me time

Tuan, I would like to update my blog. Would you occupy the kids while I do that?

Ahhh - peace at last!





Aug 09

right this minute

Aug 09

Hammock

My birthday this year fell on a Thursday. As a surprise during our Saturday shopping trip Tuan gave me a coupon for a container of dairy-free ice cream! He knows me well. On our way out we passed this hammock on sale - 50% off! I have wanted a hammock ever since our last one broke. So really, my birthday was on Saturday! Thank you Tuan - it was a great day and the whole family loves it!








Aug 09

Snapshot Sunday

New name

If you look you will see that my blog has changed names. Keep an eye on it because I'm sure it will change again as I search for a new name that fits. This blog is almost five years old now after all!

Comments and suggestions welcome, of course!

Fun August Pics

My sister found some foam swords on clearance and my kids loved playing with them and were sad when they had to go to a different home. So I went to the store and the same swords rang up - well, not on clearance. So we decided to make our own! Luckely 'tis the season for water foam noodles to go on clearance. We found two and used my stash of pvc pipe scraps to make our own. How did I know how to do this? Another sister (who just happens to throw fabulous birthday parties for her kids) had made these swords a few years ago. Find the tutorial on her blog here.


I love living close to family. You will see what fabulous flowers she has in her daughter's butterfly garden in her Today's Flowers series on her blog. This bouquet Emma picked was so beautiful it deserved two pictures! And she even gave me some seeds so that we can have our own patch next year!



I like to call this one Death by Potato Chips
LOL



Emma loves to look at the fake nails in the store and I finally found some that are made just for little fingernails like hers. She kept putting them on and taking them off. She loved them!







Aug 09

I love this picture of Emma.

Three in one lap

Almost there! Maybe when baby comes I'll take the same pic with baby on the outside.

Fancy

Another project that I found on youcanmakethis.com

These were fun for Emma to design and fun for me to make. She has a pair of blue flip flops that we still need to fancy up.



Every time Emma sees those fancy hair bow/clips she wants some. But my goodness they are expensive since they are all handmade by work at home moms. Every time I tell her that I just know we can make our own! But it took me forever to find the alligator clips - look at a beauty supply store btw. The day I found the clips, Emma and I designed and make these clips. I used the tools and lots of info from the flip flops tutorial. And now I have found an e-book for sale for these! lol I made a bunch for two of my nieces because I went a little crazy with the clearanced ribbon and I just had too much fun making them. I'm getting better at making them too. Emma sure isn't complaining!

(sorry - bad picture)

I found a tutorial for a crochet cell phone bag. I made one for me because I am wearing skirts nearly every day since it is so hot. Emma saw me making it and of course wanted one for her. She chose her yarn and in 15 minutes hers was ready. They work up super fast. I made one for Daniel too but don't have a picture of it yet. Same thing but in green and blue. lol

I bought this pattern from a great site for moms to make money by sharing what they are great at - www.youcanmakethis.com

I decided to make two for a friend who just had twin girls. But for some strange reason decided to make the first out of dark rose, dark purple and white. Erm - these are June California babies! Oops. So I gave it to another good friend who is moving to a different part of the state. She is due with a girl in late November - just 3-4 weeks after me! Hope her baby likes it!



I finished and handed it to my "baby" to try on. Wow is he ever not a baby anymore. *sigh* Where has the time gone.




And yes, I am nearly finished with the white/pink and white/light yellow hats for the Ca babies! lo

Preserving

A good friend gave us two huge buckets of tomatoes from her mother-in-laws garden. They made 12 quarts of sauce and one pint of powdered tomato peels (I didn't get to about half the peels - ut hey - I'm 8 1/2 mos preg right now so I think I get a pass)



Daniel loved to help.



Emma - well she helped in her own way! lol

projects cont . . .

I saw this project for a board to hang your kids artwork from.

I found a piece of scrap wood that I had been hanging onto because as soon as you throw it out you need it, donchaknow? lol Asked Em if she wanted to paint it (of course!) and when it was dry (hair dryer for the impatient!) glued a lot more than three (really - three was all they put on theirs?) clips on it and hung it up. Fun and useful!












Aug 09

Right this minute

Don't let this look fool you - she loves to help me mop the floor! lol



Daniel has fun looking through our map book. I'm thinking of getting a huge map of the world to put on our wall. D=Think the kids would like that Dale? :o)

Nesting

I think that I am nesting. I can't stop crocheting and sewing and ... and...

Emma found this locked notebook for $1 on clearance. Before we even got home with it I was sure that the keys would both be lost in 5 minutes tops.


So I sewed together some 1/4 inch elastic and crocheted around it. Emma requested a butterfly and a flower to attatch her keys to. A cute personalized bracelet and the keys only got lost the one time she forgot where she put the bracelet! lol








Aug 09

Music box then and now

When I was 7 years old I got the best Christmas presents. Some yarn, a crochet needle and a ballerina music box. I have a great memory of sitting on the living room floor with the music box open and tinkling away while I single-chained my way through the entire skein of pink yarn. Ahh - fun times. Not, I'm sure, for any other family members stuck in the living room with me!

Anyhoodle! I loved that music box and held onto it. Emma found it a year ago and immediatly fell in love with it. However, after such a long life it was getting a bit worn out.



I set out to find one that she could wear out all on her own.



I like the song this one plays more and it has a separate drawer for treasures. I think I want it! lol




She loves it which is what matters!











Aug 09

Why I get behind in posting

See - I would love to post more often and I even have a folder full of pictures and stories to post. But other things seem to always come up and sitting at the computer to blog gets put on the back burner. An example. I told Tuan that I would like to update my blog. Ok, sure, he said. But no sooner had I opened the computer than Emma informed me that we still had not split the vanilla beans (that I purchased over 2 mos ago!) to see and taste what was inside and make our own (gf) vanilla extract. So instead of blogging, the kids and I split the beans. Em and I tasted the seeds - not much flavor but a yummy vanilla aftertaste - D wasn't interested. lol Then we packed them in some vodka and we'll check on it every few days.

Winter - no Summer Bike Ride!

These pictures were both taken the same day believe it or not! (Em is riding D's bike and D is riding Em's) I just bought the boots for Emma so I think that she was excited to wear them. lol Last year she really wanted some black boots but I didn't want to shell out the $25 for a pair of toddler shoes. Unfortunately for me they never went on sale. They sell out so fast that they never need to mark them down. So I looked all over for a pair of boots for her birthday in Febuary. But the season was ending and I couldn't find anything for less than $50! Herm - she could wait 7 more months. Daniel - why else is he ever naked except that he's a toddler and it's great weather!

Snapshot Sunday