Goings-on

Hi! I didn't realize how fast this week has gone! I didn't realize it was Friday and I thought it was the 23rd instead of the 24th and I had to fast forward my thinking clock and get straight with the days! Plus, Little A has decided that 25-40 minutes is a good enough nap for a growing baby which makes the days seem so much longer and this mama so much more wore out at the end of it.

This kid loves wal-mart! Maybe it's the lights, the warehouse like sounds, the many strange people that are often too loud and talk about things maybe only their diaries should know about, or the many colorful toys, balls, and balloons found on every other aisle. Whatever it may be, if she's having a bad day a trip to Wally is always a cheer-upper! And there is ALWAYS something you need to pick up at wal-mart.

I've been really into hats lately. Crochet or fleece doesn't matter! The fleece punch out so much faster than the crochet ones, but I get the same amount of satisfaction from both. I made myself, Little A, AND Virginia matching fleece hats. Who's Virginia?

This, my friends, is Virginia. It was actually an accident that Virginia came into a hat of her own. I was making Little A her hat and I cut on the wrong side which didn't allow stretching (is that the bias side? I'm still new to the terms of fabric and sewing), and it was cut just perfect for size so it wouldn't fit right. Virginia's head is plastic so she doesn't need much stretch because she won't cry when I have to hold her down to squeeze the hat over her ears. So I made a new stretchy one for Little A and sewed down the old one for Virginia.

I just wanted a picture to show everyone in your matching hats! I'm sorry I made you cry by setting you on the couch for a picture and holding your baby next to you. I promise I won't set you on the couch unless you ask me to ever again!

E wanted some curtains for the kitchen window, have I told you this? After we remodeled the kitchen door and repainted he threw the old ones out and then began to complain about how he wished we had curtains again. Doh! I had a print in my mind and have been searching for something close for about a month and a half to two months. I found the sailboats and piers fabric above at Hobby Lobby. Oh, just saying the name of the store makes me happy because there is so much I'd love to buy and make stuff out of it with! I also got a hunter green to go behind it to block out some sun. On Wednesday, after E went to work, I put Toy Story 3, out new favorite, on for Little A and set to make my curtains. Measuring, cutting, planning, sewing, not in that order. Phew! But here they are!

I forgot to add width to it to make pleats when I put them up. :-( But! I do like the way they came out.

My mom's response to the sailboat print? "My grandma had curtains like that." Thanks mom... Haha! I'm sure (I think) she was joking, but I think it's fun and they look great! Measuring and calculating sure was back aching work, I think I made E give me a back rub.

We had to go to a new doctors' office for E to have a check up and they had the coolest thing! A bird "cage" instead of the traditional fish tank! I should have gotten a close up but I was getting strange looks and felt uncomfortable. They had finches, diamond doves, a canary, orange check something or other, and gray waxbeaks (I think). It was so cool!

I've been wanting to share this with you! There are 157 (3 extra) 5 1/2x5 1/2 squares cut from scrap fabrics from a lot of the quilts I've made. I'm so excited I could pee myself! Ok, maybe not, but you get the idea.

E helped me lay them out, as let me tell you, that man has an eye for color combos and positioning! He's way better at it than I am! But don't tell him, but it's a present for him/me for our wedding anniversary next month! Yay! It's four years, forty? Four hundred? Hehe, just kidding! Though it has only been four years since the "I do's" it seems like a blink of an eye as well as if life was always like this. Bliss is what they call that I believe. I'm over half done with the quilt top, which is my favorite part.

So last week I mentioned an idea I had for a new project. Lucy at Attic24 has a great tutorial for the granny stripe pattern on her blog: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/granny-stripe.html
I'm SOOO sorry, I still don't know how to link via my iPhone and we still don't have home Internet, but I still hope you check it out by copy and pasting. But I was thinking of making a granny stripe for my home for somewhere, probably the basement, and wanted to see if any of you would like to crochet along with me? I'd be happy to post your progress pictures along with mine if you'd like! Right now I'm working on a sample blanket (above pic) used from left over yarn from this blanket:

Hexagons for my new nephew! Due in October. This pattern can also be found at Attic24 under 'hexagon how-to.'

Well anyway, I feel like I've babbled a lot today, I think I need to post more than once a week or when I've finished a project, this feels like it's going to be long! So sorry! But I leave you with my chocolate face slide baby! I hope you have a great weekend!

Until next time!

Weekends and Hats

Hello! This week has been upside down for my family. Last week, on Friday I believe, E got a call from work telling him his hours would be 3pm-11pm instead of 7am-3pm which he's had since he started with this company. He was quite upset about it, understandable so, seeing as how we were all set in our routine. We both remained optimistic all weekend but as Monday drug on we both grew quiet and sat together silently through Little A's nap. The first night was hardest but each night has gotten easier. The only good part about having the evenings to myself is I get to watch America's Next Top Model, which E hates but I'm drawn to for whatever reason, and I get to craft my little heart out when Little A goes to sleep. I miss him though. Thank goodness for text messaging!

We went to the Legends, an outdoor shopping center in Wyandotte county, on Sunday early so we could hang out and hardly anyone was there! Which was nice because we let Little A loose among the concrete jungle.

She played in the fountain with E, getting everyone a little wet. We stopped in Panera to have a bagel, and Little A loved her chocolate chip bagel. We also stopped at T-Rex Café and they have an animatronic (spelling?) t-Rex that Little A thought was pretty cool. Weird considering she cried at Santa but loves giant twinkies and meat eating dinosaurs! Who knew?

Yes, she really enjoyed our morning trip there. Wore her little butt out too! Another good thing about E being on second shift is we go on a walk every morning (weather premitting!) which everyone enjoys, especially Mabel and Tonka, the two corgis.

Little A and I spend most of our evenings out back before dinner and then we enjoy a nice meal together at the table. Some nights are bath nights, others I let her play in the living room or we go back outside. But once she goes to sleep I have to entertain myself. Here's what's been keeping me busy lately:

Voilà! Pretty, huh?

I totally bribed her with food in order for her to hold still for this picture.

And another in a different color.

Do you know how hard it is to get a 16 month old to hold still long enough to take a picture with your phone!? It's hard!

See! That's only one blurred shot I'll show you, there's many more where that came from!

And lastly, the adult sized one. The picture is about the hat, not
me! The picture does not do the
colors justice at all.

That's a little better. I have some other things I've been working on that I can't wait to show you, but they're not in a good place to where I'd be happy to show you just yet. But soon! There is still so much summer left and so many projects to get done, but it doesn't feel overwhelming (is that two or one word?), it feels like a breath of fresh challenge! There's something I think I'd like to do project and blog wise, together, so I'll probably have that ready for next week. Well, I think I've gone on enough, I hope you all have a great night and week!

Until next time!

Good Times

Good day! Good day! As I write this morning I'm getting Tonka kisses! Poor guy, I think he has allergies or something because he has green eyes and has had them for a little while. We'll do something about that today!
I hope all of you are enjoying the weather! Yesterday, Little A and I took a trip to the public pool for the very first time ever! We went swimming one time last year and she loved it, and she loved it yesterday too! She kept picking up her feet and trying to float away like she's been swimming all her life or something. I had to slap her floaties on her and let her go because she refused to let me hold her. She dunked her face several times and drank quite a bit of water, but never cried! I was surprised. Her favorite part over all was watching all those people! Such a little people watcher!

This last week was a pretty rough one. Little A had some kind of virus or the like on Wednesday and developed a low grade fever along with a "don't do anything to make me happy because it'll just make me more mad" attitude. It finally stopped this morning. She woke up happy and playing this morning and I actually got a kiss! I haven't gotten one in three days, poor E probably hasn't gotten one in longer though. She is also eating a ton today! Needless to say, this mom is pretty happy!

Little A has really been into dinosaurs lately. I had a stuffed velociraptor named Max that she adopted. His head has become a little loose because we open his mouth and bite Little A's tummy while making growling noises. She thinks it's the greatest thing! When she wants it done, she grabs Max and makes dinosaur noises.

Friday, my friend Meg and I too our girls with us garage sailing. I found this little guy. For fifty cents! I was excited and when I gave it to Little A she was happy as a not-so-feeling-well little girl could be! She grabbed him and hugged him, burying her face in his head and soon after, fell asleep. Poor girl. So she drug him around all afternoon and when she went down for a nap I stole him away. He had a roar sound box in his arm that was broken so I got to work and cut open his arm, took out the box, restuffed his arm, sewed him back up, and threw him in the wash. His name is now Dinny the dino, he's among Little A's favorites, but none trump the great Daisy bear. I'll tell you about Daisy another time! But after fixing Dinny I felt oddly accomplished for the day!

Two weeks ago we went as met up with E for lunch in Johnson county. He was taking some classes for work and had a longer lunch hour, so it was a treat for all of us! But the weather turned nasty and there were tornados all over, including where we were. It passed quickly but once we were ready to go home the storms were headed the same direction we were going. So we took a pit stop at Joann's, I was heartbroken! ;-) Little A did so good in the store though it was passed her naptime and she found a wonderful peguin printed flannel in the remnants pile. Since she only tried to sneak out of the cart once and gave me a hug thinking I would let her get out since she was being so sweet, I let her have it, thinking I could make something for her. I didn't not realize it was so small! So I made her that little softy pillow (about the only thing I could think if to get the max use of the fabric). She was pretty happy when I gave it to her.

I must tell you this; I was working on this front post back post blanket for Little A and I wasn't crazy about it from the beginning. I picked it back up yesterday after starting it a year ago. In that short time of working on it I set it back down and...

Pulled it all apart. I know what some of you are thinking and no it's not a shame or something to be sad about. That yarn will get new life in another project that I actually like! Which is sooner rather than later. Two of the colors match the weany blanket, which is back in progress. Little A has been completely weaned since May 17th! I figured since I started the weany blanket when I thought she was weaning (back in January) it might be a good idea to finish it now she is weaned. Here's a sneak peek:

That's about all I can afford to give you without ruining the whole thing! I promise you'll be among the first to see it when it's finished. I'm working on some other projects that I'll be able to show you next time, pinky swear!

Until next time!

Chit Chat

Good morning! I apologize for my absence, there have been a lot of things happening around my little castle and when it came time to write to my bloglanders I just didn't have the energy. As always, instead of half-hearting it I didn't want to disappoint with a disappointing post. Please do forgive me, I'll be better, I promise!

My E has been very busy around the house with much mowing of yards and landscaping. We have three bushes or dwarf trees in our back yard that are just sort of floating in the grass, so E decided to make them pretty! We picked out the stone and he made them level and put down that black felt fabric to keep the weeds away and put rock in the base. I think it looks fabulous! It really brings an elegance to the yard. This project is a little time consuming so he's doing one bush thing at a time.

He also built this little box and put the fabric and rock in to keep the weeds away around the AC too. The hardest part about this is keeping Little A from scattering the rocks in the yard. So far she's done pretty well with it.

Little A has been climbing and hiding anywhere she can fit into! She's figured out how to climb up onto our bed too. Luckily, she has not figured out how to get out of her crib, she does get her knee stuck at least once a day in the slats though. So sweet!

A few weekends ago we went to Ag Hall for their Barnyard Babies exhibit. It was a blast! Little A kept running back to the rabbits and I kept telling her we have some at home she can look at, but I think it was the only animal she was fimilar. The had a little train that circled the grounds and Little A and I went for a ride.

She wasn't all that excited about it when we sat down. I don't really blame her, the seats were all metal and it kept digging into my back.

But after we got going and she knew I was holding tight to her, she relaxed a little and even sung a little too. She probably would have been perfect with one go around but it went twice, and under a tunnel. Maybe if they have it again next year she'll like it more. All in all, I believe feeding the goats and trying to run to the water was her favorite part.

While putting Toy Story 3 into the DVD player for Little A I caught a bit of the '70s tv show "Fun With Dick and Jane," and Jane, played by Jane Fonda, was wearing this amazing burnt orange crochet hat! Two of my favorite things, orange and crochet, right from the past! Oh, it was wonderful to see and it excited me so much I vowed to make one, or many. I watched long enough to get the pattern, see I have this ability (I'm not bragging just stating ;-) to see crochet things and make them without a pattern, well mostly. And good thing too, because that was the only clear picture I could find via Google. But this hat is in my mind so clearly and at the top of my list... Once I get some others marked off my list.

Well, hopefully I'll be able to get my craftys done during naps or cool downs. The weather has decided it's summer finally, after having the heater on until last week. But it looks like it's going to stay hot for awhile, which is great! I'm hoping it'll warm up the pool so Little A and I can go swimming soon!

I should be having some reveals soon enough and if you, my readers, tell me what you'd like to learn to crochet next I'll work on a new tutorial! Well, anyway, I must be off to get Little A started for the day! Have a sunny week!

Until next time!