One Down

Well I found something to do with one of the fabrics. Elijah likes it.

Super Fun Day with Friends

Yesterday there was a big sale at Jo-Ann's and I went with 2 of my good friends! Boy was if fun to be away from the kids for most of the day. I went a little nuts, but not to bad. Here is the fun stuff I got.


Some cool patterns for bags (because I REALLY need to make more bags;) (by the way I am going to start trying to sell some of the bags I make... trying to make it so I can get more fabric help defer the cost a little bit;)

I do not know what I am going to do with these cute fabrics, but I HAD to have them... right? I also got a bunch of notions, but Ada Liz climbed into the photo of them.

After Jo-Ann's we went to lunch and then a quilt store, but I was very good in the quilt store and did not get anything.

When I got home the kids where in their rooms so I started working on a bag that I had cut out. (I was either feeling guilty or crafty;)

Here it is! I got it done after the kids went to bed, and after Mark and I had a date (I love a date with my husband!)

I think it came out cute. Please ignore the thread that I did not get clipped off. I can not wait to wear it today!

Finally I just wanted to put up this cute photo of Ada Liz. I just love her smile.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

And less then good ones come to an end also;) Today they took Elijah's cast off!!! The x-ray says that it is healing well, so they gave him a walking cast!!! OK folks this means we can stop yelling telling him not to walk on it, let him have a bath, .... too many options to think of right now. I will get a photo of the walking cast soon, but I had to give you all the good news!

Two Cute Kids

What else do I need to say?

Just a quick note

We are all well, making it through a week with no school (what do you mean it is ONLY Wednesday!!) and Elijah starts his new school next week (thank goodness;).

Playgroup

This is a little bit of the craziness our playgroup has become. It is a wonder that anyone still has people over to there house;) (it is not as bad as it looks) We started off as a group of 12 babies and 12 moms. Now we are a group of 28 (we just added on yesterday!) kids. How did we get so big????? (OK I know where kids come from please do not write and tell me, I got that part down, but it is still hard to believe that our group has grown so much and been together for almost 5 years.)

On the way home from playgroup Elijah is talking to Ada Liz:

E: Ada that is Pablo (from the backyardigans).

E: Can you say Pablo? PPP

AL: (staring at him)

E: Like @#@$ (male body part, biological name).

(great!!! That is the one word that he can think of that starts with p)

Later after Ada Liz is asleep.

E: Mom I am going to have 2 works

Z: You mean jobs?

E: Yes

Z: What are they going to be?

E: The first one I am going to rent cars.

Z: Do you mean sell?

E: Yes and I am going to make sure that I get the right key to the right car before I sell it.

Z: That does help make you a better salesman;)

Z: And your second job?

E: I am going to be a firefighter.

Z: Good choices.

( awhile later)

E: Oh and Mommy I am going to have a 3rd job also.

Z: (boy he is never going to sleep hehehe) Oh and what is that going to be?

E: I am going to have a regular job too, like Daddy.

Z: What are you going to do?

E: I am going to have an office next to Daddy and we are going to do the same stuff.

Z: Sounds good.

Mind -vs- Body

Today as I was laying in bed when my body told me it wanted me to go for a run. I have been losing weight for some time now and am loving the way I feel, but I wanted to try and move it up a notch. I have been having thoughts of running for awhile now, but been to lazy good at excuses to do it. My mind told me that I should stay in bed and get a couple of more minutes of sleep. I have the kids today while Mark goes and works on painting at church so I will need more sleep my mind tells me. You need to move my body tells me.

So out of bed to find something to wear (do I have anything any more? Will it fit?) I found something that not only fit but fit well (thanks to my wonderful sister who gave it to me a couple of years ago) and found my running shoes and head to the door. My mind is still trying to get me to go back to sleep, but my body is pushing me on.

(now let me stop this story here to tell you that it has been dry here and has not rained in weeks)

So what do you think I see when I open the door? Yes that is right rain. My mind is jumping up and down telling me to go back to bed, but NO!!! I am going to run!

OK truth be told I did not run very much, but I did walk and walk fast. I was out for about 30 minutes and it felt good. My body won!! and my mind feels like it was the right thing to do. What a good feeling my mind and body agree (even if I have to drag my sorry ass self kicking and screaming;)

Bag Done

I got this bag done last night.  I think it came out cute.  It is for a friend of mine and she leaves for a week in FL this weekend.  I thought she might like to have a new bag to go with her, so I worked hard on getting it done.  I almost want to keep it myself it came out so cute;)

Craft Day with Friends

Yesterday I had a couple of friends over to craft. What a fun productive day we had.

We started with this wonderful lunch. Then we crafted (Ada was around and she was wonderful).

Here is what Kari did!! Yes that is right she did that whole thing in one afternoon! It was just folded fabric when she got here. It is so cute!!!

Mary has been working on this skirt and yesterday she made great progress!! She could try it on, it looks so cute and she got the zipper in.

I got a new Darth shirt part way done, I still have to sew it down (the last one was to big, guess that one is for next year;)

I got this bag for my friend pretty far along. I think it looks cute, but it is driving me nuts, I can not seem to do anything right the first time with it.

Got the sewing done on Marks shirt so now he can wear it.

OK the last 2 photos are from a bag I did for my Mother-in-law weeks ago. She finally got it so I can post the photos.

She loves it and someone at her work asked if I would make one for her;) Boy that feels nice.

Bunch of Stuff

It has been a busy week with lots of stuff going on, but the biggest by far is the fact that Elijah's teacher is leaving:( This makes us very sad and ready to leave as well. We have had a couple of food allergy problems there and been thinking about it for sometime now, but his teacher leaving was the last straw. I was worried about how he would take it, he really seems to like it there. Here's how it went:

Z: Elijah we have some bad news for you.
E: What?
Z: Miss S is leaving, today is your last day with her. (we did not wait until the last minute to tell him we just did not know until the last minute)
E: (crying) but I do not want to be with the other teachers.
Z: (smiling) Funny you should mention that because we are pulling you out of school next week will be you last week there.
E: (climbing into my arms) THANK YOU MOMMY, THANK YOU MOMMY, THANK YOU MOMMY
Z: (OK that did not go as bad as I thought it would;)

Now we have to decide what to do. Is he going to go someplace else, stay home (until K starts), ... I have no idea, but this is his last week.

I did make a little gift for Miss S before she left:

Here are a couple of cute artsy kid photo that I took sometime in the last week:


I can hardly believe all the tomatoes that we are getting from our little garden:


I can not believe that I have not put a photo of this up yet. My friend came over for dinner and instead of bringing a bottle of wine she brought this handmade apron (she rocks I love it):

And last but not least here are a pair of pants that I am working on for my little Ada Liz (or tiny tiny Ada as Elijah used to call her):

I told you there was a bunch of stuff I wanted to talk about. Thanks for sticking with it all the way to the end;)

Shopping

Mark had to go away for work today so I had the kids most of the day. I have to stop here and make it clear that Mark almost never has to work on weekends any more and I know that he does that so he can be here with the kids and me and I appreciate that. That said I was wondering what on earth I was going to do with the kids today. I really needed to go look for a new swimsuit for the cruise ( I still want to loss some more weight before the cruise, but I know that the suits will be on sale now so I do not want to wait to long.) But does it seem crazy to go look for swimsuits with 2 kids one of whom is in a cast? (You are thinking YES YES YES), well I was thinking 'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can' and I DID look at the 3 (yes count them 3) swimsuits that I got for only $28!!!


OK truth be told it did not all go smoothly, at one point (while I was knee high in swimwear and the kids were getting a little loud I hear a woman's voice ask 'anyone back here that had a gold mini van?' 'That would be me' I answer 'The side door to your van is open' (@#$@!) (deep breath, I am sure I can get dressed, clean up the room, get the kids (one on crutches), out to the van close the door that I left open while trying to get both kids in the store, bring them back in ..... Who am I kidding I am going home. 'Do you need help?' the nice voice comes back again. 'YES' (trying not to sound to crazy) I open the door and she sees me, kids, 500 swimsuits, craziness and says 'Yes you do' She then took my keys, shut and locked my car doors, and came back to help me pick out these suites! She ROCKS!!!)

Well if you think that taking my kids to look at swimsuits was not enough I then took them to the thrift store where I got all of this for under 6$


God has granted me with a pair of great kids!

Kinda walking

She can not walk by herself yet, but she loves walking holding hands and can do it just fine with only one hand.

I have tons of stuff to blog about, but no time right now.  But I wanted to give everyone this photo and will try and get to blogging later.

Cute Photos

Playing in water in the house with a cast.... hummm does this sound good?

How Old am I ?

This is how my day started:

Laying in bed talking to my beloved husband.

Z: When I get old I am not going to be able to use this hand. (I have arthritis or tendinitis or both in one of my hands)
M: You can use it now. (waiting for me to get that he thinks I am old;)
Z: (after I give him a loving hit on the shoulder) Oh yeah well I had a really good day with you yesterday. (he was at work all day and at a meeting most of the night.)
M: Me too.

God I love that man.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a HARD day. Ada Liz is getting teeth and so clingy, I know that in time (God please make it soon) she will be back to her sweet self, but right now she is driving me a bit batty. And poor Elijah is having trouble finding a place for his energy so he is taking it out on me. So I was extra happy that I had a pedicure last night and could leave the house;)

I picked my friend Mary up (this was a reward for making our 10% weight loss (10% of our starting weight) on Weight Watchers) and we went off to the salon. It was nice and relaxing and after we went and looked at all the stuff I will not pay that much money for at Anthropologie, but really want want want! I was tired, but did not want the evening to end (OK truth be told I did not want to go home in case the kids where still up;) so we went to a bar (on the top of a building with a cool view) and had a nice glass of bubbly.

Ohhhhh what a nice end to a hard day.

Oh What a Relief

Ada Liz's blood work (which we had to take 2 times on account of them not being able to get blood from her the first day) all came back negative for allergies!!!!! We only tested the stuff that Elijah is allergic to so there could still be food allergies that we do not know about, but for me it is WAY GOOD NEWS!!!

(I needed that with the day I am having. I can sum up my day by saying 2 things: Teething sucks and casts hurt when you get kicked with them.)

Good Night

While I was hugging Elijah (he was in my arms) he said to me:

E: Mom I had the best day with you
Me: (silence)... Sweetie you where at school today.
Mark: That is why he had the best day with you.

LOL

Update

Look what popped up in our yard the day after Elijah broke his foot (funny huh? ) But he is still loving it and Ada Liz LOVES the swing.


I love this look. She is starting to take steps and she will walk only holding one hand.


He is getting really good at the crutches! I am impressed.

And One More First.

It was bond to happen sometime. He broke the top of his foot and will be like this for ..... 4 -6 weeks (no more fun in the water this summer... thank God the really hot stuff is done;)

New Mom?

I was out watering the plants today and Elijah asked me if I would ring the doorbell when I wanted to come back in. This is what followed:

E: Hi, come into our house. You have never been here before.
M: Hi, it is good to be here (I can play this game)
E: This is our cats Pippin and Merry.
M: Oh you have 2 black cats they are beautiful (while I am petting them)
M: And who is that making noise in the other room?
E: That is our baby. (then in a sad voice )Sixteen years ago our Mother died. Will you be our new Mother?
M: (OK I can still play this game... I think) I would be honored to be you Mom, what about the baby?
E: You would be her Mom also, her name is Ada Liz.
M: I would be honored to be her Mom also. Will you show me where the kitchen is so I can get some breakfast for you guys.
E: Yes it is over here.

(he went on to tell me where everything is and what everyone eats... including me)

M: After breakfast will you show me the rest of the house?
E: Yes Oh and my Dad did not die.
M: OK (I do not know why but every time he says die it wigs me out)
E: I will show you where you are going to sleep. Dad sleeps on one side and you sleep on the other.
M: Do you think that your Dad will mind me sleeping in the same bed as him, as he does not know me?
E: No, he likes visitors.
M: (silence... what do I say to that?) OK

Blog fixing

I am working on fixing my blog title photo, but can not make it work. I will get it done sometime;) Now I am off to get Elijah and the babysitter. Yes folks that is right I am getting the babysitter and we (just Mark and I) are going out to dinner!!! Oh what fun it will be. Last night as Mark and I were talking about Elijah chimed in:

E: I think you should go to RC ( one of our favorite pizza places)
Z: You know you are not going, right?
E: Yeah, but it is good.
Z: I think we are going to go someplace nicer that there.
E: Oh
(later in the conversation)
E: That makes me sad.
Z: What Elijah
E: The Lego's at RC. I am going to miss them.
M&Z: No you are not because we are not going there
E: I am still going to miss it.
(we are not going to miss you;)
M: No you are not because H will be here and you are going to be having too much fun.

Photo Update

This is after she ate pesto for dinner (which BTW EVERYONE in the family ate!!! Yes folks Elijah ate a real veggie!!! and liked it!!!) and blueberry pie (which Elijah would not eat... go figure;)


She got into this chair all on her own! She was really proud (and I was too).

Last night before bedtime the two favorite stuffed animals shared a moment of how hard it is to be a well loved stuff animal;)

Handmade Note Cards (Another Easy Kids Craft)

It does not have to be a kids craft you can make these yourself as well, but it is a great craft for the kids.

Handmade Note Cards. Elijah and I made 60 of these in very little time, now we have lots of cards for: thank you's, just to say hi's, ... you name it.

What you will need:

• Styrofoam meat tray ( I have been told that these work best and that a plate does not work as well. I just go to my bakery/meat/anywhere they might have trays counter and ask for a new tray. )
• dull pencil
• paint
• sponge
• blank cards

Take the tray and pencil and have the child (if you are using a child;) draw a picture on the tray. After they are done you can trace over what they did to make the imprint deeper.



Use sponge to put paint on.


Take card.


Press drawing on card.


Let dry. Easy Peasy.

Oh and if you have a 1 year old make sure that you have lots of toys for them to play with while you are working;) She was SOOOOOO good and just played at our feet most of the time we where painting.

What an Honor

Well Cathy from Home Sweet Home, Noble gave me an award!!! It is such an honor. I "meet" Cathy in a fabric swap. She does really nice stuff and the cutest little pin cushions you have ever seen that you can get here. Thank you so much Cathy.

So here are the rules for this award:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider to deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning blog has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winning blog and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

So the 5 top on my list are:

1. Stephanie at Built to Last. She has such a nice view on life and it is hard to put it into words. She makes wonderful stuff and inspires me to make more. She tells great/fun stories about her kids and does not mind laughing at herself sometimes (but not to much). And she often has an idea about how I can be a little more green. Go check her blog out, you will not be sorry. She also has a shop that you can look at here.

2. Ang at Clothesline Chronicles. She writes honest, happy stories about home schooling, kids, God and life. Here are a couple of reasons I love her blog:
She has great ideas about education;
She is exploring photography and it helps me have a fresh look at taking photos; and
She is crafty and fun.

3. Amy at Amy Johnson Photo. She mostly takes photos, but OH what great photos she takes. Her photos capture what real people are like. She does weddings and senior portraits, and I wish she lived closer to me so I could have her take photos of my kids. (I do not think she needs more of a list)

4. Curly Girl at Curly Girl Arts. OK her mom runs the blog for her, but it is all her stuff. She is a young artist, and she is GREAT! Her eye is great and she can make art come to life. Go check her out and then you can say you knew her when after she gets famous;)

5. Lisa at Polka Dot Cottage. Lisa has a wonderful eye for color. The beads that she does are great and I am longing for one of them (I will have to break down and get one soon). I just cannot get over the way the blog looks. She has great ideas of what would look nice and goes with them. You should check out her shop here.


Man, this was a hard blog to do. It was hard picking just 5 and it was hard putting into words what I like about these blogs.

Wonderful Husband

Look what my wonderful husband did for me. I used to only have this many places for threads:

(yes that is right only 20)

But now I have this many! (60!!!!) I know this does not seem like much, but I was sick of looking at all of my thread in a pile at the bottom of my sewing cabinet. Thank you Mark.