of pillowcases and ties

I found this beautiful vintage pillowcase a couple of years ago with plans to make a darling pillowcase dress for a future daughter... Well, 3 boys later, I've decided to

Actually get some use out of it and made it into a skirt instead. What finally convinced me was this tutorial for applying FOE found on this awesome blog!

I love my skirt, but it is very pencil-ly, so I probably won't be stocking up on pillowcases since it doesn't allow me to run very fast in it to prevent 'dangerous' things from happening in my home.

So, I've decided that the next "new" thing is wearing tie's to church!!!!! Even my tie hating hubby had to admit that this kid can pull off a tie. He was stylin'! When I burned a hole in one of Keegan's onesies, I decided to recycle it into legs for Mo and a tie for Trey to cover stains on one of his whitish onesies (nothing remains white after 3 boys have worn it). It was one of my first experiences with knits and I don't relish future knit projects, but with some pointers from my friend, Jona, I was able to figure it out! I love the idea of trying more appliqued onesies and may utilize these intructions next time.



I'm into "refashioning" right now and enjoy the challenge of utilizing old things and making them into cool new things! I don't know if it is the conservationist in me or my packrat tendencies, but these two projects made me soooo happy!

2d becomes 3d

Yikes, I'm so behind on things I wanted to post on...


As I've said before, it has been quite the creative summer! I've had so much fun having a buddy to sew and create with. It will be quite sad when she relocates to CA. Maybe Ev can come down on her every other Friday's off... (If anyone wants to come over and craft/sew in the afternoons while kids sleep, let me know!)


For Xander's birthday, I made him a doll, er monster based off of his hilarious drawings!


Of course, Mo has a beautiful friend, who is quite enchanting. The boys LOVED her and Aunt B had to hide her so she wouldn't be too loved before Evangeline is old enough to play with her.

It's a Beauty!

Well, after 3 babies, I broke down and bought my first highchair.

This has to be one of the prettiest high chairs I've ever seen and I got it for a steal on Craigslist!

It won't really work for Trey until he's comfortably sitting up well, but in the meantime, it sure is fun to look at! :)

Too Smart...

Where does this kid of mine come up with these kinds of things???

Today, Alexander wanted me to read a him another story after I had already read several. Of course, my mouth was a little bit dry and tired of talking. (Yes, it does happen on occasion!)

After I made a sighing noise that implied no, he hit me with this appeal:

"But mommy, look there's a girl it it! See? SEE?"

My resolve crumbled and we read the Smash, Crash that included a brief guest appearance by Gabbie the Garbage Truck... :)

He must be getting tips from my parents. I still clearly remember Mom and Dad talking us into watching Hunt for the Red October because "there was a girl" in it. Little did we know then that this ONE girl made a quick walk by in the background during the first 15 minutes of the movie. She had no lines, there was no relational or romantic plot line whatsoever...

I've been shnuckered again!

Tried and Made It!

After "trying" so hard, he finally made it!

Alexander, my firstborn, turned 4 on Sunday! It's hard to even imagine life without him! I can't believe he was once this little...He's turned into quite the little man. He is so compassionate and really wants to help me out. He prides himself on trying to "enforce" the house rules on everyone else. We're working with him on this since, sometimes in his eagerness, he goes a bit overboard.

He can also be a bit on the "dramatic side... :)

Xander is quite inquisitive and always talking. I was slightly afraid when I found out he was a boy, that our home would be filled with strong, silent types and I would have no one to talk too about mundane and silly things. But all of my worries were in vain. I get a play-by-play of EVERYTHING! In fact, sometimes I need to remind myself to be grateful that he is such a wonderful communicator. :)

He also delights in surprises and regularly comes up to us with something hidden behind his back and makes us guess what it is. The "unveiling" is always quite dramatic!

And finally, this kids LOVES to play! :)

5 months!

Our little Treyton is 5 months old. This much loved little brother and 3rd son really enjoys being with his family. He is quite interactive! He "talks" to us ALL the time. He's also working hard on his scooting, rolling and standing as means of interacting further with his beloved family members!

His smile and laugh are infectious. As long as he can withstand his brother's extravagant love in order to survive the remainder of his infancy I know he is going to be one that enjoys life to its fullest!

Haven't lost the touch...

When I was a girl, I was a bit of a tomboy. I loved anything outside, nature or sports related! I especially loved "catching" wildlife. I was always the one coming in with the snakes, frogs, horny toads, lizards, beetles, etc.

And it's nice to know that I haven't lost my touch!

This morning on my run, I found a tiny frog! It was only about an inch long, so of course, I stopped and caught it. After finding nothing to put it in, I walked the last mile home with it cupped in my hands. The boys were DELIGHTED! They had fun watching it for a while and than my compassionate Alexander requested that we return it to his "mommy". So we headed out to release it back into the wild, er the brown belt in our neighborhood!

The boys holding hands as we headed to the "release" site.

Little froggie is in the bucket that Xander is holding.

I tried to get a picture of Xander holding the frog, but Mr Froggie was too quick.

The weather hasn't been too bad. We enjoyed our little "walk". As long as you are back and safely indoors by 8am, it's all good! :)

Birthdays pt 1

ok, Keegan kicks off crazy birthday week!

I LOVE this recipe for a Blueberry Buckle and decided to make it in springform pan so it had the appearance of a cake. We called it breakfast cake and sang to Keegan on the morning of his birthday! I experimented with adding part whole wheat, but found it to be a bit heavy. I've been using Red Winter wheat (since that is all that Sprouts carries) and I should be using Soft White or at the very least Hard White Wheat, which I plan on buying VERY soon. Let me know if anyone wants to go in with me on some as I will be buying it in bulk (along with possibly Kamut, Quinoa and Amaranth). sorry for the tangent...


He doesn't quite have the hang of the whole blowing candles out yet, so we all enjoyed breakfast cake with some Keegan spit. Yum.


That night for dinner, my family came over (minus Mom and Uncle Keith who were at Blackstone) and we had his favorite dinner - homemade pizza and yet more cake! He did much better with the candles then!

Here is Keegan enjoying his new dump truck! He loved all of his gifts so much, he didn't know quite what to play with first...

More birthday craziness to follow...

This desperate?

It's my baby's favorite toy right now, but am I this desperate?

This is just wrong, wrong, wrong... This just doesn't seem like behavior befitting an illustrious caregroup leader. ;)

ETA:

ok, so I ponied up and paid to get Trey's keys back!

Mr 24-7 is TWO!

My precious Keegan turned two today. It has been such a magical and adventurous 2 years!

On the one hand he is quite the cuddler and can make my heart absolutely melt.

But he's also quite the mover - hence the 24-7 moniker.

This kid is creative and quite unpredictable. I've learned to ALWAYS put sharp objects away. And when I don't, he seems to always know it. Last week I walked into my closet to put something away and came out to find him with my sewing scissors chopping away at his pj's. Aaaaaack. Although, as Rich pointed out, at least he was using my sewing scissors on cloth and not ruining them on paper...

He isn't as verbal as Xander was at this age, but he more than makes up for it in other areas. He's quite the "do-it-yourselfer" and has actually taught Xander that it is quite possible to dress one's self. Not only does he look a lot like me, but he also, to some degree, has my strong-willed personality. My prayer for Keegan is that God will use this as a strength in standing steadfastly for HIM!

bye-bye sale

ok, I'm too lazy to go change the html and post the sale on my website, so here is the final sale for you all! ALL of my print pouches will be on sale for 50% off the regular price this week only (solids excluded). That's $20 for a pouch!!! The website goes down on Wednesday, so you'll need to pick out what you want before then, but you can email me with your order anytime this week. Just mention my 50% off blog offer for any print pouch and we'll go from there.

bumpy bridge

Every family has little quirky traditions and one of ours is the "bumpy bridge"! There is a bridge that we pass over when leaving or returning home. It gives a great ride, especially if the shocks are starting to go on your car or you drive a mini-van. I'm not quite sure how it started, but everytime we go over this bridge we all scream "bumpy bridge" and lift up our hands as if we were riding a roller-coaster. Cheesy I know, but the kids just love it. And well, we do too. Both Rich and I have been known to do it on occasion even w/out kids in the car.

I finally captured a picture of our beloved tradition when Mima was here a few weeks ago.

Old to New

It's amazing what happens when you take an OLD toy and move it to a NEW location! It has the appeal of a brand new toy!

New toy joy for little boys and less clutter downstairs joy for mommy!

Perfect!

What I'm Reading

Current Reads:

Have Read:
(* next to books I'd recommend)