Our good friends are having twins, and these are the blankets I made for them. (Finally– I’ve been “working” on them for months now.) Z picked out the fabric, the blanket on the left has jungle animals and stripeys, and the other has monkeys and bananas. I thought that was very clever. They’re both backed with that super soft plush stuff… what’s it called? I cannot remember for the life of me. (Hilary E., I know you know.)
Anyway, just thought I’d share.
Don’t forget to go enter the giveaway!
There’s a huge giveaway going on at my other site, with 4 really cool prizes to be won. Get on over there and check it out!
Go!
It is absolutely gorgeous outside today. Overcast and windy with a touch of sun, it’s perfect autumn weather. After taking a look at the stunning clouds this morning, and hearing more than just a little whining for so early in the morning, I bundled up the girls and forced them outside for a walk. (Z really wanted to just stay home, but once she got outside she was loving it.)
As we walked I took pictures of things I’m grateful for.
Gorgeous clouds…
yummy caramel hot chocolate….
cute girls in coats (and the beloved auntie who provided said coats)…
this face…
and this one…
a monkey…
(we had nothing to do with the monkey, just stumbled across it. But Z thought it was the coolest thing ever.)
Z’s imagination. She looked at this and called me back, asking if it was a drawing of Tigger (Do you see him?) ….
Now we’re home, watching Cars (Zoe), playing (Tiny), and sewing (me). Pictures of the current project to come.
What are you grateful for today?
Things making me happy today:
I went and bought Tiny new shoes this weekend, and on the back wall of the Striderite outlet, they had sale shoes. The biggest size they had was a 5, but these shoes were so cute I had to try them on, and through some time space anomaly (that’s really the only possible explanation for it) they fit my size 7-7 1/2 feet perfectly. It was like Cinderella and the glass slipper. (Apparently that’s how the slipper fit her and only her- time space anomaly. Now you know.) Check them out:
So cute, yes?
On the same trip I wandered into Old Navy and found THE PERFECT JEANS. Seriously. They fit perfectly.
That picture is not me. Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of pants that you’re currently wearing? It’s difficult. Anyway, these are the Dreamer style jeans, and they’re only $25 at the Old Navy at the Great Mall right now. The waist hits at your actual waist (at least mine) so there’s no weird gaping or pinching or feeling like a stuffed sausage. I LOVE them.
White chocolate Reeces Peanut Butter cups. B calls them an abomination, and he may be right. (He may also be crazy. It may also be a lunatic he’s looking for. 15 points if you get that.) They’re still delicious.
I have a new basil plant. That means fresh basil. It’s not doing terribly well though, which makes me wonder if plants are like cats- if you raise them from tiny things yourself it just goes better. I got this one full grown from Safeway. We’ll see how it goes.
The Relief Society General Meeting Broadcast was last weekend, and it was amazing. I love that we really seem to be getting back to the roots of the organization- that it is a society, that we meet in order to plan out physical and spiritual relief efforts, and to support and nurture each other; that it’s not just something they made so we have something to do on Sunday. I have a deep love for the Relief Society, I love its history and the incredible good it does. I brought Z with me to the broadcast (long story involving late developing separation anxiety) and she did incredibly well. And now she can say she was there when they did away with Enrichment. (heeheehee)
I keep hearing the Shrek version of These Boots are Made for Walking on Sirrius kids radio, and every time it makes me think of Jeff’s (my bro-in-law) impression of a drunk Nancy Sinatra, which never fails to make me laugh.
Tiny has started saying the word please, “peeees?”, and doing the sign for it, and it is freakin’ adorable. She also pointed to a statue of a duck yesterday and said “ducka!”. Then she did it again later with a rubber duck, so I don’t think it’s a coincidence.
What’s making you happy today?
I love the quiet of two little friends playing happily together.
I love the quiet that comes in a natural (not awkward) pause in conversation with someone who was an acquaintance and is on the way to becoming a friend.
I love the quiet of a house put back together after friends go home.
I got to enjoy all of those today. I am blessed.
Did you know it was Talk Like a Pirate Day today? This is how we celebrated:
Tiny enjoying the show, then getting in on the action.
Yar!
There were also pirate themed shows, books, and playing.
Avast!
(All photos copyright me. I usually don’t say that, but that last picture turned out pretty dang cool. So no stealing it!)
A while back my sister shared with me that she realized that she needed to make the areas that she looked at the most beautiful. So she painted her laundry room a gorgeous blue, and it really is a very pleasant place to be now. I realized that I need to do the same, and the area that I look at most is my balcony. It’s one of the reasons we chose this apartment — it’s big and spacy, but ends up being a storage area most of the time. I’ve been working on it for a while (hence the garden), but today I made some big strides forward. I moved the cooler and the big plastic bins to storage, and thanks to a visit from my dad and a trip to IKEA, we now have these:
an awesome chalkboard/whiteboard easel (that also takes paper for painting, but Z doesn’t know that yet- I have to get a piece of vinyl to put down under it first) and a gorgeous, huge “town” rug; one of those with streets and houses and an airport and all kinds of lovely things.
The rug will get rolled up in the evenings, and not necessarily be out every day, but the concrete gets REALLY hot, and it will be nice for Tiny to have something to crawl on out there. Plus Z loves anything she can drive her cars around on.
Now I just need to make a long cushion for the three chairs that live out there instead of around our dining room table:
to transform them into a kind of bench, and get a little table so I can hang out there during naps. And I want to get some plastic drawers to hold all of the porchy goodness toys – bubbles and sidewalk chalk and all of the supplies for the easel.
Does anyone know of any good winter growing plants? The time of the sunflowers is almost over, and I don’t know how long zinnias and marigolds last. It would be nice to have something growing out there during the next number of months. Ideas?
What’s making you happy today?
Apparently we have a little comedian on our hands. Little Miss Audrey, who most days looks like this:
slew us today during dinner as she very purposefully made faces to make us laugh. She’d look meaningfully at us, then make the face, and after we’d laugh, she’d crack up. Then she’d start all over. It was hilarious.
Seriously, so so funny.
Things making me happy today:
It’s my Daddy’s birthday today. He is wonderful, and one of my most favorite people in the world. We went to visit him and bring him his presents, then ended up taking him to lunch. We had a wonderful time, and the girls loved playing at papa’s house.
White chocolate Reeses peanut butter cups. I know they sound like a total abomination, but they’re really good. Reeeeeallly good.
The fruits of harvest from my Daddy’s garden:
And the fruits of the first harvest of our little garden:
Tiny has started standing up (while holding on to things- she has yet to master the balance to stand on her own):
I haven’t measured, but I’m sure Z is getting taller. Doesn’t she look so long in this picture? She’s going to be tall and gorgeous like her Auntie Hayden.
Target’s new Halloween stuff. I won’t post a picture of everything we got today, because I don’t want to spoil the surprises at Z’s Halloween party, but check these out:
As is evidenced here, Z chose a monster theme for her party. She has named the above monsters Hinklesaurus, Pumpkin Patch, and CandyOren. (And yes, I gave in. The Halloween decorations have infiltrated the house.)
This picture. I love that Tiny looks like a little possessed child of the corn behind the pumpkin. Zoe took this picture, by the way.
What’s making you happy today?
Don’t forget, the giveaway is still going on at my other website. Go now! You could win yummy goodness!