I have one tiny little bit of craftiness from the past week.
This week my parents were here so I didn’t really get any craftiness done, but I did put them to work…
What were my crafty minions working on? (Kinda like Martha’s army, eh?)
Vases for Teacher Appreciation week…
And we made a mess of scones for the teacher breakfast yesterday morning. And that is it for us.
I’ve got some birthday presents to make this week, so we’ll see you next week, same time, same place!
How much do we *heart* Kimberly’s take on sky? A.LOT!
My shot is the view out our window the past few mornings. But the clouds always clear out and leave beautiful blue skies to love.
Check out more shots to love over at –
So since most of last week was spent painting, I kinda blew my CT for today with that post on Friday. But I did finish up three other little projects that were totally bugging me.
Something to contain Em’s stuff on her new desk…
Something to contain all of my necklaces that are usually strewn about the bathroom…
…including my new one in the middle there, red coral straight from Hawaii! (Thanks Jeff & JB!)
I stole Not So Idle Hands‘ knockoff of the Pottery Barn frame idea. I just took an IKEA frame and added some cuphooks into it. Easy peasy. And it fits perfectly in this little blank bit of wall in our bathroom. And keeps my necklaces neat – and in sight…so maybe I will remember to wear them more often!
And my last CT submission wasn’t really bugging me, but a certain little girl was bugging me to get it finished.
Addie’s apron dress like Em’s I finished a few weeks ago…
Still messing with the actual pattern. I did elastic in Addie’s instead of pleats. I think it will be a better fit and grow with her a little better. She is anxious to wear it tomorrow, so I think she likes it!
I’m really behind on reading blogs, but I want to see some more goodies to keep me inspired, so let’s have ’em!
Saturday afternoon I was doing my homework, trying to learn the story I was to do for Sunday school the next day. Addie crept out into the dining room and didn’t say a word to me, not even asking what I was doing, and sat down and just started playing with the story pieces. After a bit, I had finished with my work, but Addie sat and played with hers for another 20 minutes. I couldn’t stand it any longer and had to sneak out to take a shot of her. She looked like an angel with the sunlight streaming through her hair, while sitting and quietly putting the pieces to the Good Shepherd puzzle together in her head.
Alright, you knew that I couldn’t just take one shot…a few others, too.
For more heavenly shots –
Yeah, I’m late and behind this week, but we are still here, still kickin’. J. has been traveling this week so besides missing him, we decided to tackle a few projects that have been driving me a little crazy. I have that spring cleaning bug again and around here one thing leads to another.
I finished up Em’s room last week, finally hanging stuff on her wall, fitting her new desk in, painting a new desk chair and it looks so good in her room. And then I walked into Addie’s room and that bookshelf that I have hated since we moved in was calling me, taunting me. And we hadn’t painted that wall when we did the big repaint a month or so ago – I’m not sure why, but the people before had left the wall white, so we did too.
So I get the brilliant idea that the bookshelf needs to be painted white. But as soon as the bookshelf is white, the wall looks very dingy. So I get the doubly brilliant idea that I’m going to not only paint the wall, but I’ll paint each shelf a different color. But, as soon as the bookshelf and walls are painted, the doors look dirty and dingy. So, yep…they get some new paint, too.
And now, every other room I walk into, I see something that needs some attention. Please someone plan an intervention for me. Come pry the paintbrush from my cramped hand.
But for now, Addie’s room is satisfactory…
I didn’t take any before pics, but trust me…it looks WAY better. And Addie sat down on her bed when I was organizing all the stuff on the shelves and she just sighed and said, “Oh Mama, my room looks so pretty, doesn’t it? I love it!” That made the three days of sore painting arms totally worth it all.
And to add to my achievements for the week – I finally hung the photos that have been sitting in our dining room for two, three months, awhile now. I think I’ve been putting it off for so long because I didn’t want to commit, I wasn’t quite sure how to do the photos going up the stairway.
So I put paper up and mapped them out before I pounded a bunch of nails into the wall…
…and what do you know? It worked! I’m thrilled to have this project crossed off my list once and for all.
So, that has pretty much been our week around here, besides – you know – the normal dose of chaos.
On the docket for the weekend we have a trip to the beach bright and early tomorrow morning. Our Daisy troop is doing a beach clean-up. And on Sunday, our little Miss Addie is starring in a movie for an online project for Disney. Oh, you better believe there will be updates on both of those coming soon.
Hope your weekend is restful and fun!
Can’t you just hear the laughs this week? Although we could have also used the theme Daddy, which was completely not planned. (Maybe we should have saved this dipy for Father’s Day, Kimberly.)
What is it about Dads? Do they hand out some sort of handbook that states “Daddy’s job is to be the entertainment in the family, the go-to guy for laughs and fun?” And I have a sneaky suspicion (I mean, just look at Bryce’s sweet face!) that it isn’t only true in our house…but our Daddy is the funniest and most fun guy around. And always good for a laugh.
See what is making everyone else happy over at ~
My mad little scientists hard at work.
Got some good stuff today – I hope you all had time to get crafty and creative this past week as well.
First up, our little friend Miss P. is having a birthday this week, so I finished a pink-a-licious dress for her from one of my favorite pillowcases from the last flea market trip. I added a few little pockets for treasures because it was a little plain.
I also bought the lickety-split bag commercial pattern a few weeks ago and decided before I made any to sell or give away as gifts, (it is coming, Vic!) I should make one for myself, to…you know…test the pattern out. Well, it is a very easy pattern and I really think I will have a lot of fun making these cool bags.
They are reversible, but I didn’t get a pic of the other side. I did however get a pic of this little nymph trying to make off with my new bag, but she is awfully cute…so maybe I’ll look the other way.
Now…my friend, partner, and cohort-in-all-things-sewing, aka – Mommy Jamie, dropped off not just one – but TWO dresses – one for each of the the girls last night. Not only are they adorable, but they are environmentally conscious, too! She re-purposed two old Daddy dress shirts. Emma was thrilled to tell any and everyone today that she had a dress made out of Daddy’s shirt.
I’m not really sure why they think they need to pose like this, but super cute dresses, no?
Jamie used the pattern in the new Martha Stewart sewing book, which I must get. I have rescued a few of J.’s other dress shirts from the Goodwill pile already. And Addie has requested a Daddy shirt-dress with a twirly-ruffle at the bottom. So, we’ll be adding it to the list…
I tease J. about being the poster child for “all things Apple” all of the time, so I’m a little surprised to realize that this is the first glimpse you have all seen of the newest member of our techie-loving family.
I give you – J.’s iPad.
There she is, in all her glory. Well, her “backside” at least.
Em and Daddy are probably farming here. They are a little obsessed with the You Rule app and are always busy building their kingdom. I think they are constructing a tavern right now, which will be very useful for Mama to visit since Emma has also discovered the Glee app. Where you sing. Loudly. And off-key. And, hey! You can plug in headphones so the iPad can record you singing! Which doesn’t even give the rest of us the added benefit of hearing the music, you know, the real song. You can totally see where I’m going here…
Addie pretty much likes watching cats, dogs, hamsters…any sort of featured animal video of the day on YouTube. Our favorite around here right now is the Standing Cat. And if you like that one you have to see the Standing Cat (Now in Boots!). Why can’t our dumb cat ever do anything funny like that?
But, back to the iPad. She has even replaced J.’s plain ol’ boring book in our Sunday-reading-in-the-hammock routine. Hmmm…note how I instinctively called it a “she”? Designating gender to a piece of technology isn’t very odd at all. I guess that just proves that she has found a very happy place in our family. And doesn’t fear getting kicked out or disowned any time soon. She has become “one of the girls.”
It’s been a bit of a long week. I, for one, am very happy that Friday is finally here.
Meanwhile, our crazy weather has my poor children confused.
If I just wear my boots and a little sweater over my sundress that should be ok, right?
And this getup is perfectly acceptable for a donut run with Daddy on the weekends, right?
My hat will keep my toes warm…
(Yep, she went out this way. Fashion, smashion.)
But let’s take a closer look at that cutie hat, shall we?
I got each of the girls one of these hats at the Silent Auction for Em’s school last weekend. I love them. A mom at our school makes those and I’ve wanted to get one for them for awhile now. Although they kinda make the girls look all hip and OLD.
Speaking of looking so much older, I’ve been trying to braid Em’s hair all the time for school. I used to think it made her look a little more like my little girl.
I don’t know, though. I’m not sure it is working so well any more.
Although, it could just be that I only see the top of her head lately because her nose is constantly in a book.
Yes, I did buy her a dictionary for her birthday. I was so tired of, “Mama, How do you spell…?” I was totally unprepared however with how much she would love the dictionary. She has carried it back and forth to school all week. The first word she looked up in it was – dismissal. For her journal entry. My sweet, little nerd.
Ad’s friend EJ has been staying with us this week, which has led to a very interesting shift in the house dynamics. EJ has two younger, wilder brothers. She is used to being around boys. And being the boss. Our Addie is used to being bossed around, but I think she is kinda not so enamored with her BFF right now. And she is clearly not thrilled that EJ and Emma Grace have been inseparable, as well. EJ thinks Emma Grace molded, colored and hung the moon.
So Addie has become even more of a Mommy’s shadow.
“You need me to help, Mama? I can do it for you!”
It hasn’t hurt Em and Ad’s relationship, though. Never fear, they are still “tight.”
While we are on the subject of “helping each other out,” I alluded a few weeks ago to J. and I joining a co-ed, adult soccer league. I was talked into it because they needed more girls, so I said yes. And then I talked J. into doing it with me, because it “will be something fun for us to do together.” Right? Yes. Remember neither of us have every actually played soccer.
Hmmm…well, the first week was r-o-u-g-h. Ouch. It is way harder than it looks. And I am in decent shape, but…OUCH! And J. was convinced that he was only on the field for comic relief. But last week? It was so much better. And we kinda looked like we knew what we were doing. And J. really looked good. So now we are not dreading our soccer Sunday afternoons, and it really is “something fun for us to do together.”
So we are running off to our weekend fun. Hope you are too…
