Crafty Tuesday

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My idea has come to life. This is pretty close to what I envisioned when I picked up those vintage aprons at the flea market all those many weeks ago.

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I put a little white slip underneath it and used the apron ties for the straps on the sundress. I saw a dress on etsy (I’m sure) that used the buttonholes and knotted the straps so I knew that I wanted to do that on these dresses as well. That way I can let it out as someone sprouts up an inch (or two!) in a matter of months. They ties are a little long, but the ends are so cute, I don’t want to cut them off.

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This of course is v1.0. The minute Em put this on, my other little birdie was wondering when hers will be done. So v2.0 is on its way. I think I will try to do a little elastic in the back maybe, instead of pleating?

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I also finished the art purses for Em and Ad’s Easter baskets. Of course these were all done on the sly since they are supposed to be a surprise. I’m certain they will love them and they will probably be making a maiden voyage to Easter Sunday mass.

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Oh, they still need buttons, too.

I’ll get on that right after I finish the invites for the tea party we are having next week. Somehow it is that time again? Em thinks it is okay to have another birthday and go and get a year older, too. So she wanted a tea garden tea party, and that is what we are planning on giving her. Here is the start of the tea party frenzy…

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Again. Why do I always design these elaborate things that require all kinds of cutting and assembling? I have to go finish putting all of these together. But I’m looking forward to seeing your Spring craftiness today, so leave it…

Friday Wrap-up

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Motivation is waning over here. I’m not sure if it is just the sick kids (and now sick husband) or the whirlwind of our crazy chaos but I’m really tired today. I think I’m so relieved that Spring Break starts at 3:30 today that my body is just finally just slowing down.

But I’m most definitely NOT getting sick. Let’s just clear that up right now. No. I am not getting the creeping crud that everyone else seems to have around here.

I took Addie in for all her k-garten checkups (dentist and doctor) on Monday and squeezed Em in with her. I mean as long as I’m going to be there anyhow, right?

Dentist was fine. All looks good. Still cavity-free thankfully. And we get to the doctor and I asked if they could just do quick check of Em’s lungs since both girls have done nothing but cough All.Night.Long. For several weeks it seems like.

So the nurse asks if she has had a fever, loss of appetite, etc. All the normal questions. “No she has seemed fine it is just at night the wracking coughs are keeping them (and us!) up.”

“Hmmm…well she has a fever right now.”

“Uh…..really?” (Bad mother award for the week…right here.)

“And…she has a really bad ear infection.”

Fantastic. So she is on meds, but both the girls’ lungs sound great. It might just be allergies, drippy noses making them cough at night. Double fantastic.

So we have been medicining them, humidifying them and babying them. I think they are finally on the mend. And then J. comes home last night and can’t talk. Not a great way to start off our Spring Break here.

But we have a nice weekend of nothing really needing to be done and we can recuperate.

And all of Em’s diorama stuff is done, Open House is done, Jog-a-thon is done.

And I almost have the website done for my friend.

And I have some fun projects to sew.

And I think (if he is feeling better) that I may have talked J. into doing a co-ed adult soccer team with me on Sundays.

And we have booked a few days at a resort in Santa Barbara for next week.

So as long as we can get everyone healthy, I am excited for a very fun week ahead.

Hope you all have a restful, healthy weekend, too!

Dipy Thursday – Week #9

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Today’s theme came to us courtesy of Maggie over at And The Duck Said. She wrote “I’m not sure what I’m expecting but I’d love to see what you two come up with…Secrets.”

Of course as soon as I read that I thought of the girls whispering and giggling into each others ears. It is actually a scene I see a lot, but never have a ready camera to capture it. I’ve tried to document their secrets here and here (WOW! That is an old one…look how little they are!), but I have to admit trying to recapture that shot in my head didn’t turn out exactly how I had planned. But, it is still a testament to their little sister secrets that I hope they always have.

I figured that Kimberly would go a similar route since we are so in sync with each other, so I nearly died when I opened hers! And the story behind it is absolutely perfect!

Dipy Week #9 - Secrets

How brave is that friend of mine? And where can I get some of that electric blue eyeshadow??

See what other secrets our Team-up Thursday players are keeping over at:

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Entertainment Naturally

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Nothing beats nature in the entertainment department. It is fascinating.

J. is taping the Life series on the Discovery channel for us right now and the girls cannot get enough of it. Alright. I can’t get enough of it either,  I love watching it with them. Besides seeing animals in their environment the cinematography is unbelievably amazing. It is simply gorgeous.

Now for the past two days I have been infatuated with another sort of movie. The live cam of Molly the Barn Owl. Have you seen her? And now she has owlets, too! I’ve been checking in on her all day. I showed Addie and EJ this morning and they were kind of fascinated, too.

I figured Gracie would be all over it, so afterschool I introduced her to Molly, too. But I made the mistake of showing her while she was having her snack.

“Um, Mama? What is that owl doing?”
“Uh…I think she is having a little snack, too. But I don’t think it is banana chocolate chip bread. It looks like it might be a mouse, maybe?”
“YUCK! That is disgusting! I can’t watch this.”

Ha – perhaps she was not as enamored as I thought she would be.  I emailed the link to Em’s teacher this afternoon and she and her son got to see one of the owls hatch this evening. I’m so bummed, I wanted to see that! It was probably during the only hour today that I didn’t check in on them.

Go check ’em out, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. They are slightly addictive.

Crafty Tuesday

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Hi my crafty peeps! Hope you have all had a great week. I have photographic proof of the kitchen painting. (And the reason I had nothing for CT last week!)

I finally like the color, after I went back and got “Pecanwood.” It seems the “Dusty Linen” was barely any different from the color of the trim and shutters. Now…maybe someone wants to talk me out of painting my cabinets? They would look so good with a fresh coat of “Dusty Linen” on them.

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In other crafty news, Emma turned her diorama in yesterday. Hallelujah. I am proud of her, even if she was very insistent on doing it “her way.” All her design and her creation. She definitely knew what she wanted and is good at being bossy. “No Mama, I think that the seaweed should look like this…”

Needless to say, Daddy ended up helping her assemble the final product. It turned out very cool.

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I was so excited to have a few hours to sew over the weekend and am working on putting my idea for those vintage aprons into motion. But it didn’t get far enough into motion that I can show it yet. Next week for sure.

I did finally finish a birthday gift for my best friend’s little guy. When Jen posted the tutorial for the art purses I was totally psyched. I have been looking for something that I can make for boys…it seems they don’t like vintage pillowcase dresses and such.

So I adapted the art purse into a little art book of sorts for our little guy. I obviously took the purse handles off and just put a little velcro closure instead.

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I should have made it just a little bit bigger so my Mad Libs book would fit, but overall I was happy with how it turned out.

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I have the fabric for two little girly purses cut out as well. Maybe if they have little art purses to take to church they will stop drawing all over my announcements and scrounging through my purse for pens? I think they might make good Easter gifts. I’ll try to get them done this week, too. And also I have about five different projects for a 7th birthday tea party coming up. Doesn’t 7 seem SO much older than 6??

Do you have any good crafty stuff to share today?

Tired Triathletes

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Just in case you are following along at home and not a facebook friend. We did finish the triathlon yesterday! My friend B. finished her first and did awesome, I’m so very proud of her. I haven’t talked with her to see if she was sore yet today, but she agreed we should look for another one soon, so I don’t think she was too traumatized.

I was 10 seconds faster than last year. Ha! Finishing time of 1:27:21. I felt really good though, and probably could have pushed it a little bit harder and beat that by a lot more. The running! Wow. If you ever want to feel really fast, just train pushing a 20lb. stroller with a 35lb. 4-year old, (add an additional 5-6lbs. for all of the “stuff” she needs to bring) and then run a race without all of that! It is amazing the difference. I was faster on my bike leg too…my official timekeeper (Jamie) noted that when I got out of the pool. You were like 3 minutes faster on the bike! But they switched the transition areas and there was a longer run between the bike and pool (the 2nd transition) and after running and biking…that short little run (barefoot, over sticks and stuff, in your bathing suit, good times!) it is torture. That transition time I lost all I had made up on my run and bike.

Nonetheless, another tri down. I feel very good about it. Thanks to J. and the girls for making it up at a crazy early hour to come see me race. Jamie forgot my camera but I realized I wore the exact same outfit yesterday that I did here, here, and here. So you can pretty much look at those pics and imagine being there with us. Except no little pigtails this year – just my lucky, bright green hat!

Weekly Wrap-Up

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There is definitely something fishy going on around here. And not just with these two little fishies, either.

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So first up. Let’s talk about our weather. Last week, and the week before, it was chilly and kinda rainy. (Not that I was complaining, I kinda liked the “winter-ish” weather.) But two little girls were growing a bit weary of wearing tights and sweaters.

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And this week? Time to break out the sunscreen and sundresses. The summer sun has arrived.

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But it is still very weird to be driving with all the windows down in 86 degrees and look up and see snow on the mountaintops.

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Besides all kinds of lovely blooms (Addie’s little head is about to pop! Flowers, Mama! Everywhere!!)…

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The week also brought a little shake-up around here. We woke up at about 4am on Tuesday morning to every window rattling and the house shaking. Emma was sitting up in her bed, “Mama? Daddy? Was that an earthquake?” Yes, indeed Gracie, it was. A little 4.4 earthquake to remind us that we do live in earthquake country.

Jam and I were just lamenting over all of the earthquake activity lately, too. While we have our kit ready and we know what to do, it still was very unnerving and has made me cautious again. (Addie, by the way, slept through the whole thing.)

Besides the earthquake excitement, we have been battling coughs due to colds and tidepool dioramas. Not necessarily in that order.

I have decided that some days it really is the small victories that we have to celebrate. Like, “Hey! I got two consecutive loads of laundry done today.” Or, “I managed to get both girls dressed, fed, and to school on time and even remembered to pick them up when school was out.” (As I give myself a celebratory pat on the back.)

I did manage to inspire Emmy this week though, I think. Well…we’ll see.

She told me last week she wanted to learn how to run. So I bought her some running shoes and we have started (very slowly) to run a few blocks afterschool a few days this week. She claims she wants to try to do a triathlon with me next year. Again…we’ll see.

This year, (as in tomorrow!) she is just going to cheer me on. I’m not sure I’m really ready for the tri this year, but I’m reminding myself…it is the small victories. So I’m shooting for making it across the finish line on Saturday. And taking my own victory lap with my new running partner.

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Dipy Thursday – Week #8

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I don’t know if it is the time change or what, but I’m stumbling through this week just a bit. Having a few issues here and there and feeling a little brain dead. Yes, let’s blame the time change, shall we?

So Kimberly chose Grids/Squares this week. Again, seemed totally easy and do-able last week when she suggested it. Last week. Fast forward to Wednesday, the day I am to supposed to get her something. I was frantically roaming around outside trying to see something that would fit into our theme. I have hopscotch grids, patio tile grids, a bunch of flower shots (totally don’t fit into the Grid theme, but everything is so blooming and lovely right now I couldn’t resist) but nothing that really excited me.

And then while I was doing dishes, (in my freshly painted kitchen, thank you very much!) I just happened to look over and see the lovely sun streaming through my basket next to my sink making a magnificent shadow of…a grid of squares on my grid of tile!

Done and done. I do love how this challenge makes me see everyday objects through new eyes.

Now I’ve been trying for a very long time to figure out Kimberly’s. I’m thinking it is a screen door? Whatever it is…it is c-o-o-l! Pop over to her place to see what it is for sure. The rainbow effect is doubly awesome, and I’m thinking it might have been left by her little leprechaun helper yesterday – she is such an awesome Mom! I mean…er…awesome Mom for letting the little leprechaun into her house, of course.

Dipy Week #8 - Grids

And make sure to stop by to see what others have been seeing this week, too.

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