Little Miss Birthday

You are two today.

You like:

• "cooking" and playing with your dishes
• Mr. Incredible ("Kebullll") and Woody (Ian's toys, of course)
• snacks. All. Day. Long.
• cleaning up
  
• playing in brother's room
• building with Megablocks
• swinging
• wearing your "wimmin yupe" and "webow yews" (swimming suit and rainbow shoes)
• books
• "prin-ce-ezz" (your princess nightgown)
  

You do NOT like:

• brushing -- your hair or teeth
• walking barefoot outside
• riding in the car
• leaving mommy or daddy
• running through the sprinkler

You often say:

• "uh-YAA!"
  
• "Naaack" (snack)
• "Mommy you okay?"
• "Here go daa-eee" (Here you go, daddy)
• "No wann iiitttt!" (don't want it)
• "ah-hee-yah" (I'm here)
• "Go ou-yide?"
• "ah-poopINNN" (I'm pooping)
• "C'mon, mommy!"

You LOVE to be held, cuddled, kissed and hugged, and giving the same back in return. I've never seen a child with so much affection to share -- does a mama's heart good.

Happy birthday, Lilly Ruth, Lilly Girl, Yeebird, Sweet Pea, Monkey, Sweetie Girl.

Now, let's head to Toys R Us and celebrate with a new play kitchen for you!!

Done and Doing

Canvas projects are finished. Hooray! I did four in all. Click here and here to see the other two. Email or leave a comment if you'd like instructions, including patterns, for these.


To do list . . .
Hem table runners for JAM wedding on 7/11.

Finish two custom quilt orders.

Make these little beauties (and other preps) for Lilly's party Saturday. {*excited*; remember this dress?}


Oh, and possibly make these for the rehearsal dinner. How fun is that for a centerpiece!!!?

It's going to be a crazy 10 days, but with the proper balance of sleep deprivation and strong coffee, I'm confident it will get done!

Summer's First Fruits (and vegetables)

Hello tomatoes.

Hello squash.

And a happy birthday message . . .
Hello, Ma-maw. Happy birthday. I miss you.

Last photo of Ma-maw and me, Thanksgiving Day 2005. She was gone a month later. I miss her, but she is still with us in many ways. Ma-maw, you still make me laugh often -- so many remembrances of you. You are a blessing!

8

Eight years today. Happy anniversary to us.

To Do Today

Strut your stuff. Oh yeah, work it, girl:

Get lost in your thoughts:

Sport a new 'do:

Photograph yourselves, but only if you can focus on someone's nose and nothing else:

Publicly display your farmer tan as often as possible, no matter how many cool points are at stake:

Rock someone you love to sleep in your baby doll bed that you think is your new special bench. Hug them tight.

What things did YOU do this weekend?

Capture the memory of your child's playful imagination and encourage his pre-writing/reading skills with this fun, easy project.

Tell your child you'd like to make a book together. All he has to do is what he always does -- make up a story and act it out with his toys. Take a picture of each scene as you go along, and write down word-for-word your child's description of what is happening.

Print the photos (my printer was low on ink so the pics turned out sickly, but Ian didn't notice), and let your child help cut and glue them to each page in the book.

Ask him for a title to his story. Try your best not to make suggestions! Let the ideas in this book be totally his. Enjoy reading the story over and over together and save it forever as a memory of your child's thoughts and interests.




Other book ideas . . .

Encourage number sense and recognition
Group your child's toys into certain numbers and take photos of each grouping. Draw a giant number on the left side page and glue the photo of that number of objects on the right side page. Example: left side: [3], right side: [Text reads, "Ian has 3 Power Rangers" under photo of the Power Rangers.] For young preschoolers, stick to numbers 1-10.

Encourage alphabet memorization
Follow the same steps as in the number book, using letters instead on the left side and a photo of an object starting with that letter on the other side. Example: left side: [S], right side: [text reads, "Superman" under photo of Superman]. Variation: help your child find magazine pictures of things starting with certain letters. Your child can cut them out and glue into the book on the correct pages.

L is for Lilly

Thanks for the sweet comments and emails about this project. I am now working on three more canvas cards/wall art pieces for a certain website and am excited about the opportunity (news to come soon)!

L is for Lilly is the first. Finished it last night. Cute, cute. The other two are painted and calling to me. A blank canvas really is inviting (more so than laundry and dust bunny floors).

Had a great flight to Louisville, Kentucky and returned home safely last night. Dad was amazing, of course. I was way proud. And Amanda was one of the featured singers. Again, proud was I.


Bonus -- I got to see my dear childhood friend, Charity, at the convention. Bummed the photos of us were too blurry to post. Charity is a special person. She and I recently reconnected through our blogs. Find her here.

And I came home to a spotless house and happy children. Who were already asleep.
Nathan is un. be. liev. a. ble.
Need I say more?

More crafty goodness tomorrow. See you then!