Nerd Onesie

Done with a freezer paper stencil:

Dog Pillow

T4's favorite word/sound is "WOOF." He says it every time he sees a real dog, a picture of a dog, or a dog on TV. I just HAD to make this pillow for him.
It passed the test when he saw it and said, what else, "Woof!"

The one in which I return to blogging...

There has been so much going on in our lives that I've completely abandoned this poor little blog! It still lives strong, however, just hiding out somewhere in the far reaches of my mind.... In the short hours after everyone is tucked away in their beds (or, as is often the case, sprawled out in mine) and I think about all the wonders that happened on any given day, I still have a nagging urge to jot it all down here. I just rarely get to it preferring, instead, oh I don't know, SLEEP. Or cleaning....

There are some highlights as these little creatures get bigger and ever bigger still that I have to record for records sake:

This girl.... My gosh she is so tall and stunning and I just cannot believe how her mind works. She was always such a clever little "problem solver" which is ironic, because, in her own dramatic way, EVERYTHING is a problem. Ha! The best recent example was when we were people-watching at a stoplight and noticed a man in a full suit behind the wheel of a U-Haul truck. "Why do you supposed he's so dressed up?" I asked. Her quick answer: "I bet he's going to prom and all the decorations are in the back." Okaaaay.....
 

She wanted her hair cut short. I thought this was a great idea for summer and for ease of getting ready in the morning. Plus, she would complain every time I went to play with her ringlets! I've always wanted curls and envy them. She was so cute to think that nobody would recognize her with short hair.

 

The boy. (His hair-do care of "sissy.") He follows her around non-stop and cracks up the most for and at her. He copies her motions (especially the finger to the mouth for "shhh") and when he wakes up in the morning, he makes a bee-line for her bedroom door, which he opens with ease....

Such a little stinker! It is a bit like fire and ice, these two. They are complete and total opposites in every way. For all of her intensity, he is so laid back. For all her screams and tears, he is giggles and smiles. He doesn't mind at all being splashed or wearing socks or sitting in the grass. She freaked out over all that "sensory" stuff. Still does, to some extent. He nursed like there was no tomorrow. She went on strike (early on) and never went back. Black/white. Girl/boy. He sure has filled all of our lives with such joy that we didn't even know possible....

And, one final, story:

 

I never would have expected the Olive Garden to stir up a sentimental moment in me, but it was K's choice for her end-of-first-grade dinner, and dammit if the tears didn't well up: 

 

There were a few different parties there of high-school graduates in their caps and gowns, joined by their extended families, and I remembered going there with my family after graduation -- TWENTY YEARS AGO. 2-0. I haven't thought about that dinner in years. I was once that girl and the head of the table explaining to her grandma what all the ribbons around her neck meant. I once had all that love surrounding me and shared that MOMENT -- one of many moments that passed by unnoticed, until BAM 20 years later you look back and think: That was it. That was my moment. (Why wasn't I paying more attention?!) 

I looked around our table, and congratulated my girl on finishing the first grade with an excellent report card, ordered her her very own dessert, and I marvelled that THESE are my moments now. (I have to sneak them all out of my mind and into this blog!) Also of note: it was in an Olive Garden about three years ago that K counted the four chairs at our table and said, "We need one more person in our family to fill that chair! It's like someone is missing." !!! Indeed, there was:

 

 

Just Hangin'

I finally made something for the house!



It took a while - cutting the material, sewing the channel on top for the ribbon, printing the letters, tracing the letters on freezer paper, cutting the freezer paper, ironing the freezer paper onto the fabric, mixing the paint with fabric medium (not sure why?), painting, then (the hardest part) threading the ribbon into the bunting. Oh, and hanging. With nails. With an 8 month old under foot....

Eight Months! (But, really, 6 months in this picture. That's how behind I am!)

For the girl, another time consuming project, especially because she wanted to "help." Sigh....    

It is super cute though....and visible when you reach the top of the stairs, which I love. :)
Finally, I surprised her with this in her closet. VOILA! Decals!

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

To say things have been busy is an incredible understatement. We bought a house, THE house we've been waiting for. Then, we put our house on the market two weeks later with fingers crossed and baited breath, hoping that the timing would work out in our favor and that we would NOT have to pay two mortgages. I was floored when the first person who came to look at our hose the DAY THE LISTING WENT LIVE put an offer in. Then, the second couple who came to see it made an offer. We had a bidding war! It was so thrilling and nerve-racking. We had to put all our trust in our agent to pick the right offer/credit/timing/candidate. Luckily, we didn't even need an open house. The showings were hard enough on me -- wrangling two kids and two dogs and finding a place to go for an hour or more with only an hour's notice. I am so thankful I only had to do that 3 times alone. In addition to the inconvenience of showings, I felt like I was living in crazy town with all the boxes and disarray of trying to LIVE in a STAGED home....Oh, and then we had a house guest (hi mom!) and a birthday party at the house (what WAS I thinking?) and the start of the school year at a school in the new 'hood and a teething baby. Luckily all those things went off without a hitch.

Then, we moved into the new house. Slowly.....over a couple of weeks. I am more of the "rip-it-off-quick-like-a-band-aid" type so this kind of hurt. I am still not 100% settled -- that band-aid is still dangling by a thread. I will consider it completely gone when I start hanging art on the walls. And, oh, the walls........ (all the band-aid colored walls)!

This is our game room, the pièce de résistance of the house. Our play room. Romper room. Office, guest sewing room. Artist's loft, library, and wild rumpus room. The space I've always wanted for our family. A room to call our own....

Canvassing

With very little time for crafting or sewing these days, I have to be very choosy with what I set out to make. Do I have the materials on hand? Can it be completed during nap time? Is it USEFUL? That last one is so important as my house is filling to the brim faster than an overflowing toilet. When I saw these canvas sacks on The Sleepy Time Gal, I knew they were the perfect project for me. I made five in one day and could have kept on going, but I forced myself to stop. It is July 4th after all and I should do something more...patriotic. Although, I did have visions of Betsy Ross as I was hand sewing the bottom flaps in....

I labeled mine a little differently -- I wanted the writing on the rims of the bins instead of the bottoms, and since I'm not very precise patient with paint, I used a fine-tip Sharpie marker. I traced some removable vinyl letters and added a "flourish" at the end. I like the retro look it created. Very Schoolhouse Rocks.

I left one bin blank for the girl and gave her some fabric markers to decorate it as she wished. After all, it is a blank canvas!

Almost enough to make me want to go camping