Impromptu recital

Here's how Carter and Allison decided to entertain themselves before dinner tonight.

Cute, huh? I had a splitting headache, but I'd much rather have this kind of noise in the background than them screaming at each other, ya know?


Did you like Allison's bow? Or how Carter throws the spoons ("drum sticks") because he's so excited that its his turn to dance? Pretty darned cute...

Right now...

Right now my kids best friends are over to play. We are so lucky that another couple in our ward are our child twins... their oldest 2 are each a matter of days younger than Allison and Carter.

Right now Carter and James and Bridget are having fun in the playroom. And here is what Allison is doing...

Pouting. Refusing to go play becuase I told her she should. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face...

On a side note: negotiating the sharing of train engines between two 2-year-olds takes a special kind of diplomacy. :)

Allison's recital

Allison had her dance recital today and she did so well. She's really enjoyed ballet this year and I'm excited to see how she does next year (in whatever studio we decide to land at).


For your viewing pleasure... really, this one's for you, Grandmas!



Carter behaved like a champ during the (two hour) recital. Here's how he spent a good three quarters of it...

And Allison after her dance. We surprised her with flowers, which she, of course, loved.

Carter as a GPS

Brian and I about died laughing last night when we had this thought... Carter would be the worst (or most hilarious) GPS ever.

You see, Carter has a man's "built in sense of direction." He is constantly being backseat driver in that car and telling me "Go dat way." Problem comes when I have my own ideas about where we are going.

Carter says turn left, Mommy turns right.

Your GPS might calmly say "Recalculating" if you ignore its directions. Carter screams at the top of his lungs: "NOOOOO!!!!! DAT WAY!!!!!"

And if you continue driving, your GPS will give you a new route that accomodates your disobedience. Carter, however, melts his screams into sobs of "Noooo! I want go dat way!" For the GPS of Carter there is no recalculating.

Just imagine that next time your GPS recalculates. ;0)

Can you picture...

Can you picture my dining room AS a dining room? Not just the mostly empty, often cluttered dumping ground/playroom annex that its been masquarading as for the last year? But AS an actual dining room?







How about now!

Its a terrible picture, but I just snapped one really quickly before dinner. I found this 7 piece dining set (there are 2 more chairs, and 2 leaves) at a gargae sale this morning. "Luckily" our van wasn't actually ready to be picked up yesterday even like we'd been told, so I was taking Brian to work again this morning and we passed the sale on the way to work. I turned onto the street to look closer on the way home (thinking that maybe I'd find a small dresser for baby) and saw it, disassembled, sitting on the porch with a big price sign... $50!!! Done and Done! The chairs could use a reupholstery (mostly because they're a little dirty and stained, not torn up), but thats easy enough. And the top has some scratches and could use a refinish, but its not in desperate need of it. It really just looks like its been used in a house with kids... some wear and tear, but nothing terrible. So we'll probably just leave it be until our kids are past the stage where they're climbing on the furniture. :o)

The lady selling was even nice enough to offer to deliver (since it was only about 2 miles from home and our van is STILL having its A/C issue worked on by the dealer...) later in the evening if we came cask to help her load.

And now I'm really excited to actually finish the room. I'm thinking roman shades or bamboo blinds and curtains for the windows, a fun fabric to reupholster the chairs, and some art on the big blank wall. Oh, and some non-carpet flooring, eventually. That one may be a few years. :o)

Our Little Graduate

This week was the last week of Joy School, which meant a graduation ceremony!

I can't believe how big Allison has gotten this year and how much she's grown in so many ways. We don't plan to do Joy School next year, which makes me a little sad... but I'm not sure I could handle it next year with Carter and a new baby.

Oh, and how do you like the dress with yesterday's bright, pre-ruffled fabric? I used this tutorial from Make it and Love it (one of my very favorite sewing/crafting blogs). Turned out cute, I think. Its a little big, but that just means she'll be able to wear it for a good while. There is leftover fabric, so Allison with either get another little borther and skirt from the ruffley fabric, or she'll get a little sister with a matching dress. :)

Manhatten Fabric, part 2

I realized the other day that I never posted this...

These fabrics came from StyleCrest, and other designer wholesaler that is not open to the public. At first glance through I didn't see a lot that I like. It was crowded and we were looking at hanging sample, not rolls or bolts, so it was hard to see what there was until people started standing in line to order... then it got MUCH easier and I found a bunch of things.

Clockwise from top left:

*Red rayon blend double knit for under $5/yard (3 yards). I'm seeing a dress for me out of this. Something classic, I think. This is super high quality, versitle stuff. I bought it becuase the price was crazy good (you'd probably pay $15/yard for a 100% polyesther version of it at JoAnn's) and I knew it would come in handy for something at some point...

*2 yards (I think) Teal & Pink madras plaid, $4/yard. This is real madras: small squares of fabric stitched together to make one multo-pattern print. So much fun! I plan to copy my favorite bermuda shorts and make them from this. I'm thinking maybe a knit waistband, which would mean I could wear them this summer...

*3 yards (or was it 4?) yellow cotton gauzy seersucker, $4/yard. Its not at bumpy are most seersuckers that I'm used to, but very nice. It spoke to me. I'm going to make this dress with it:

I've had the pattern several years (I'm sure I got it on a $3 Vogue sale) and never used it. This fabric seemed P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

*2 yards silvery-grey floral print silk, $15/yard. I LOVED this fabric, but wasn't going to get it at $30/yard. The owner heard me talking about it while I was ordering and offered me half off since they were down to their last few yards of it. I'm seeing a skirt... or maybe a wrap dress? Something beautiful and flowy...

*1 yard awful, bright pre-ruffled knit something, $4/yard. I bought this for Allison. I didn't have a project in mind, but I knew she'd love it as a skirt or something. Funny thing is I saw this same fabric on the red tag pile at JoAnn's a few weeks after Manhatten. Original price? $15/yard. I'll post pictures soon of what I've already done with it.

*2 yards (maybe 3) pink/teal plaid lightweight shirting, $5/yard. I'm seeing a jumper/dress for Allison and a blouse of some kind for me. It would make a great lightweight summer shirt.

Sadly, all of the fabric for me is on hold, becuase I don't want to make maternity clothes with it. I do hope to use the wool tweed to make myself a nice coat before this winter, but everything else will have to wait. I will, hopefully, be making a new maternity skirt soon. I have fabric and a plan (no pattern! wish me luck)... I just trying to find the nerve!

Things a 90 degree day might entice you to do...

cut your hair 6 or 8 inches...

allow your children to play out in the pool for hours and hours and hours... (I'm pretty sure Allison was out there for 4 hours yesterday, and Carter got in 2 and a half after his nap)

yes, Allison is about to pull him down the slide here...

while you sit in the shady garage with ice water and magazines (and still get sunburned!).

Here's to the cold front that suppose to come through tonight and take us down 10 or 15 degrees!