Giveaway! Craft Hope Book

(GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED)
Here it is, friends: the Craft Hope book giveaway. To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite craft, be it painting, scrapbooking, sewing, underwater basketweaving, etc. If you are reading this on my Facebook, please click over to yeebird and leave your comment on my blog.

The giveaway will close Wednesday, September 8 at midnight, with results posted on September 9. Winners will be chosen at random (in other words, Ian will pull a name from a hat).

Also, check me out here!

And one more thing--Dana Willard of MADE is doing a giveaway of the Craft Hope book too, so after you enter here click over to her spot (if it is not posted there yet, try again later today) and enter again.

Now, a few photos of this morning--Lilly's very first day of preschool. I'm not sure if she was excited . . .

As for the obnoxiously huge tulle hairbows . . . last night I asked Lill, "What do you want to wear on your first day of school tomorrow?" Lilly replied, "Um, PURPLE." And there ya go. So, when we parked this morning, she said, "I need to get out and go show everyone my hair." She is an absolute TRIP. I love it!


When we arrived it was pretty much, Mom and Dad WHO? Cool.

Remember to leave a comment to win. Happy Thursday.

Brunette Beauty

Today was her first dance class--tap+ballet+tumbling. Lilly loved it. I can't help but notice she stands out in a lovely way with her dark hair.

My next order of business is to sew Lilly a one-of-a-kind ballet bag for her sweet shoes. I planned to make a can-can skirt inspired bag covered with pink and purple ruffles, until I saw these beauties and fell in love. Now I am undecided. What's your opinion--chiffon ruffles or satin ribbons?

Stop back tomorrow for a giveaway--the Craft Hope book!

Signs

Do you believe in signs?

Not that I was wondering if we had chosen the right preschool for Lilly, but even so, when I saw THIS at meet-your-teacher yesterday, I knew. This, just outside her classroom:

This magical, wonderful place she absolutely adored. This place where she cried when it was time to leave. This school that has chosen Disney as its theme for the year, so all her friends came to the party--Mickey, Minnie, Jessie, Woody, Buzz, Simba, Aladdin, and of course, the princesses.

She was such a big girl, insisting she could open her own backpack and fill her new school box; her very own cubby.

She wants so badly to be big. I want so badly for her to stay small, just a bit longer. But, I am excited about where life will take her this year!

Where is life taking YOU this year?

Sweetness Comes in Pairs

When I entered the dance studio today for the first time ever to sign Lilly up for classes, I know I had "sucker," I mean, "dedicated mother" written all over my face.

For the little girl who lives for gymnastics day during the week, and has asked to take "dancing class" and especially ballet ever since she could utter the words, it was time.

I couldn't resist the official tap shoes or the leather ballet slippers.

Lilly was convinced the hosiery they gave her to try on the shoes was special, so she is still wearing said hosiery.

I am convinced sweetness must come in pairs.

Come September 1, Little Miss is going to be very busy--gymnastics, dance, and preschool--and my prayer is, very happy too. Sometimes, the world just doesn't seem big enough to hold all of her GIANT dreams.

Keep dreaming BIG, my love. I promise to do all I can to help you achieve those dreams.

And may they always come in pairs.

Party Pics

Lilly's birthday
The first time her toenails have ever been painted:

The invite (another amazing Nathan original):


The treats (courtesy of Pure Elegance--thanks, Robin!):

The table:

The girls:

THE girl:


The candle:

Meanwhile, the boys (Ian, his cousin William, and honorary sibling Garrett) . . .

What a day!

Leotard Lilly

Little Yeebird is expanding her portfolio of God-given gifts and talents.

Previous list includes:
1. Cuteness
2. Manipulation by cuteness
3. Persuasion by cuteness
4. Naturally curly hair (see #'s 1-3)
5. An exhaustive amount of other things, including early language development, a keen knack for problem solving (see #2), and independence. And if you don't believe it, just ask me. Or her dad. Or grandparents.

New talents acquired . . .

Last week she went from this

to this

Graduating to independent jumping on grandma and grandpa's trampoline is HUGE.

We thought she was ready for gymnastics, and with the promise of a girly, crushed velvet leotard waiting in the wings (thank you Tonya B.), Lilly was out the door and strapped in her car seat faster than you could say Mary Lou Retton.

Tonight--her first gymnastics class--turned out to be one of the highlights of my parenting experience so far.

Happiness? Joy? Giggling? Glee? Bouncing? Bounding? Flipping? A myriad of "Again, mama!" and "My turn, my turn!"? Yep. All of the above, in large doses.

She even made a new buddy. Here she is showing her mirror friend her smiley face hand stamp.

Lilly Ruth-Sweet-Yee . . . you are a superstar. SUPER. STAR. Tonight brought me great joy. It's the reason a gal wants to become a parent in the first place. You stole the show. I love you.

Envious Alice

Alice would be jealous.

Come to think of it, Alice was the only thing missing from this exquisite mother-daughter tea party WONDERLAND today. See what I mean?

Tonya, Tammy, and little Kaitlyn, I can't say enough about how much this day meant to Lilly and me. It. Was. Glorious. As hostesses, you thought of absolutely every precious detail.

What a joy it is to be friends with such fabulously talented people.


I know Lilly was by far the youngest little girl at the party. Thank you for including us. Lilly felt like such a big girl--so special--so like a pretty, pretty princess.

So did I.

Quirky Talent

It's true. When she is her most upset, Lilly squirts tears in all directions as she cries. It can come on instantly, too.

Is this normal? Does anyone else's child have Calvin/Snoopy/Woodstock/Sponge Bob tears?

Dream the Impossible Dream

Sweet Yee, no one told you you had no business being this deliriously cheerful when suffering from a runny nose, chest cough, fever, and the weariness of having just run an errand with mama.

That is what makes you so very special. In your world, the rules are elastic. You rise up to meet a challenge, always with a smile, knowing you can beat it.

Speaking of . . .

You have a few princess get-ups (thank you, grandma):

But, there is one you lack: Snow White.
You love her.
You talk of her dress daily, reminding me how you will get one for your birthday (July).

You are only 2, but you are a problem solver. You know your birthday is far away.

So you developed a plan.

You brought me your Snow White doll. You pointed to her, then to you, saying, "I want to wear THIS dress. Help me take it off Snow White."

You can see it is an impossible fit:

I refused, explaining, it's a tiny doll dress and is much too small for Lilly girl.

This scenario was repeated for several days.

Was I surprised yesterday, when I discovered you in your room, jeans down, diaper off, one foot CRAMMED into this Snow White doll dress, trying with ALL YOUR MIGHT to get the rest of you in it?

No. Not in the least.

Because I get you. I SO get you. You ditched the shoes, the socks. Dress still too small.
So you ditched the jeans.
Still too small.
Then came the diaper.

You get the idea.

If someone won't push the envelope (or their foot into a Barbie-sized dress) for you, you'll do it yourself.

Keep dreaming that impossible dream, sweets. I can't wait to see where your giant goals take you in life.

I love you!

Valentine word art, digital frame: House of 3

Someday My Prince Will Come

Even though her voice is super teeny anyway, Lilly finds it necessary to talk and sing in falsetto when she's pretending to be a princess.

Here she is, cleaning with her Snow White broom while singing Snow White's song. Aunt Steffy took this video on her phone. I'm in the red slippers. Nathan, Ian and Patrick are playing the Wii in the background.

Turn your sound all the way up. So teeny. So sweet!

Who is YOUR favorite Disney princess?

Miss Chatterbox

One of my favorite new techniques to spice up Yeeland is to scan scrapbooking paper into my computer, crop in Photoshop and upload it right here, just as I would a photo. I did it in the letter, above, and used the same paper to make a rudimentary frame, also above, scanned it in, cut out the center with the magic wand tool in Photoshop, and voila! Instant frame. Play around with scanning on your computer. It's fun!

Much to my delight, I stumbled upon this lovely blog today. Lisa handwrites her blog posts, and since she is a calligrapher, the result is beautiful. She inspired me to scan in the above note I wrote to Lilly, my little Chatterbox.

Speaking of inspiration, have you gotten your hands on Elizabeth Kartchner's latest book, 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges (thanks, mom!)? When I saw her layout using the Photoshop pen tool to show Avery chattering away, I immediately knew I had to do something similar with a Lilly photo. Thanks for another fun idea, Liz!

Paper: Love, Elsie--Betty Petticoat (don't you just adore the hand drawn look?). No, Elsie, we love YOU more. :)