not trying to ignore my responsibilities as a blogger...

Just to let ya'll know that we are fine, it's just been a steady stream of busy these last couple of months. I will update soon. I promise!

finished projects...

Don't you just LOVE when you get a long running project finished? Oh, I do. Last week I finished my BFF's daughter's baby quilt. She's 2. And today I finished hand sewing (insert loud groan here) the binding on a quilt that I started almost a year ago.

Here's the baby quilt. I used the Wild Child pattern from Pixiegirl Quilts. It went together very easily, even with the triangles. :) And then I meander quilted it. A little tricky with the flange border, but it came out pretty well. It has burgandy minky on the back. SO soft and cuddly.


Here's the other quilt that I finished. It's Amy Butler Belle fabric and I think the pattern was Take 5 Goes to Charm School.

This one was a little bugger. Only because I had to cut a mess of charm squares in half and then in half again. Not a big deal, just tedious. Not sure if I'll make this one again. And at first I wasn't sure how I liked it, but once I got the borders on I love it.

It has minky on the back too. See a trend here. It's wonderful stuff. I had the longarm lady down the street quilt it for me. She used a really cute pattern with flowers and hummingbirds. This was done before I had my quilt frame. I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything like this for quite a while!

I also cut the binding on the bias because I wanted the barber pole effect. I like how it turned out, but it was a bit of a pain both to cut and to sew on. But I'm not an expert so I'm sure it's just me. :)Lots of other quilt projects in various stages of assembly.

In other unrelated news, the kids are doing well. The last day of school is Thursday and Sara is excited to be going into the 1st grade. We also have her dance recital coming up. Not like when I was in dancing school. She takes tap and ballet and the dancing school has 3 different performances, not to mention the dry run and the dress rehearsal. Can you say busy??

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

the day of reckoning has arrived...

This is the day that I have dreaded for a long time. Today Austin climbed not only in...

...but more importantly OUT of his crib.

And it's already on the lowest setting. So tonight begins the saga of putting him to sleep in a real bed and not a confinement unit. Wish me luck...

P.S. Ignore Logan's tantrum in the background...

Logan's Birthday

Well, yesterday we celebrated Logan's 4th Birthday. We went to Disneyland and had a pretty good time. I'm not feeling very wordy today so I'll just post some photos. Maybe I'm not feeling very coherent is a better description...

happy mother's day to ya!

I hope your Mother's Day goes well for all you mother's out there! As a mother, I have to say that this last week has been a rather rough one. I've been saying that alot lately haven't I? I think I need to change my perspective. I'll have to work on that one a bit. Speaking of working on things. I want to show you my first official foray into machine quilting. Ta-daa!



The picture is a little crappy, but I think the awful lighting and shadows accentuates the quilting. Don't you? I have a practice quilt that I had worked on for a few days before I tried an actual project. And I use the term project loosely here folks. It was 2 pieces of fabric with batting in the middle. But it's a quilt and I'm going to donate it to the My Stuff Bag Foundation. They're some nice folks. After I donated all those stuffed animals that I made, they sent me a nice thank you letter. I kept it. I'm a pack rat like that.

Not too much to report on any other front. We're pretty boring. Jason came home today! Yeah! Sara is still doing marvelous in school, growing up a little too fast for my liking. Logan is a challenge every day of the week and twice on most days. And baby is Austin is just cute as a bug. He's talking more little by little. My favorite phrase of his right not is "miron (my urn) man" meaning Iron Man. The older two love the new Iron Man cartoon and well, he's just along for the ride.

Well, I'm signing off for now. Have a most glorious Mother's Day!

cute dresses...

...at least I thought they were cute. Sara...not so much... She liked the blue one, but while she liked the green fabric, she didn't like the dress so I'm sending it to Kathy for her daughter Kaitlyn. She thinks it's cute. I was a little hurt, although I shouldn't have been. She was just being honest. Here's a rare shot of all three together. An even more elusive shot is one where they are all looking at the camera and NOT being goofy. I still haven't gotten that one yet.

Things around here have been a little rough lately, but when they are looking so cute, it's hard to stay mad for too long. I love these little critters more than anything. Have a beautiful day!

Read-A-Thon

Sara had a read-a-thon at school during the month of March. The goal was for each student to read 100 books. Every student that read at least 100 books got a medal and a coupon for free ice cream. Sara ended up reading 165. She was so excited to get her medal, as you can tell from the picture. I think it's awesome that the push reading at her school. As I've said before I think reading is the foundation for every other thing that we learn. I love to read too. However, I get a little obsessive about it and will finish a book in a night, by staying up WAY too late. I think it's a project completion thing with me. Here are some pictures from the awards assembly...
Sara's teacher, Mrs. Randall, is the blond lady and her principal Mrs. Kinney is the dark haired lady.

Checking out the free ice cream...

Have a great day!

finally!!!

This quilt has been in the works for quite a while. And now it is offically done. HAND SEWN binding and all. I haven't washed it yet for that scrunched up look. Sara wouldn't let me. It's hers and She wanted to use it right away. It's backed with pale yellow minky and all I want to do is pet it. Seriously. It's that lovely.

LeAnn did an awesome job quilting it! She is very talented. I have another quilt that she did that I still have to HAND SEW the binding on. Actually, I still have to get the fabric for the binding.

I have a few more projects to post, but I'll keep you in suspense! I've been sewing like a maniac. I have 3 quilt tops waiting to be quilted and a dress or two for Sara. Any suggestions on what to sew for little boys. Besides quilts?

more show and tell...

First up on the hit parade is a hair scrunchie that I made out of scraps tied around a hair elastic. I also made a hair barrette out of the same scraps, but I don't have a picture of it yet. Sara gave this one to her friend Lexie. I hate to throw away even scraps of fabric!

Next...this is a little bag I made Sara for her dance shoes. The pattern is from allpeoplequilt.com. I opted not to make the pockets, but I did use the batting. Not sure if I'd use batting again. It makes is kind of bulky. But it turned out cute and she loves it. Hopefully, it'll do away with the shoe search every week.

This is another scrap project. I finished a quilt top and had some strips left over and this is what they became. I made it yesterday and she wore it to school today. I had 2 different moms come up to me and they wanted me to make them one. I was very flattered, but I'm not a seamstress. I just pretend sometimes.

I feel no words are necessary for this one...

So in addition to these lovelies, I made that quilt top and have another one in the works. I wish everyone a wonderful weekend!

show and tell...

This is the quilt that I made for my cousin Becca's new little baby. He's adorable. It didn't take me long to make it, but it did take me awhile to actually get it in the mail. But I loved it so much that I'm going to make a big one for my bed. I got the baby quilt kit from Quilt Taffy. Love those girls by the way. Super sweet and very helpful. The quilt was easy to do and I made it even easier because I just used the 5" squares as is instead of quartering them. I'm lazy like that. I have 3 more quilts to show and tell, but I have to do the binding first. And CJ if you are reading this, yes I said 3 quilts to hand sew. Wanna help? I'm seriously thinking about paying someone else to do it. I despise hand sewing that much.


The only other news is that I'm recovering from a wicked sinus infection. One dr visit and 3 Rx's later and I'm beginning to come out of the fog. Nice to see ya'll again. :)

favorite book collections

In our homeschooling adventures Logan & I have come across some pretty good books. We've tried 2 different curriculums and have found that Sonlight has suited us the best. They have great books. Some of the stories are a bit long for Logan to absorb in one sitting, but for the most part he has loved every story. Just thought I'd share a few of our favorites. These are collections of many stories and I think they are a great value. They would make great gifts too!

The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury

Eloise Wilkin Stories

Harper Collins Treasury of Picture Book Classiscs

Enjoy!

and because this is too funny NOT to share...

I'll have you know that I was no where around during this escapade. This is definitely a man's ingenuity...

in celebration...

...of finally digging out my scrapbook supplies, I'm going to post some random layouts for both your viewing pleasure and my inspiration. Because now that I have the supplies out, I NEED some inspiration folks.

This little gem is a favorite of mine because it's a rare photo of me that I like. Obviously it's from a few years back, about 4 I think. I also like it because of the stark contrast of the black and the colors. And of course, the points and angles. I'm a points, angles, square kind of girl. Bet you didn't know that about me. I doodle in lines, not circles. What about you?

This layout is all digital and I love the colors and the swatches of patterned paper. Yummy. So there you have it. Have super duper weekend!

bet you didn't know...

...that we have a three legged monster living at our house...

they rock...

I am never one to pass up a good deal...so.....the other day (actually about 2 weeks ago) I got Aerosmith Guitar Hero for the Wii on Amazon for a very good deal. And I haven't played it much because it gets a little crazy around here when we whip out the guitar. As you can see...We actually had to put it up for a while right after we got it because everyone would fight over it. Not that they can play, but they sure LOVE to try.

Sara likes to have a good time with it...



Logan is WAY to serious...

And this little booger is just WAY too cute...

I am so lucky to have these little creatures in my life. Hopefully, now that I'm off from school I'll be able to post a little more frequently. One would hope...Have a good one!

moving on...

...well, I'm trying.

Have you seen this thing? It’s called “Tag” and it’s by Leapfrog. I had wanted to get it for the kids for Christmas, but didn’t want to pay what it normally sells for because I wasn’t sure if the kids would play with it. By shear luck, I got it on a special deal from Amazon. And well they just don’t play with it, they FIGHT over it. All 3 of them. The gist of it is the pen thing will read the book to you. It will also sound off on anything you touch on the page. We’ve acquired a few books, but the most loved ones are “Cars” of course, “Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise” you can imagine why, and “The Little Engine that Could” because it has trains in it and Austin loves them. It’s really a pretty cool little gizmo. I am a firm believer that if kids learn to love reading they will do better in countless areas of life. So I try to make reading as fun as possible for them. And the “Tag” definitely makes it fun, especially when you touch Walter the Farting Dog.

And just to be clear, I AM NOT on the Leapfrog payroll, but thought I’d share anyway.

goodbye sweet boy...

It's been a really sad day here. Today I had to put down my friend of 15 years. Jinx had a good life and was sick with kidney/liver failure. I know it was the best thing for him, but it's been really tough on me. God bless his little kitty soul. I'm going to miss him tremendously.

This picture was from a couple of years ago...

is there a doctor in the house???

The imagination in this house is amazing. The three musketeers were playing doctor the other day, complete with old scrub tops, clipboards, and wheelchairs...

This was the wheelchair...

Don't ask me why the doctor was in the wheelchair writing his notes. Must have been a long shift. The picture of the crutches and the cast didn't turn out, but trust me when I tell you they went all out. :) I LOVE staying home with my kids. They never cease to make me smile. Except when the toys are strung from here to Florida. Here's wishing you a very imaginative day.

speaking of...

...music. Quite a few blogs that I follow have been reminicing about music that brings back memories. So I decided to get on the bus. All the way down at the bottom is my playlist. I'm a total rock girl. Aerosmith is still one of my favorite bands. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, but I'm having a hard time coming back to 2009! Enjoy!

nigh-nigh

So as I'm walking down the hall announcing to the monkeys that it's time for nigh-nigh, I reach Austin's room and this is what I found...

He was doing his darndest to hide from the inevitable. But alas, to no avail. Maybe next time buddy. :)

you will have to wait...

...to see pictures of my short red curly hair. I ordered this awesome hair care product that the stylist put in my hair. But it won't be here until Wednesday. Do you think you can wait that long? I know you can. :) It keeps my curly, frizzy hair in check. For days. Seriously. The next day after I got it done, I woke up, put a headband in and left the house. It was awesome! It's a styling product called Re-Coil and it's by AG. It's quite pricy, but I would pay double what it costs because it is that good. I couldn't get it locally so I ordered it from www.naturallycurly.com. How appropriate. But since I don't have hair pictures I will let my silly children entertain you. Enjoy!

Hello!

Miss me? I know you do! :) Well, since school started I've been a busy little college girl. Again. But I'm really enjoying it. I think it's helping my mental state. :) And the good Lord knows I need some help there. And do you want to hear something very cool? Yesterday I got a freak chance to meet, in person, a couple of my online buddies. How SUPER COOL is that?! Well, it was. I wish we could of spent more time together, but it was a super fast trip for Des and Corrie! Thank you ladies for brightening up Southern California a little bit more.

And then today, I cut my hair off and colored it red....

speaking of broken arms...

Jason just emailed me this link. It was from last year...

http://www.andrews.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=2054&page=2

It's a picture of Logan with his cast.

Quick Update

Why is always a "quick update" lately? Well, today it is. Here's the recap...

1. Christmas was wonderful! Jason got me a new lens for my camera. I was very surprised and very happy. It had been on "my list" for a long time.

2. New Year's was quite. We painted our closet and moved Jason's office in there. I got tired of being kicked out of our room at 4am.

3. My classes start back today. I have SOOOOO much work ahead. But I'm enjoying it. Sort of.

4. And last, but certainly not least. Austin broke his elbow yesterday. Logan and Austin were coloring at the island and Austin turned to get down with something in his hand and I think his foot got caught in the legs and he fell. We're on our way to the ortho dr later this afternoon. Here's a picture of the poor little guy. They gave him an adult sized sling at the ER, so I just wrapped him up in some fabric instead. He likes it better.


So there you have it. I've been busy, but I'm still trying to figure out with what...

Have a great 2009!