Monthly Archives: March 2009

Crafty Tuesday

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Only one thing to show today.

We are busy preparing for Aunt Meesh and the girls’ visit (on Thursday), Em’s little birthday deal (next week), her actual birthday and Easter (also both next week!). So we are busy, busy little bees around here.

These are the invitations that I made for Em’s birthday lunch for next week.

Em's Birthday Card

I got the idea for the “garden” and then wanted it to be a little 3-d like. And since I only had a few invites to do, I printed them out, cut out each piece separately and used the little block adhesives to make them pop off the page. I think they turned out pretty cute. Em really likes them, so that is all that really matters, I guess.

Anybody else have some crafty goodness to share today?

All Girls, All Weekend ~ Best Shot Monday

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Props to Daddy this weekend. He endured a LOT of girly-ness and a lot of girl-centered activities. Yes, he was trying to make up for forcing football on all of us for the past two years, but at any rate, he pulled through on some pretty great activities this weekend. And I’m pretty certain is anxious to get back to work this morning where the estrogen level is surely at a more acceptable level.

First up, he got us tickets to the World Figure Skating Championships on Friday night at the Staples Center. Not just any tickets, but tickets in one of the luxury suites…which was, well…pretty sweet.  The tickets were for the Free Dance session, which is always a fun one to watch, although it started at 6:30pm. Which means we saw the “B team.” The “A team” skates later in the evening. The girls made it until about 9pm, and then we beat a hasty retreat before full meltdown mode could ensue.

We had an extra ticket so Emma brought her friend Avery and then the girls had their first official, non-visiting friend sleepover. Since it was so late when we got home I thought surely they would sleep until at least until 8:30am, maybe 9? Right?

Right. Not exactly. All three of the girls were back up and at ’em by 7am.

So Saturday started early. Very early. In the afternoon we took the girls to see Monsters vs. Aliens. They had been counting down the days til it opened, and I knew we would probably take them, but since it also coincided with the report cards going home on Friday, (and Emma’s was outstanding, again!) we told Em we’d take her because of her good report. It is a cute movie. AND has a girl superhero, which I can really get behind. Emma has been spouting off lines from the movie all weekend. She really is her Daddy’s daughter!

And then Sunday, Daddy scored more tickets. This time to the inaugural game for the Women’s Professional Soccer league. We cheered our LA Sol team onto a 2-0 victory. It was the first real soccer match I had ever been to, and I think it renewed Em’s desire to play soccer again. So it was a successful game on many levels.

I did tote my camera around a little more this weekend than I have the past few weeks, and I’ll get some photos edited and up soon. But this one is my favorite from the weekend, and my BSM for today.

First of all, we have a much larger tub in our room, and why we didn’t use that one – I’m not sure. But I just love the bedheads on all three of them, as they cram into the tub, shoulder to shoulder, and try to wake up from their little sleep-deprived fog on Saturday morning.

Bedheads

Mr. Pickles makes himself at home

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We have a new member of our family, his name is Mr. Pickles.

A few weeks back my friend Kate over at My Pet Peeve generously offered to send a Mr. Pickles to us, so the girls and I could play along with the Chicken Game. I was so very excited, and then, um…promptly forgot about it.

So today, when the mailman left a HUGE box on my doorstep with a return address I didn’t recognize, I was a bit puzzled. But imagine my surprise and pure joy when I opened it up and found not one, but TWO Mr. Pickles and he brought gifts!  A giant stack of fabric that Kate claims has been languishing in her basement, never to be used.

Mr. Pickles joins our family...

I cannot tell you how very much that made my week, Kate! Thank you so much! I have ideas for at least five of the fabrics already…fear not, they will be used, and we’ll show Mr. Pickles a good time, too. I hope he is ready for some L.A.- area fun!

DIY ~ Theme Thursday

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When I found out that this week’s Theme Thursday was DIY: Do It Yourself, I was a little stumped. We haven’t exactly been doing any house projects lately, and I’ve pretty much blown all of my crafty projects on Crafty Tuesday.

So I thought I would try to capture Addie as she “do it myself, Mama!” since that is pretty much all I hear these days. And that didn’t exactly pan out either. She and I have been a little bit on the “outs” this week. (Just picture LOTS of time in the corner, mostly for Addie…but occasionally for me, too! There have been numerous temper tantrums this week.)

And then last night, Em asked if I would help her figure out what she needed to do for her jog-a-thon for school next week. I told her of course I would help her, but as far as the phone calls and asking for sponsors? I told her “You will have to do it yourself.” Ohhhh…Ding, ding, ding!

So here is Em, drummin’ up business for her jog-a-thon next week and proving you can do it yourself if Mama helps you write out a little script. She is expecting to finish 10 laps (which would be 1.25 miles!) and right now if she does, she would raise over $200! Go Em! I think she can do it…she is after all her Mama’s girl!

Drummin' up business

And there is absolutely nothing cuter than listening to her read the script, and the look on her face when everyone said “yes.”

I unfortunately did not set up the photo session very well. I was trying to do dinner, baths, and help her with her pledge drive, so I just snapped a quick, few photos – but didn’t get any great photos. However, I like this one and I tried to salvage it a bit. I’m sure there are plenty more great photos over at Stacy’s today.

Crafty Tuesday

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It does this Momma’s heart good to watch my little budding artist. If you recall we have seen glimpses of her artistic greatness in the past. And she just continues to impress me with her constant creativity. Every corner of our house is littered with scraps of paper, pictures, drawings, and notes, basically…little pieces of Emma.

I decided to get my canvases and paints out on Sunday because I have been promising the girls that we would do it, and more importantly because Addie needs some new artwork on her walls now that her baby bedding has been replaced with her new kitty quilt.

But most of my day was spent just in awe of my artiste. She is good. And she has some serious talent…if I do say so myself. She has a lot of confidence in her drawing and painting, she can look at something she wants to draw and she will draw it. And she does it with such a steady and fearless hand. It really is fun to watch.

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And her first piece…

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And her second…

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Notice, they are “signed” pieces, too! Em told J. that artists have to sign their names to the painting. (Although usually they are quietly signed down in the corner…but nonetheless!)

And J. spent pretty much the entire time cleaning brushes out for Addie. And you can see that it really helped keep her colors separate in both of her pieces…

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I haven’t finished my two pieces, I still need to put the finishing touches on them, but I’ll post them when they are done.

How about everyone else? Any good stuff to show today?

Constant Coaxing ~ Best Shot Monday

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Trying to get food into a headstrong little girl…

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I know many parents have similar eating…oh, lets call them…”challenges,” shall we?

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But ours seems to have reached epic proportions, here.

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We had breakfast for dinner last night…pancakes, served IHOP-style with whipped cream and chocolate chips, even. What kind of kid can’t choke that down for dinner?

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We’ve tried no snacks between meals, no snacks after meals, going to bed hungry, sitting at the table until something has been consumed…it is incredibly frustrating.

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It is a good thing that she is so darn cute!

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Visit Tracey’s for some other joys and challenges today.

I wish… ~ Theme Thursday

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I wish everyone had a sister like mine.

And, I wish that I could send everyone an amazing bunch of roses like those I found on my doorstep yesterday.

A rosey surprise

I think the world would be a much happier place if we could all just have a “Meesh” around.

Thanks for the very rosey surprise, Meesh (and DJ and girls, too!). I wish I could give you all hugs…oh, wait! I can! In two weeks! We can hardly wait.

Why it is fun to try a tri…

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Triathlons bring out all kinds. All shapes and sizes, and all ages. They write your age on your right calf before the race, I’m not exactly sure why, but I believe it is to teach you humility as a 60+ year old goes flying by you halfway through the race.

Somewhere in the middle

Anyhow, I do love the Nike tag inside my hat that says, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” The oldest person to complete our triathlon was 79 years old. Can you believe that? I hope I am still walking at 79…much less swimming-biking-running!

Emma and I had a little discussion when we were going to pick up my race number on Friday.

E: “Mama? How old do you have to be to run a triathlon race?”
M: “I don’t know, Peanut. I’d guess 14 or so.
(I hear nothing from the backseat and then whispered…)
E: “Eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen.”
E: “Oh! Well that means in 8 years I can run a race with you. Because it is almost like I am six already, right?”
M: “Yes (smiling) I would LOVE to run a race with you. I’ll be 44 then.”
E: “Oh. When I’m 30, how old will you be?”
M: “61.”
E: “Can you run when you are 61?”
M: “Um, I hope so…I guess we’ll have to see.”
E: “When I’m 60, how old will you be?”
M: “I’ll be 91.”
E: “OH! Gosh. When I’m 91?”
M: “I’ll be…uh, 122.”
E: “Um, Mama…you probably won’t be here when you are 122.”

You are probably right kid, I’ll be pretty lucky to make it to 91, I think!

We happened to find the youngest athlete on Saturday, he started next to me…

The youngest

And as for that lesson in humility…he finished only 10 minutes behind me.

Sigh.

I better step up my training. I’ve got four years until Em is out here beating me.

Triathlete in training

Crafty Tuesday

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Oh, hallelujah! I actually have stuff to show today! I’m so excited – so let’s get to it.

And, if you might be expecting a bag from me…ahem, say if your name might be Blueberry or Aunt Laura…and you might want to be surprised as to what your bag might look like, you might want to stop reading right now. I’m just saying.

So, here we go.

First up, Addie has been asking me to make her a “kitty purse” ever since I made Em’s dance bag. She visited the fabric store with me the other day and I just followed her around and giggled at her pure delight and her exclamations of “Ohhhh, look at this pretty one Mama!” I think she may have inherited my love for perusing aisles and aisles of fabric.

She actually found this fabric and declared it the one for her kitty bag. So I put a little one together for her. And what do you put in a kitty bag? Lots and lots of kitties, of course!

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I maybe should have made the bag a little smaller. I think at one point she had six cats in there while she lugged it to the gym. I do love the coordinating fabrics we found, the gingham, the striped, and the inside fabric.

Addie was all smiles, and Marie seems to be enjoying it, too!

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And, like I mentioned above, I had a couple of other bags that I desperately wanted to finish and get out to my very patient friends. I found a fun green tomatoes fabric that I thought was kind of spring-like and earthy and decided to use it for these two bags.

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Plus, I think I finally got the proportions right for a reusable shopping style bag. It seems like a good usable size, although when my two, lovely models hold them – they do look like they might be a little large and unwieldy.

Ladies, you’ll have to let me know what you think when they arrive in your hot, little hands!

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Anyone else have some crafties to show today?