street, with minimal supervision. She's thinking of starting her own Facebook account.

Sewing. A lot.

Watching my language. Drew loves to pick out key phrases of mine and use them repeatedly (at appropriate times too). These include, "Oh my gosh," "Oh crap," and "Dang it." They just don't sound right coming out of her mouth ("oh cwap")! We're working on it.

Reading Erica's azcentral blog, Under my Roof. I love every one of her ideas.

Listening to audiobooks on my ipod. I am pretty proud of myself for figuring this one out. I love to read, but seriously have no time to read. So through our library I can download books for free on my ipod and listen to them while I'm working doing all sorts of other things! Sewing has never been so enjoyable. Books I've listened to so far: Eragon by Christopher Paolini, The Book Thief (amazing) by Markus Zusak, and now listening to Eldest, the next book in Paolini's series.

Trying to get Drew interested in "the potty chair". So far watching Potty Time Elmo has only accomplished one thing, giving me a good laugh.


We're all good here.

You down with PPCC?

October has got to be the best month of the whole year. I love everything about it. Yeah, Christmas is a fun holiday, but with it comes stresses about all sorts of things. Halloween brings cooler weather, costumes, decorations, jackets, candy, pumpkin carving, and no stress.

Well maybe a little bit of stress. Every year the PPCC gets more intense. Year 2004 began with my lowly Spider and Spiderweb pumpkin, progressing to my 2008 winner, Skeletor. I look back with such fondness at our pumpkins over the last five years...

Last year was especially fun when we had some challengers enter the contest. I've heard talk from a few fellow pumpkin carving enthusiasts that they will be entering the contest this year. Time will only tell.

If you want to join in on PPCC '09, let me know.