Annndd . . . She loves it!

The skirt-o-sunshine was a bit of a gamble on my part. I mean, it's way cute and all, and I couldn't wait to sew that sunshine onto something special, but would she wear it?

Oh. Did she ever wear it.

Skirt-o-sunshine went swinging and sliding today.
It watered the garden and rolled in grass.
It took a ride in the big red wagon.
It battled with lightsabers.
It climbed on monkey bars and played hide-and-seek and duck-duck-goose.

Right now, it's in the wash.

Lilly, the fact that you relish wearing all of mama's creations makes me very, very happy.

And now, a confession: I felt sad today.

You see, Ian--this sweet, precious, gorgeous, wonderful thing--well, the sun rises and sets in his eyes as far as I'm concerned. I am completely and hopelessly in love with my sweet, big guy.

And his feelings were hurt today.

This kid who never sees the bad in anything. Who goes with the flow. Who doesn't complain. This child of few words. He said it when he got home from VBS today: "Well, mama, some boys laughed at me today."

And this mama's heart broke.

I'll spare you all the details. Ian's very unique, and I know he won't always be understood. It's a mean, mean world sometimes, and our children are going to be hurt. Again. And again. And again. And as mamas, we have to deal.

But how?

How do YOU deal?

Sewing Sunshine and In the Box

Sew much happening this week. Finished another custom blanket order. My friend, Nikki is a jewelry designer and she and I have traded some blankets for baubles. It's Christmas shopping done early for me, and her pieces are absolutely gorgeous! Check out her website here.


Next, I made my first baby block and ball set for a sweet new friend. Here it is:

And last, I am working on a party skirt for Lilly. Have I mentioned that as a mother of a little girl, I LOVE tulle? (esp yellow--it's like sewing sunshine!) She does, too, so that works out nicely for both of us.

Nathan scored some "suite" tix (thanks, KY3!) to the Cards game tonight. And I mean, SUITE tix (as in, IN THE BOX, right behind home plate). If you've never enjoyed a game on site in the comfort of air conditioning, leather seats, with hot dogs and snacks provided, it's the way to go, folks. With a little outdoor balcony all our own, we were livin' it up!





To make the night even "suite-er" (okay, okay, I'll stop), the pixel gods smiled on me by making it world record night. The Guinness goal? Get more peeps to wear clown noses than ever before. My camera was popping right and left. Word is, we busted the record, so my family's clown noses are going down in history. And that's no joke. (somebody stop me, please).



Fast forward to the drive home -- two hours past bedtime, two tired, grumpy kiddos in the backseat, and Lilly takes a little swat at Ian.

When he protested, I teased, "Hmm. What should we do about this? Should we sell poor Lilly to the gypsies?"

And he answered, without hesitation, "Yep."

Nathan forced me to add this to my list of things never to ask your four year-old.

Sometimes I wish someone would sell ME to the gypsies. Anyone feel the same?

---

There are no words.
Well, there is one word.
COLDPLAY.









When you're listening to the second greatest band of our time (look out, U2);
When you're singing "Fix You" with 20,000 of your closest friends;
When you can see Chris Martin, in the flesh;
There are no words.

Thanks, Nathan. I'll remember this night forever.
xo

Tonight

Going somewhere tonight.
Special anniversary surprise.
Nathan's kept it quite the secret.
Stay tuned . . .

Trash to Treasure

It seems thrifting is on everyone's mind these days, or at least that's the case in the blogging world. Inspired by others' successes and determined to find the perfect piece I could transform into a fabulous bookshelf for the kids' rooms, the children and I headed to a local flea market.

If you've never taken your preschooler to a flea market, try it.
Zoo? Boring.
Library? Can't compare.
Park? Yawn.
Ian and Lilly were in hillbilly heaven at this place. Think, toys. Everywhere.

We didn't find the elusive bookcase, but we did find an hour of entertainment and got a good dose of second-hand universe enlightenment. Need I say, "We don't get out much?"

I think not.

Treasures collected:
Loved these colors. Have big plans to turn this into something beautimous. Stay tuned. Thank you, Lou Lee, wherever you are.

And the most beloved treasure of the day: Iron Man. Pure joy for a super-hero-ific four-year old boy. Completely overpriced, even at $1, but Ian hasn't put him down for two days.

At a playdate this morning, a friend said to Ian, "He looks kind of OLD."
Shhh. Ian doesn't notice. And he doesn't mind. To him, this is playtime GOLD.

Here's that super-hero-ific boy, tuckered out after a day of crrrazzzy thrifting with mama and sissy.

[Ahhhh. Good day.]

Oh, and dad -- I'm gonna take you up on that flea market date (I'm a seriously cheap date). You and me thrifting for treasures . . . can't wait to see what we collect!
just kidding mom.
maybe.

Goodbye, and thanks, t-ball.

Goodbye first t-ball season. We will miss you.

Thanks for giving Ian a trophy, a chance to succeed, to be an athlete, to shine. He wasn't the best player on the team. But, he very well may have been the one with the most heart. The one most eager to please us and his coaches. He loved playing, was loved by coaches Josh and Nicole, gave it his all, and we felt pride.

So thanks, t-ball.

And see you next year.

Happy birthday Nathan

In high school you were voted:
Best hair
Best dressed
Best personality

Things have changed (just a little!) as you've grown older:
Now, you are
Best hubby
Best dad
Best t-ball coach
Best coffee maker (no joke) for a sleepy wife
Best punching bag for a rowdy four year old
Best 3 a.m. Tylenol dispenser to a crying two year old
etc., etc. . .

I hope your birthday was worthy of someone with so many "bests".
XO!

Summer. Make it Last.

Pineapple Whip tonight. Summer goodness. Make it last.

And a mini-layout/whatever-ya-wanna-call-it I made for the Moxie It's All Green to Me challenge. Bonus: today I discovered it matches this color challenge, too. If you've never checked out kwernerdesigns, you're in for quite a treat! It's a pretty place.

So, there ya have it--two birds, one stone. Here it is:

The challenge was to use the green theme plus display typography in a unique way. I played in Photoshop today and figured out how to make my words look like an overlay. It's exciting to learn new ways to amp up my digital muscles.

Also fun? Taking care of Mother Earth. I get teased a lot by certain friends over my obsession with recycling (you know who you are, girls).

By the way, the top collage was done by Master Nathan. Looks like he was inspired by my Photoshop effects, eh?

Speaking of that top photo, maybe he was channeling his inner insect or bird instincts, but while we were enjoying our Pineapple Whip treats tonight, Nathan walked up to the window, thought it was open, reached in to get napkins, and -- ouch! Rammed his hand right into the closed window.

Red-faced, he returned to our table saying, "It's SO clean!!" Rest-assured, the teenage kid working at PW is still laughing . . .

Ian's Resume Grows

While I was working on this today

Ian was busy drawing this

Luke, Yoda, and Darth Vader.

And now, we must add "budding photographer" to Ian's growing resume (already included: artist, actor, musician, author and superhero). He now owns our old point-and-shoot camera, and is quite good at photography. Here are a few of Ian's photos:

SuperDad

Apparently, Ian told Lilly to say "cheese" one too many times.

Superman from the Bat Cave: "help me."

Can you believe a four-year old captured this shot?! Wow!

Give your child a camera and see what you get. You might be surprised!

Filmstrip Frames & Project Peek

Elizabeth Kartchner seems so effortlessly creative, doesn't she? (don't know her? she's a scrappin' goddess). Anywho, today on her blog she featured a set of photos framed in a filmstrip. Got me searching on Google for a filmstrip of my own, and directions on how to use it.

If you'd like one too, this site has a free download, plus directions. Played with it today, dropping two strips into each 4 X 6 doc in Photoshop and sent these off to SAM's for printing (only 53 cents total!):

Tonight I cut them apart and started on a new project--a little sampling of some of my sewing goodies. Here is a sneak peek. You can see the filmstrip in the top right of the photo.

Check back tomorrow for the finished project. Have a happy day!

Wedding photos. And more. And more.

I'm sure you're just dying to know how my candy cones for the rehearsal dinner turned out. Admit it. You are. The "Sweet Beginning" theme turned out fabulous (if I do say so) and here are three photos of the sweet cones. Fun idea. See link at the bottom of this post for more info on how to make them.

If you make it through all of these wedding photos, you deserve a medal. Really, you do. Email me and maybe I'll send you one made out of a yogurt lid and paper clips. I realize the world of Blogger would probably explode if everyone posted as many pics as I, but, to give some perspective, Nathan and I took almost 300 photos at the wedding, so really this sampling is less than 10%. Not bad, right? Thanks.

Photo one.
Ready to go. Yes, my son really is sitting on the mud room floor in his tuxedo. And yes, my children are holding lollipops while wearing their wedding clothes. Before the wedding. How smart am I? But, when your two-year old won't stop crying for a pink yuckah (heaven only knows why) and you want a marathon wedding day to begin NOT in tears, you cave, ahem, I mean, compromise.

My beloved "love ferns." I managed to keep them alive for six weeks!

Is it time yet? Hanging out before the ceremony.

Lovely ladies.

Little man.

The guys. Nathan's on the far right--sweet dimple.

Service with a smile.

Be still, mama's heart.

Speaking of mamas, here they are.

Father-son. Happy groom, happy father.

Sammy watches so patiently. Here he gives grandma some lovin' during the ceremony.

Prayer. The best way to start a marriage (or anything else).

Blurry and half of John's head is cut off, but feel the joy!

Happily ever after.

They used the cones in the "sweet shop" at the reception. I call this photo "lust."

Hmm, someone did a fab job on those table runners.

Caleb rocked the reception!