Thursday, May 24, 2007

8 random things

Tag, I'm it! I have no idea what to put on these things, thanks Kim! ;)

1. My husband and I eloped in Reno and had a wedding 3 months later. Most people did not know we were already married. (I was not pregnant, by the way)

2. I was on the high school gymnastics team in the 9th grade.

3. I used to have a nose ring.

4. I was an AmeriCorps volunteer for one year.

5. If I were trapped on a desert island and could only have one food for the rest of my life, it would be macaroni and cheese.

6. I am such a white girl, but I love Kanye West, Jay-z, Common, Mos Def and other hip hop artists with a conscience.

7. I despise doing the laundry.

8. I can be a perfectionist about anything I produce: work, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting etc.

There you have it, 8 random things about me that you might not have known. Is your life richer for that?? I hope so.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Happy Belated Mother's Day! I love Mother's Day, the one day that I don't have to feel guilty about thinking about me first.

The Happy Happy was sleeping in, breakfast in bed and cards and gifts (necklace, DVD, things Lily made at school) from my beautiful girls and hubby.

The Joy Joy was the satisfaction of working in the yard with my family. We purused a few garden centers and finally ended up with some annuals for the front and a flowering cherry to add to the back. I am not in love with yard work or the landscape planning, but I do love the feeling when you plant something and watch it grow. Can't wait to see the new tree in bloom next spring.















To cap off a perfect Mother's Day we made snowcones and enjoyed them on the patio while admiring our new tree.


This is the life!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Surprise!

So, I had been planning a surprise party for my mom's 60th birthday with her boyfriend, Mark, for months and it was not easy keeping it a surprise, but I think we actually may have pulled it off. She really seemed shocked!


The best part for me was learning how much she means to everyone. Every single person we invited said they would definitely be there without hesitation. My sisters came in from the West coast, her siblings came from Maryland with their families and all her friends were there.



















The weekend was capped off with a trip to the zoo the next day with my husband and girls, my sisters and my mom's brother, Mike, and his family.

Does it look like they are having a good time?

Here are a few more pics from the shindig.




My mom said it was her best birthday ever! Ahhh!





Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Dilemma

I have a confession: my house is a mess and I really don't want to clean it. I could do it, but I'd rather go to a knitting group, take my kids to the park, read a good book or have a nap than scrub toilets or mop floors. Am I wrong?

The dilemma: I am thinking of hiring a cleaning service, but it seems so extravagant. We are not rich, far from it, in fact, we have 2 kids in day care in Ann Arbor, a mortgage and I only work part time, but I feel it would be worth a bit of sacrifice to have more time for other things. SO why this guilt? Am I taking something away from my kids? Actually, no I will be giving them more of my time, which is more precious than anything money can buy. I guess I was raised with the mentality of "why pay for something you can do your self?"

Thoughts, anyone? Anyone in the Ann Arbor area have a good cleaning service recommendation?

Update: In the end, we decided we're going to clean the house ourselves, boo hoo. I think we just prefer to spend the money on other things and live in a dirtier house, so be sure not to come over unannounced!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Knitting? Who has time for knitting?

Well, actually I have lately. I have begun my first garment, a sweater dress for Chloe. Previously, I have only made a few scarves and hats, but I am not one to waste time practicing, I go straight for the hard stuff. So what if I create a garment that is lopsided or have to frog the whole thing?

The yarn came first, Berroco lullaby in the Down Dilly colorway (which is just Berroco suede in kid's colors), then came the pattern, Meg. When we were in Maryland for my grandma's birthday, my mom and I braved the freezing rain to check out a yarn shop in Cumberland, Millicent's yarns and more and they had an adorable jester's hat knitted out of the Lullaby and I had to have it. So, my wonderful mom bought me 5 skeins as an early birthday gift (thanks mom!)

I have only made it to the armhole shaping on the back, but I will try and get some pictures soon. The lullaby is making the most lovely looking and feeling fabric.

I, of course, have many more ambitious ideas in mind and have already bought the yarn for them, such as this Coppelia pattern for Lily, but I think I'd better stick to one at a time, for now.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Is it Christmas or Easter?

Those of you here in the midwest know what I mean. Snow on Easter in April? Lily had to wear a winter coat, hat and gloves to do an egg hunt with her neighbor, what is up with that?

We had a great time, though. My mom and Mark arrived on Saturday and we colored eggs and grilled burgers in the snow.


Lily was SO excited for the Easter Bunny to come that she got up at 6:45am on Sunday to find her basket and eggs. If any of you are familiar with my children, or any of my family, you know we like our sleep, so this was quite unusual. The Easter Bunny didn't let her down, of course, and brought all kinds of goodies - stuffed animals, stickers, Charlotte's Web DVD, and, of course, candy. Chloe could have cared less about her basket, but she did try to eat some jelly beans with her 4 teeth (choking hazard!). I had to put goldfish crackers in a few eggs for her.



We ate a big dinner at noon, which set us all up for a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. Ahhhh! I love the holidays, but they are tiring and there is nothing better than a nap on a Sunday afternoon (see what I mean about the sleep thing?)




Hope everyone else had a Happy Easter.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

New additions

I don't have too much to write, nor do I have much time, so this post will be photo heavy. Enjoy!

First, the latest and greatest addition to our home is this fancy princess bed for our Princess Lily, thanks to the wonderful Ikea (curtains by moi). I want one of these!


Pretending to sleep, pretty convincing, eh?












The other addition to our home is the Crayola artwork by our sweet baby Chloe:
















Now our walls have been covered in a super-washable (we have already tested this out) lovely shade of green, but I am sure they won't stay pristine for long!




Other new additions are Chloe's top teeth, FINALLY!


Finally, I would like to leave you with a picture of young love: Chloe and Owen (possible future son-in-law). His big sister is Lily's best friend. This week, Ginny's (our daycare provider) husband is having open heart surgery so we are trading babysitting the kids. Get well soon, John!

Friday, March 9, 2007

Family Update

Kind of like the Christmas newsletter, but I can update regularly.

Most recently we got a visit from Lindsay and Turk with our new niece, Payten. What a sweetie! It was extremely cold and windy (read: Michigan in February) so we were in a lot, but it was really nice visiting with them.
"Chloe be gentle!" As if a 16 month old has any concept of that! I will say she did OK, but she did try to climb on top of Payten and poke her in the eyes more than once.

Lily also built a snowman the same weekend.
Coming up next weekend we will travel to Western Maryland for my grandmother's 85th birthday celebration. 7 hours in the car with a cranky toddler - can't wait for that.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Trying this thing out

Well, it seems everyone has a blog or myspace page and since I am too old and too married for myspace, so here I am. I am trying to "have it all" (whatever that means) as the title says, but many days I don't feel like I am too successful at it. This page is a place for rantings, sharing stories and photos and, hopefully, sharing ideas with those with similar interests, of which I have many (to include knitting, reading, scrapbooking, stamping, sewing, cooking).