Singing Sadie

We, Kogel's, aren't known for beautiful singing voices. We don't let that stop us though! Who knows, maybe Sadie will break the family curse. I sure think she has a sweet, little singing voice.

She was pretty HYPER while I was taking these videos. But hey, she stayed seated the whole time! That's an accomplishment!

U2, I love you!

Even if you're not a die-hard U2 fan,
you will be after one of their concerts!

They had what seemed like 100 semi trucks
to haul in this set. It was AMAZING!
Those weird spider-looking arches were a different
color and pattern for every song!

When Bono walks out, you just think, "Now
THAT'S a rockstar!"

This crystal-clear screen was really a HUGE cylinder,
so there wasn't a bad seat in the entire stadium.

The screen kind of separated and STRETCHED
to 4x's it's original length. This picture doesn't do
it justice, I had to zoom out a ton to fit it in.

Aww, look how cute we are together!

L-O-V-E-D having a Tuesday-night-date-night with the hubs!
That never happens!

Finally, a BOY!

Nieces, that's all we have! Until today!

Introducing:

Baby Noah

My sis, Amanda, and Baby Noah are doing great!

So happy for this little man to join the family!

Fancy Bow Holder

I'm so excited for my dear friend, Hollie, and her hubs, Tony, to have their first baby girl in a few short weeks. PARTLY because it gave me reason to CRAFT! My cousin, Kirsten, made me one of these cute bow-holder-dresses when I had Sadie, and I really wanted to give it a try. I was a bit nervous because I had ZERO directions, but that didn't stop me.

So, here goes! Let me know how you think it came out!




First, use cardboard to cut out the shape of the bodice.
I used cardboard from Costco baby wipes. :)
Way to recycle!

We (my mom & I) layered the cardboard,
2 thin sheets of batting, and the fabric.
You'll need almost an inch of extra
fabric around the cardboard to be
able to pull it to the back tightly.

Then I covered the back with cardstock cut to
the exact shape of the bodice. I chose cardstock
because the fabric I got would eventually fray.
If you used flannel, you could put that on the back.

I TRIED my hardest to pick fabric
to match the baby's room. Thanks, Hollie, for putting
pictures of the nursery on your blog! It really helped me out!

We (by we, I mean SOLELY my mom) ran a
seem through the top of the tulle (5yrds).
That way we could pull the thread and bunch the tulle evenly.

Ribbon makes me happy! It's small & adds so much!
Run the ribbon down the skirt first (I used 3 fat
ribbons & 2 thin). Then cover the top of the skirt
with ribbon making a waste band. Hint: use some
ribbon with texture for the waste band to cover
the bumps & lumps of the tulle and ribbon.

TA-DA!
The perfect place to keep all those bows!