Random Happenings

The weather got cool and we had some park fun.





And we also got angry having snacks on the dirty kitchen floor. That dang floor can never stay clean!




And then someone did a little talking about how much he loves his new book holder and then played with big sister's Dora house. I finally made something from Pinterest! I pinned this early on in my Pinterest addiction and finally decided to make something! I am going to make him one more to go above it, and then we are going to get this Big Ben wall decal from etsy to put to the left of them.

**On a side note** I am not a fan of that Dora house. I have a couple of Plan Toys doll houses in mind when she gets a little older. This will do for now. :) Oh, and if you are wondering why this post is a little "Ben Heavy" it is because Little Miss is not into getting her picture taken. Getting her to look at a camera is like pulling teeth.

ANGRY BIRDS!

I want to make these. Very, very soon!

Nursery: Anthro Letters

Who says Anthropologie is just for girls? Ok, so maybe it is, but these letters are for our little man.

His room is coming along, slowly but surely. We really just need to buy the shelving for the funky corner/hole thing we have in that room, and put up the pictures/artwork. Making letters of Ben's name was something that has been on my to-do list for a while and I finally got to cross that one off today.

Everything has been gray and navy, thus far. I was starting to feel like I was going overboard with the whole color scheme and needed a change. Enter: bright yellow letters, Anthropologie style.

I'd show you the up-close-and-personal shot, but then you'd see all my imperfections and they look pretty decent (to me) from afar.

I followed this tutorial at Prudent Baby (very cool crafty website, fyi). I didn't do the fabric on the back, because, well, I kinda forgot/I'm too lazy for that. It wasn't too bad. The main thing is to make sure you have a big, good dog to occupy your toddler while you work on it. The two were running around like crazy outside, while I went crazy with the spray adhesive.

More pictures coming when the room is actually put together!


Oh, and guess who asked to eat olives with her dinner last night? I didn't even teach her to put them on her finger! (The other stuff are grapes and broccoli bites. The girl loves her broccoli!)

Procrastination (Lil Blue Boo/Dharma Trading Co Entry)

**Updated with new pictures!**

Nothing like waiting until the last minute. It's 12:10am CST, so 10:10 PST and I'm JUST NOW finishing my entry for the Lil Blue Boo Dharma Trading Co Design Challenge.

I was back and forth for a while, trying to figure out if I was going to get the courage to actually enter. I finally decided to bite the bullet and get my act together...tonight. I am no where close to being as talented as 99.9% of the people who are going to be entered in this contest, but that's ok. I just gave it a GSG* and did the best I could, that's got to count for something, right?

*GSG=Girl Scout Go - a term coined by a dear friend, J. Love it!

This was my first Sienna Dress to ever sew. Ok, that's not true. I tried a sample one a few weeks ago and botched it up royally! Like, no way that was going to fit my sweet girl. I still had some of my dyed fabric left, I found this cute St. Patty's Day t-shirt at Target, and while cleaning out my t-shirt drawer, I stumbled upon my Pat Green "Lucky Ones" Tour T-shirt...in dark green. Perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dress, if I say so myself (and it's our blog...so I can say so myself!) I'll admit, I was a bit sad to cut into Pat Green. That t-shirt dates back to the college years...and reminds me of the one time that Brian has actually been pulled over for speeding - at a whopping 5 mph over, just outside of San Marcos. He received a warning, of course (I would have been given a big fat ticket.)

I followed the tutorial that Ashley has on making faux camo. Well, my camo turned out a lot like tie-dye, but that's just fine by me. I'm of the opinion that turquoise makes everything a little better. :)

Oh yeah, did I mention that I added some cute baby legs to go with it? St. Patty's Day is over Spring Break and based on this Texas winter, I'm placing my bet on it still being a tad chilly.

So a drum roll for the finished product (complete with crappy flash photography - there is no light at midnight, go figure!) The pictures of Kaylynn in the dress were taken the next day...around sundown. I'm on fire with getting bad pictures!

This was last picture was Friday, sporting our V-Day pj's and tutu. Definitely wore that to the babysitter for her party!

Alright kids, I'm out. I have a fun day of battling 8th graders on the never ending quest to teach them how to be good citizens of America. :)

Valentine's

Brian and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. *Gasp*, I know...before you have a coronary, we're not AGAINST or ANTI-Valentine's Day, we just don't see the necessity of having to celebrate love on that one particular day. That's all. I still buy cute heart towels, quasi decorate (except not this year, can't find the stuff) and got Kaylynn a cute (but totally usable for the rest of the year) outfit to wear (it's gray...with hearts...but not in a hokey way, in a cute retro little girl type of way...) I think we set this precedent back at A&M, by eating at a sketchy Chinese buffet, not alone, but with our group of friends, and then followed it up by having a Super Troopers reenactment back at Dufer & Eric's apartment. Maple syrup, ask B about that one. Oh, come to think of it, we weren't even dating then...I don't think...doesn't really matter. :)

Anywho, Kaylynn's babysitter (I prefer babysitter as opposed to daycare, makes me feel better about myself for not getting to be at home with her) is having a little Valentine's Day party for the 8 of them on Friday, complete with Valentine's cards! I was very excited about this. I have very fun memories of elementary school and making the "mailbox" for the Valentine's cards and having the party. I decide right away that until Kaylynn throws a fit and begs me to buy her the latest "Dora the Explorer", or whoever it may be then, cards to give out, she and I (or just me for now...) are going to make them. It's just more fun, don't you think?

In the "Things We Like to Look At" section, I saw this fun link at The Long Thread. She has a "Make it Monday" and it's usually something pretty easy that *most* people could do. Little heart crayons on a very cute and simple Valentine's card.

Making crayons was pretty easy, though they didn't come out as pretty as I would have liked. I don't know how she did the whole swirl thing with the hearts, but whatever. I used a heart ice cube tray, melted the crayons in the microwave in paper cups, then spooned them in layer by layer (I got that tip in her "comments" section.) I read somewhere that Crayola crayons worked better than "off brands" but I can't verify that...I used Crayola.

Now, I just hope that the little 4 month old will enjoy his recycled crayon heart. :) Next year. Maybe?

Makin' Stuff

Here are a couple of my latest "makes."

An "Out of This World" Heather Bailey Happy Stacker for one of Kaylynn's BFF's, CTP, up in PDX (more abbreviations, please.)

And a new fuscia and navy tunic dress/shirt for a, one, sweet girl. I really love making this dress. It's crazy easy, very forgiving, and multifuctional. I have to stop myself from having all her shirts/dresses this style, because people might think I'm crazy (yeah, yeah, too late, I know...)

I still have to make my project for the LBB & Dharma Trading Design Challenge. I've got a lovebird upcycled t-shirt dress in the works, as well as a St. Patty's day one. Maybe I'll enter them both. I really want to win a screen-printing kit! And if I don't win...I guess Brian will have to buy it for me.

Teeny Tiny Flowers & Aspirations

I love the little flower clips from Briar Claire. I just bought Kaylynn 3 (don't worry Brian, it was from my paypal surplus, nothing was charged to the credit card and nothing left our bank account) crochet flower clips (in the colors that I want to do her "big girl room" in one day (mustard, deep aqua & charcoal gray...or at least accent with. Anywho, I got to looking at them and thought to myself, "Self, you could totally make those."

With that inner dialogue, I set out to find an internet tutorial, because if there is ONE thing I'm good at, it's finding a free tutorial online. So I found this one:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/teeny-tiny-flowers.html

Yeah, I'm going to try it. But what got me today is the lady's "profile info" on the left-hand side of the blog. It says:

Hello! Thank you so much for visiting me in the Attic,

it's lovely to see you. My name is Lucy and I'm a happily married,

stay at home Mum with two young children and a new baby.

We live in a 100year old Victorian house in the North of England

which we are slowly renovating, and here I spend my days

:: mothering, decorating, crocheting, baking, sewing, crafting

and gardening. I hope you enjoy your peek

into my colourful little world. xxxx

Lucy is leading my "fantasy" life...you know, if you were allowed to script your own life. This would be me. And Brian can really choke when I mention that the England part of that wouldn't be so bad either (NO, we're not moving back there....I mean if one could script a life like that, why wouldn't one want to live in England...or Scandiavia...or France...or someplace exotic!)

And aren't the clippies so cute!

Finished!

I finally finished this jacket! Now, it looks nothing like the one that is on the site of Heidi & Finn, but that's ok, because I MADE IT! It'll look a lot cuter on Sweet Girl than on Pink Bear. I promise! Actually, I don't promise, I just hope that when Kaylynn wears it, she doesn't look like a Jedi Warrior (or Hans Solo...I don't know, I didn't care for Star Wars.)

On the Docket

• A mustard yellow jacket for Sweet Girl.
• Finishing a stocking for Sweet Girl **not actual stocking, I don't think. I can't remember**
• A very cool blanket.
• Finishing my readings.
• And Christmas shopping.

And in the meantime, trying to keep the house clear from our now STANDING baby girl. That's right folks. She pulled up a few times in Cleveland (her cousin, Anthony, showed her how it was done) and has become a pro back here in Houston. We even sit down pretty well from standing.

(Halloweeny photos to come soon. Maybe. If I remember.)

One day, I'll win!

I have a few blogs that I love to follow and they do cool giveaways! One day, I WILL WIN! I promise.

Anywho, one blog I love reading is Lil Blue Boo. She (Ashley) is a working woman, turned stay-at-home Mom, who sews some pretty awesome things. She is so kind as to draft patterns of things she really likes (some are free, some are not). And she gives awesome tips on how to repurpose t-shirts into really cool things.

Well, there is another blog (Brixton Lane) who is holding a GIVEAWAY for 4 of Ashley's new patterns! Check out the beautiful fall photos on her banner. I'm jealous. It's still summer here.

I may be the only person who reads my blog that cares about sewing/crafting blogs, but that's ok. It's my (ok, our, but you read Brian's ramblings, too!) blog and I'll write about it if I want.

My New Dress!

Finally, I was successful in creating a dress that actually fit Kaylynn. I am pretty proud of myself and think she looks so cute!

Random...

Homemade clothes. (diaper cover included!)

Practicing our "sitting up like a big girl." She was tired, she's usually a lot more upright than this.

An interesting part of Brian's Income Tax Class. If they have to include an "Income Tax Map", then I think he's going to do just fine in this class.

The contents of our bathroom in the backyard.

Brian being handy...despite all the ridicule he receives.

Lastly, a video.

Let's Play Pyramid

Category:

Things you make out of dishtowels

Clue: It's white and...

Answer: paper, snow, A GHOST!

Clue: ...and maroon.

Clue: ...it's girly.

Clue: ...and flowy

Answer: A SKIRT FOR YOUR BABY GIRL'S FIRST FIGHTIN' TEXAS AGGIE BASEBALL GAME!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

You won a whole lotta nothing, but wasn't that fun?! I know I stretched it a bit with the "paper, snow, a ghost" but its one of the frequently quoted "Friends" episodes in the Frink house. See here, you might get a good laugh. Seriously, we can just say "paper, snow, A GHOST" and start laughing. That's just how we roll.

Stay tuned until this weekend when we take some pictures of Kaylynn looking cute in her Aggie outfits. I'm very excited. :)

More Cleveland

Looks like I lied. I did have a few pictures on my camera.

My little traveller, ready for her first flight. She's wearing a sweater made by her Great-Great Grandma Dickie (or Great Grandma Honey, I don't remember what Honey said).

This is proof that the babies AND Angelo were in The Courtyard! For all you non-Clevelanders, The Courtyard is a restaurant in Brecksville. There's an ongoing joke about how much Angelo LOVES eating there (huge amount of sarcasm thrown in there...)

More proof.

Melissa & Anthony at The Courtyard.

Sweet girl looking especially cute in her button down and cardigan. She's looking a bit red-headed here too. No one believes me...

This is my "yarn project". Not too bad for the first time.

"Mommy, thanks for making me a hat. I want some more next winter."

Crafty

I made something. Out of yarn. It's wearable, though not by me. My fingers hurt. I'm not telling you what it is, but I'll give you a picture of it when I have it.

I'm basically blogging to appease my father, so he'll get his "Kaylynn" fix before I get back from Cleveland, assuming I'm not able to post pictures while I'm gone.

So here's a random, but not new (well it's new to you), picture of our cutie in toile. The socks were made by one of my student's mom. She'll be sporting something new, very soon!

Blog 2 Print

I've been asked by a few people if there was a way for me to turn our blog into a book, as Kaylynn might want to see what we had to say about her before she was born. Well, I just learned that there is:

www.blog2print.com

Turns blogs into a hardback, softback, or e-book. I'm thinking of doing this each year to chronicle our life and see how it changes. Yes, I have my FREE blog, but I'm good at doing stupid things like deleting stuff unintentionally and what not. I'd consider it an insurance policy.

Pretty cool, I think!

WIP

::Shudder::

Work in Progress - an accounting term. Actually, a cost accounting term, to be more exact. I hated cost accounting with a passion.

The site is a WIP, as I have been fiddling around with these digital scrap booking pages, trying to make my own background from these little "kits". It's not uploading correctly, so for now it looks goofy. Just ignore it until I get my act sorted out. :)

Here, I'll give you a picture of our sweet Little Birdie to hold you over. She sure does love her seahorse friend. Well, either she does or I do, regardless, they are napping together.