She's 7

My, how time flies. So many things have happened in 7 years. I have gone from having no kids at all to having 2. I have gone from working full time, to being a stay at home mom, to being a working mom. I have made scrapbooks, crocheted scarves & hats, sewed purses and quilts and everything in between. I have gone from a dancer of over 25 years to not dancing at all. Size 2 to size (you didn't think I'd actually say, did you?).

And all along, the things that keep me going are my awesome family. My babies, who aren't such babies anymore, my wonderful husband who puts up with all my quirks, my mom, dad, brother and sister who have always been there unconditionally, and my extended family and friends who have always shown me much love & support.

So there you have it. 7 years in a nutshell, with one of the biggest nuts turning 7 today. She's crazy. She's funny. She's emotional. She's talented. She's smart. She's beautiful. And she's all mine. Ok, I do have to share her with a few other people, but all that hard work was my doing ;)

I love her - my beautiful baby girl.

Feels Like Winter

'Swinter! Ok, not quite yet. There's still 2 weeks before it's official. But the first official snow of the season is falling right now! Yay!

And here's a pic of the placemats & napkins I made for Jeanne. The fabric is a gorgeous cotton batik with snowflakes. It's wintery, but not Christmasy, so they can be used throughout the season. I also finished one blanket (with much swearing) and started the second. Not sure I like the satin binding so much. I'll get through these blankets and forget about doing satin binding on fleece for a while.

What's next? I need to make more stars for next weekend then I'm not sure after that. Funny thing is, I don't really care what I'm sewing as long as I'm sewing. I just love it!

Piiiiiittt Stop!

Is he handsome or what?

#2 Is Two-Wheelin'

Well, we finally convinced Jake that he no longer needed training wheels on his bike. Last Monday I noticed that he rarely had either training wheel on the ground, thanks to the fact that they had bent upwards. I couldn't believe it when he actually agreed to let me take them off!

He got right on that bike and started riding it across the lawn. In no time he was taking off all by himself. Now we can't get him to stop riding. I guess 2008 is now officially the year of NO training wheels!

April Showers Brought.....

May Azaleas!

And green leaves on the trees! This is my most favorite time of the year. I love the look of fresh, new nature in all its glory. The trees are green. The flowers are blooming. The world seems colorful again. We've been very lucky to have already had a few days in the 70s & several in the 60s. We spend so much time outside now that it's really hard to keep the kids in when it's chilly and/or raining. Although the rainy days are good for sewing!

We have even had several visitors this week in the form of hummingbirds, an osprey, a groundhog, many fat bumblebees, and our usual array of chickadees, cardinals & bluejays. Whoever thought moving to the middle of the city would also find us in the middle of so much nature?

She's Two-Wheelin'!

After 2 years on training wheels, we took them off Emma's bike this past Sunday and she started riding instantly. It took a couple days for her to perfect the art of taking off, but she's got it now and there's no stopping her! Jake will probably be without his training wheels in a few months, if we can just get him off the tricycle and on his bike more often. (Yes, that's gum across his face in this picture!)

It has been such a gorgeous week here that we've been outside every day, nearly all day long. We've had barbecues with the neighbors and the kids have been to the playground twice. But alas, all good things must come to an end. It's cooling off as I write this & we're expecting rain showers by Monday. Hopefully the sun will last through the weekend so the azaleas will bloom. Spring has definitely arrived & summer is just around the corner. Now if I can just figure out how to make myself some new shorts.....

Poor Jakey...

He's just not feeling himself today. I think he may have a touch of what I had last weekend. Yuck! Poor little man. It's not often that he heads for his own bed at 12:30 in the afternoon & falls asleep. He's so cute when he's sleeping though. And he needs it.

Of course, little Miss Model had to have her picture taken too.

Oh, and behind Jake's head you may be able to see the quick little pillow case I whipped up this morning. He has a flannel travel-size pillow that's just plaid. So I finally got to use some "Lightning McQueen" fabric I've had for a while. So cute!

Additional Pics of Kids & Bags

This post is in addition to the one that I just wrote about the kids' Leapster bags. Of course they had to "model" with their bags when I was done, so here they are - my little muscle man & modeling princess. Boy, are we in trouble when they're teenagers!

What? No Easter Pictures?

I can't believe it. I did not take a single picture for Easter this year. What's wrong with me? The Easter Bunny came & left roller skates, a Matchbox showroom, Betty Spaghetty, new clothes, and, yes, even some candy. But did I take a picture? No. Why? I have absolutely no idea. That is so not like me. The camera sat right here by the computer while we enjoyed Easter, but we have no documentation of that joy. Hmmmm. What to do? I guess I have no pictures to scrapbook of Easter 2008 (not that I'm even caught up with Easters 2006 & 2007). So I just took 2 pictures of Emma & Jake in their oh-so-natural, loving-eachother poses (yeah, right). And this is what happens when I tell Jake to not be so "cheesy" & just smile (he loses his upper lip for some reason). So they may not be Easter pictures, but they're 2-days-after-Easter pictures, and I guess that's good enough for 2008.

Warm Days....More Snow.

We had a couple warmer days this weekend (40 degrees!). On Sunday the kids & I spent a while playing outside. We made snow angels, played frisbee, played baseball with snowballs (Emma can hit!), and sledded down the big snowbank at the far end of the parking lot. We even saw 2 bald eagles fly over our house on their way to the river. Too cool! Then the kids got wet in the puddle so we had to come in & dry off.

Yesterday I made a star for my mom using the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding line. I almost didn't want to give it away, but I'll just have to enjoy it at her house, I guess.It was so nice out in the afternoon, too, that we were able to eat lunch out on my parents' back deck while the kids played in the snow. They wore snowpants & mittens, but half the time they didn't have on their coats & hats. And here we are expecting more snow today, switching to rain/sleet. Yuck! I can't wait for mud season, I mean Spring!

Oh, and I'm adding the link to my gallery at 2 Peas in a Bucket so anyone can check out my scrapbook pages whenever they want. Thanks so much for reading!

Finally, The Princess Pics!

Oops! I guess I forgot to post the pictures of Emma from last Sunday's trip to see the Disney Princesses on Ice. We had a great time, despite my ear infection & the yucky weather. We had brunch at the buffet with Gramma & Michelle, then we did a little shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop, then we headed to the Civic Center to find parking & see the show. It lasted for 2 hours, so I think she got a little sleepy by the end, but she seemed to really enjoy seeing all of her favorite princesses. And you know, the nosebleed seats aren't all that bad. You can really see everything from up there! (Oh, and Emma even got a souvenir Mickey crown for Jake. What a nice sister!)

New Kid Pics (for the NJ family)

I just thought I'd post a couple pics I took of the kids yesterday. I know that Mom Mom checks my blog so I wanted her to have some new pictures to look at!

Tomorrow is the long-awaited Disney Princess Ice Show! Emma's been counting down & it's finally 1 day away. Our only issue may be getting there. We are expecting another 4-8 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow. As long as the show isn't cancelled we'll still be there. Jake & Daddy may have to change their plans though.....

Also, for those of you who are into reading, I am very involved in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, and I highly recommend them. I read the first book (out of 13 so far) around Xmas. I read books 2-6 this past week and now I need to get book 7 from the library. Erin has most of them for me to borrow, but she's missing a few. They are so addictive!

Be sure to check back with me soon as I plan on getting a few pictures tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

New Pictures & A Hair Cut

So I chopped off my hair last night (actually Erin did it for me). You can kind of see how long it was in my hat picture. Here's what I look like at this exact moment in time, post haircut. I think I lost about 6-8 inches total.

I also added a picture of my craft space in my bedroom. Bobby's happy that I finally moved all my sewing stuff out of the kitchen/dining room. Unfortunately it meant that I had to add to my space in our bedroom. I actually like having everything accessible. I was able to machine stitch on a scrapbook layout for the first time on Saturday. I work on 1/2 of a 6 ft table, and I have those cubes from Target for storage on top of the table. My stamps are in a drawer under the table, as well as all my cardstock, and my fabric is in the plastic bins. It works for me for now. Someday I'll have a whole craft room all to myself! :) (As long as Bobby has his own "man room" though.)

And I also have front & back views of the most recent purse I made for Diane. I just bought more fabric today to make a purse for my friend, Pam's, sorority silent auction. As soon as it's done it's off to Colorado. That will be my 3rd purse that's gone out of state! (of course the other 2 are also in CO, but I have more friends & family around the country... ;)

Birthday Weekend is Over....

So Emma's weekend of birthday activities went out with a bang. I decided, kind of last minute, to have a party for her today since it's a holiday & everyone was around (except Bobby, which was probably a good thing). So I invited a few friends, 13 to be exact. Yes, I'm crazy! There were 15 kids & 8 adults in our apartment. Luckily our neighbors were here so the noise level wasn't an issue. lol! It actually went really well! I was so impressed with all the kids, even my own. The ages ranged from 1 to 9 and they all played together. 5 of the girls are actually Emma's 5 year old friends and they brought a few younger siblings, three 8 year old big brothers (that worked out well!) and one big almost 10 year old sister. Emma had a blast & that's all that matters. Now she has another playdate on Thursday & 2 birthday parties on Saturday. What a little social butterfly!

Pierced Ears!!!

Here's Emma's after-shot yesterday when we got home from getting her ears pierced. She, of course, wanted the huge pink "diamonds" but they were too big even for me to wear. So we settled on the small pink diamonds and she looks so adorable! She's really growing up too fast!

Kid Pics, Finally!

Here are some pics of the Jake & Emma (and my sister, Michelle). Sorry I have to make the files smaller in order to post them (dial-up), so they end up a little blurry. But I'm sure you get the idea!