Small Craft Advisory

I have been feeling a little under the weather but since I have the house to myself because Keith, the girls and Great Gram went to Nana's for her birthday, I thought I would post a little of my crafting I have been up to. (And Happy Birthday, Jan!)


I bought these cute little picture frames at 50% at the Hobby Lobby grand opening sale. Did you know there is now a Hobby Lobby in Flint? A nicest fabric cutter at JoAnn's told me about it! Hmmm. Anyway, I just got out some of my scrapbooking supplies and created some little birdies for Lauren's bedroom wall. They are three separate frames but I hung them so that they overlapped and, yes, Keith, I put holes in the wall! Each frame has a peg but I don't dare hang anything on them because little miss stretch will find a way to reach whatever it is and pull everything down.


This is a obviously a large letter. I bought it at JoAnn's and spray painted it white so that the ugly cardboard color wouldn't show through. I then spent a couple of hours glue on and tying on seven or eight different kinds of ribbon. I really like the way it turned out. I saw this idea on etsy and had to try it for myself. It is now hanging from nails that poke two even newer holes in Lauren's wall, Keith. The nice thing about having girls with the same first initial is that I don't have to do this again. We plan on moving the girls into one room soon and viola - it is now for both of them!



Finally, I had this brilliant idea that I was going to make neckties for little boys. Where does a mom of two daughters who grew up never having a brother get the idea to make ties you ask? Well, for that you can thank my cousin Rachel. She probably has no clue that she is the inspiration behind these because I am the worst person on Earth right now. I haven't answered her email that she sent me because I meant to call but it seems like everything but the devil himself has kept me from calling. Every single time I pick up the phone someone gets injured, an unforeseen tantrum swirls in, the cat gets out, etc. You get the point. I am going to call!!!! For REAL!!!!
Back to the ties...
Way back in July when we were celebrating Uncle Ed's birthday, she mentioned that it was really hard to find ties for the boys during the summer. Brainstorm. I will make some but they will not be boring black or navy. No, my ties shall have character! And here they are....

The pictures are not the clearest because I didn't realize as I was quickly trying to take these photos but I was focused on the chair in the background instead of the ties. Oops!

Left to right: firefighters, robots, sports, football helmets


Left to right: fishing (this now has a fisherman on the front because the pattern was really spaced out that it looked to plain), pirates (argh), monkey business and the firefighter tie, again


The ties together.


The football helmet tie with the number 56 on it. I actually made this for my neighbor Ethan. He plays on a flag football team and his number is 88 - no, 56! He loves it. I am making his older brother a black tie with little skulls on it.



So, Rachel, when I do call and I will, be ready to tell me what kind of ties your boys would like because they are getting them as a thank you for the inspiration. They are fun and easy to make.

Keith and the kids are home. Gotta go do some hugging!!!

Mama's Got a New Ride

Okay, I know it has been awhile, again, but I have been busy with the girls and sewing. I have been cutting out patterns and trying to sew when I get a chance. Also, I got a new car. Isuzu is cutting their employee lease program next month so we had to decide whether to buy Keith's 5 passenger Ascender (same thing as a Trailblazer) or start looking elsewhere. We wanted something that had room for more passengers because the girls' car seats take up the entire backseat. So, we bought a 7 passenger Ascender that was turned in on the employee lease program and the girls and I are very happy with it. (Keith is now driving my Impala which is giving him much better mpg on his hour long commute each day.) I love that both girls can see out the windows. They laugh and play or just sit quietly looking out their side of the car (I love that) while I am busy enjoying my moon roof! Plus, we now have a third row to stick Grammy in! This is not a picture of my Ascender but of one a lot like it I found online. Cute, right?



Yesterday, the girls and I started our own little band in the kitchen. Lauren was playing the drums, Lilly was on the Leap Frog piano and I was shaking the popcorn jar. We took turns with the microphone. We were acting so silly but it was great! After awhile, Lilly had a chance to play some drums, too.




Lauren likes anything that lets her be loud! BANG! BANG! BANG!


Lilly is trying to be like her big sister. Lauren almost always has a hat, a bow or a crown on her head and Lilly tries to do the same thing. She was trying to put this bow on her head so I gave her a hand. It is just barely grasping some fine strands but she was so tickled to be sporting a bow that I think she is going to will her hair to grow quickly!


Doesn't she look like a little school girl? This is another great outfit from cousin Flynn. Lauren did have on her white knee high socks and brown mary janes but I didn't catch her in them.



I love this headband! We bought it at JoAnn's. All of their Halloween items were 60% the day we were there and we ended up getting this for under a dollar. Lauren got little kitty ears that flash red lights. They are nowhere near as cute as this but she wanted those. Lilly, on the other hand, loved her headband and got upset if I took it off or if it fell off. She would turn her head back and forth really fast trying to see the braids! Everyone at the store thought she was so cute and couldn't believe she actually wanted them on her head. Giddee up!!!


I just love this photo. The neighbors were harvesting the soy beans from the field behind the house and Lauren was fascinated with the tractors. She would have walked off into the field if I'd let her! You can imagine how over the moon she was the day before when they had a tractor parked all day right beside that very spot she is standing in. I thought she would be afraid - they get so loud. This is the same girl who is terrified of the vacuum!!!


I need to go to bed. It is now 12:30 a.m. and I have squeezed all I am going to get out of this day (and the next). Unfortunately, I am listening to Lilly's monitor and I hear her squealing and playing in her crib. I will try to go to bed.

No, Mommy.

And we have finally entered the "no" phase of toddlerhood. It comes after requests to pick things up, go to bed or just plain out of the blue. It is almost funny how Keith thought it was so cute the first time he heard Lauren say, "no mommy," after I had been hearing it all day. So funny. She also has the terrible thing about not napping at all this past week. Not sure exactly what she is doing in there but it isn't sleeping. Sometimes it sounds like a load-bearing wall is about to come crashing down but no sounds of sweet lullabies from slumberland have been drifting out the "Queen's" room. I say queen because Lauren now has a pink foam crown that she wore all the way through Walmart insisting she was a queen and I really admired her confidence as she glided through the store looking 80% adorable and 20% ridiculous so I bought her the $1 crown. She is now a queen and lets you know. She is saying so many more things everyday that crack us up and amaze us. For example, we have a Ladybug that lights up and projects the moon and constellations onto her ceiling at night. We always look for the crescent moon and then look to see what the stars are on (the fan, the curtains, on mama, in the closet, etc.). She just surprised me so much by her ability to connect concepts when she grabbed her ear, gave it a little tug and then pointed to the crescent moon and said ear. Wow! It does look like an ear. Great eye, Lauren.

Lilly is saying more and more every single day, too. She has started to sing along with Lauren to her favorite song, the theme song to Choo Choo Soul. When they both start singing it is crazy/sweet!
Lil is almost walking. She took about six steps tonight. So, I guess she is walking but she is really wobbly. I think she was at a huge disadvantage having an older sister who is still so young because Lauren will often push her down when she tries to start walking but after months of getting pushed down, I think Lilly has had enough.
Lilly is still trying to eat sand out of the sandbox but now she has a new trick - bathing like an elephant. She fills a little cup or shovel with sand and dumps it over her head just like an elephant.

Keith is still working really hard. He is hardly ever home. He always has something going on when the weekend rolls around and during the week, he doesn't get home until a little bit before the girls go to bed. Tonight, he was lucky I didn't have the girls in bed yet because he didn't get home until 8 p.m. It really sucks!

I am keeping busy with the girls, the house and sewing. I have been doing a lot of sewing lately and will hopefully have some pictures of some of my latest projects soon. It can be slow going because I am learning to sew as I go. It was scary at first but now it is getting so much easier. I have already made another dress for the girls, a hat, a couple of ties, a pee pee tee pee (for use during little boys' diaper changes) and a stuffed guinea pig. Fun.

For now, here are some pictures that you really want to see.

The girls coloring on a chalkboard mat I made them. Look how cute they are when they share!

Lilly wearing my favorite fall outfit of Lauren's from last year.

Lauren one year ago wearing the same outfit. My, my, my....

A very happy Lilly.

As usual, Lauren has all the accessories she needs. Whenever we go out, she has her hat and/or hair bow, sunglasses and a purse. I think she gets that from her Great Grammy Goodman and Great Grandma Frank who both always seemed to be properly accessorized, too.