The Prettiest Teacup

Today is the birthday of a beautiful little girl named Ava. A special little girl whose mama can no longer hold her in her arms but now keeps her in her heart.

So today I stopped and scooped my babies in my arms and pressed my tear stained cheeks to their soft faces, nuzzled their blond hair, and whispered in their ears how much I love and adore them. And how, as long as there is breath in my lungs and a beat in my heart, I always will. No exceptions or conditions.

Then we had a tea party. Nothing too special, extravagant, or exceptionally beautiful. Just cinnamon toast hearts, fruit, and honey tea out in the yard.

The special and beautiful thing is I get to look into these smiling faces every day and I am so very happy for that.

As part of participating in Ava’s Tea Party I want to pass along a reminder for vehicle safety, here. And tell someone that you love them today.

For the nice young woman I met at the cutting counter at JoAnn this afternoon. My Butterick 4790. Made way back in 2007 and posted on my old site, sometwittery.com, which no longer exists.

This was my first time sewing a garment and I must say I learned quite a bit along the way.

One hundred points if you can name the movie the first song she sings in this video is from:

Our air conditioner went out this weekend. I’m glad it wasn’t a few weeks ago when the over night lows were in the upper eighties. But even with the cooler nights the temp upstairs was well on it’s way to ninety. We had a miserable night. Evelyn had been having fevers from 102- 103° and kept waking in tears. Gus’s molar decided to finally make its way through that night and he was inconsolable until we laid out a large ice pack in his crib for him to sleep on. After that and a little ibuprofen he was good.
A storm came though in the morning and a quick downpour cooled things down for a bit but the temperature quickly started to rise once the sun came back out. We stuck it out until late afternoon and then I decided I couldn’t go through another restless night. Out to my mom’s we went.
We all loaded up on the boat and went out for a spin on the local lake. The kids were a little scared at first and then they started having fun! Well, Evelyn started having fun. Gus was so tired and spent most of the time screaming, except for when Uncle Clifton was putting blueberries in his mouth.

We found a nice little spot to drop anchor and jump in to cool off. Evelyn had a great time floating and swimming (i.e. clinging on to whoever was closest with a death grip).

Gus was over it before he even hit the water. The photo below was taken the split second before he started screaming and was hoisted back into the boat.

So this little jaunt knocks another item off my 30 by Thirty list. Yikes! I have so many left on there- I had better get a move on!

Well, the air conditioner is up and running again, now that the temperature has dropped. Evelyn hasn’t stopped talking about going swimming from the boat on the lake. I hope we can make it out again!

Late evening bike trips to Dairy Queen.

Aunt Janet’s new dog, Ole. He is a Norwegian Elkhound.

My Brother-in-Law, Andy, came through with a Polaroid SX-70. It might need a little repair but I am going to get some film and see what happens! Thanks, again, Andy!

Porktopus. Name brought to you by my clever husband, who has also coined the terms tortizza and marouge. I was just calling them tentacle dogs.

And finally we got our pictures from 5th Street Photography! I had a bunch printed off and they look amazing. They wont be staying on the mantle, though. I am hoping I get them actually attached to the walls in the stairwell. I also have an album waiting to be printed off and a 16X20 canvas that should be here soon.

I love that Evelyn sees them and explains that this is her family. I also just love that Evelyn.

Be back soon!

Okay- can I just tell you how much I hate the word ‘sling’? With that out of the way I will tell you that, after tweaking and delaying and re-doing and back-orders, my summer bag is finally finished!

I used Amy Butler’s Sunday Sling pattern in the small size. The fabric is from her Soul Blossoms line. I love these prints! Side note: It’s coming out in apparel weight fabrics and voile soon!

But in true do-it-yourselfer fashion I changed up the pattern a bit. I added a zippered pouch to one of the exterior panels, added the rings and rivets to the handles, and put in a key fob and a magnetic clasp. I did not use the fusible fleece or stiff interfacing (for the bottom panel) that the pattern calls for and I think it has just the right amount of structure. I like my bags a little floppy, not standing up on their own.

The bag is really big (I can’t imagine making the large size- maybe for a weekend tote?) with lots of interior pockets. I was looking for a bag to keep baby stuff and my things from getting all mish-mashed together and this seems to fit the bill.

Things I would change if I made it again: The knot in the handles is really uncomfortable. I think I will make them one continuous piece next time; Add a place for my pens. The pockets are really deep and things can get lost down there. I like having my pens at the ready; The side pockets are almost totally useless to me. I have very wide hands at the knuckles and I cannot get my hands down in them (again, with things getting lost down in the really deep pockets). I can only just fish out my sunglasses from their depths.

But in all I really like this pattern and am already thinking of other fabrics I can use.

Now that it will soon be autumn and all.

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I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for voting for my pic in Accuquilt’s Bust My Stash Photo Challenge, but alas with major voting issues they decided to just have their staff choose a winner and it wasn’t me. Bummer but I’ll just keep saving my pennies for my own!

Big boy Guster has had a busy month.

He has started talking. First word was ‘birdie’, followed by ‘what’s that’ with finger pointing everywhere. He also says the basic mama, dada, baba, papa, and Gigi. We’re working on dog.

And the biggest thing of all: He has started walking! He has been at it for almost two weeks now and has gotten better at steadying himself when he starts to lose his balance and he can also pivot and change directions.

Here is a little video with some walking and some giggling and very unsteady camera work (what can I say- it’s hard to tickle and work the manual focus while still holding the camera):

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that he is still an infant. He acts like such a little man. My Uncle Mike put him up on my cousin Brandon’s tractor and he knew exactly what to do, shifting gears and turning the wheel. If only he could reach the pedals. We went to Menard’s tonight to look at swing sets and he was climbing up the fake rock steps to the top, turning his butt around and sliding backwards down the slide. No hesitation, no fear. As if he has been doing this his whole life.

I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Not sure if I like Evelyn’s hair up or down. Those little whispies around her neck and curly pony would be fun to cut out but so would the flippy curls on her back, as she regularly exclaims how long her hair is, flipping it side to side. Which one do you like?

FYI: a two year old doesn’t make the best photography assistant. She tried so hard to get Gus’s attention but really just wanted her own picture taken and started pushing him off the stool or pulling on his arms. I might have to hire out for the next session.

The kids and I got home sort- of late last night from being out at my mom and dad’s house. Bonus: Both kids were sleeping and I was able to take them to their beds without them waking up. I sat down to pay some bills. Total downer: the credit card bill. Up: noticing there was an extra page. I didn’t realize my card was a ‘rewards’ card and that extra page had a check for cash back. Total excitement. Here comes the down: I have had this card for quite some time. It used to be owned by a different bank and they used to just apply the rewards to your bill. Then they got bought out by another bank and I thought the card wasn’t going to have rewards anymore. Now I am wondering how many checks I have missed. Up: I have all of the statements from last year and I find only one other check. Down: It’s expired. Up and still riding high: I call this morning and they are going to re-issue the expired check! Awesome!!!

I’ll be back later with some other things to chat about…

So apparently there were some issues with emails not being sent for the voting for the Bust My Stash photo contest. Now you can vote just by liking the picture and typing in a word verification. Thanks for the support!