thank you, nfl

that's right. i am thankful the nfl referee lockout is over...not nearly as glad as my mother-in-law is, but glad none-the-less. it has provided the perfect opportunity for eric to catch up with a friend while watching a real football game. which has provided me the opportunity to hang out in the craft room all night.

prior to that, though, it's relevant to report that kaleb went to bed at 6.45pm. just couldn't handle himself tonight. and he took a 3-hour nap this afternoon. is there such thing as a nap TOO LONG? i only hope this isn't the sign of a worsening ear infection...or one in the other ear. and after he went down, ellie wanted to write words on the paper in her folder, and this had to be done (she told me) in the playroom.

"can i sit in there and read?" i asked

"no, that's ok. i'm just going to teach my class while i write words."

oh, ok. i'll just sit like a loser by myself on the couch and waste infinitely valuable time searching pinterest for random crap.

don't pity me too long...she came back about 20 minutes later to curl up on the couch with me and watch fun food videos on the ABC Foods app (a GREAT one btw, for all you moms) on the ipad. she fell asleep mid-video while learning about whipping cream - and they're only about 3-minute videos! so i got to enjoy her a little more in my arms and then carry her upstairs to bed - so i worked out today, too!

i finally stopped by yesterday to get the needed fabric to finish the next border on our bed quilt, only to find that i still need a 3X3 scrap piece...dang dangit (ellie's newest phrase). so i did as much as i could and will stop yet again tomorrow to buy just a smidgen more to really finish this border. which means i can then sew on the final border and get to finishing the quilt!

i also broke out the easy dresden tool i bought months ago, and am thinking some kind of modern dresden plate quilt (normally a very traditional quilt square/pattern) might be in the making. and this is all from scraps!

and what kind of crafty evening would it be without christina aguilera radio playing, thanks to pandora?!? that's right...on right now, womanizer by britney spears. pretty good music to craft to :)

big plans this weekend to hopefully spend a bit more time in here, making more progress on our bed quilt, a gift quilt i'm hard at work on, a couple of patchworky gifts, and more blogging. pics this weekend will include kids...stay tuned!

ellie's room complete

i think ellie's room is finally finished! for now...i'm sure i'll find another pinterest inspiration of sorts to add a touch here or there, but for the most part, it's done. all that i set out to do, i did. so check it out:

i was inspired by london's big girl room but knew i didn't have the wall space or desire to hang all those thousands of things...so just a few would work to provide a similar effect. and i got a bit crafty to do the I <3 U ABCs and the 'you are my sunshine' pics, thanks to photoshop. yup, stolen right from the pages of the internet and brought to my child's room free-of-charge. 

i took advantage of mom being with me this morning, and she provided a great eye for a couple of needed fillers from hobby lobby (all half off. i love that place.) as well as an extra set of hands in case the kids got crazy. but thanks to ritz cheese crackers, no craziness took place. just a lot of messy snacking.

on a more somber note: as we took off for hobby lobby, we got ready to turn from the street leading out of our neighborhood onto the more main road towards the store. we were in the left turn lane, third from the front. the car just in front of us was broad-sided as she turned left by an suv that ran the red light without attempt to break. we witnessed the whole thing. i rushed to the scene about the time another man did, and we confirmed that all parties were ok (some were complaining of a sore neck), all were awake, and there was no blood.

what a blessing none were seriously injured. what a blessing everyone could walk away from the scene. what a fast response from police and ems (they were there within 5 minutes of mom calling to report the accident). what great samaritans of several other witnesses to stop and render aid as needed (none was, but they were willing) and for no one consider blame in the moment. praise God for his goodness in this moment.

weekend update

it's been a crafty one around here...and it's been great! i've made great progress since starting the quilt for our bed just yesterday - only 2 borders left, and the top will be ready to go!

it started like this:

and has progressed quite nicely :)

in other weekend news, hobby lobby had frames and other home decor on sale 50% off, so ellie will have a new wall of collages soon.

eric cleaned up his mountain bike today after taking the kids for a spin. they rode together in the pull-behind trailer. they loved it. everyone made it home safely. 

kaleb didn't want out of the trailer, so ellie pulled him around in his "chariot" while eric washed the bicycle.

great weekend :)

baby legos

we've entered the world of baby legos - that is, small in size, not for the small in size. at the mall last night, we looked for something fun for ellie to spend a bit of her birthday money on. she wanted to peruse the lego store. and they had some cute stuff! although it says for "5+" she's a mature 4-year-old :)

we brought the kit home and put it together - it's a beauty shop! 

complete with swivel-y chair and cash register with a $100 bill in the drawer. complete with 8 itty-bitty lipsticks. complete with 2 girls; ellie named then allison and baby emma. complete with sign and mobile make-up stand and fountain to decorate the outside of the building. it rocks.

we grew up playing with legos...in fact, i can remember slumber parties with friends in middle school in which we'd build all kinds of lego creations. but i've never had a kit to put together. it's so cool! i think this could have been way more fun for me than for ellie.

two girls so proud of the creation we built!

she's played with it all morning this morning. she even wanted to skip breakfast to play (she soon came to her senses and ate quickly, then went upstairs to play). her la-loopsy mini figures have made their way to the beauty shop as well. it's so good to see diversity among toys!

pretty great day

i'm never too excited about my birthday. although my family seems to think i celebrate for weeks on end each year. in fact, i kept it pretty mum this year as to when the actual day was. but the cat got out of the bag. and thus led to my day filled with highlights. not such a bad thing, i suppose.

1. my family sang to me as i came in the kitchen this morning. kaleb head-bobbed to the tune!

2. my husband brought me coffee and coffee cake to work mid-morning. and a card that made noise. thus my coworkers heard the card and found out it was my birthday.

3. they sang happy birthday to me and presented me with a balloon and card.

4. tiff's treats delivered a great afternoon snack just after lunch, courtesy of two great people i work with/for.

5. ellie told her teachers at school it was my birthday, so they helped her craft a card for me to have when i picked up the kids tonight.

6. we got home and were greeted with a variety of packages on my porch including some quilting books from my aunt/uncle and a package of fabric from a fabric swap i participated in - perfect timing for the fabric, i do say!

7. the best package on my porch was hand-delivered by an amazing friend and included a bottle of wine and flavored marshmallows (perhaps 2 of my favorite things) in a bag that read, "boss lady." abby, you crack me up!

8. dinner at home was breakfast - how can you go wrong with breakfast?!?

9. (only downer of the night here...) kaleb was a bit fussy and got to go to bed early tonight (i think teething, maybe? or just plain rottenness?) so ellie was an only child. we played uno moo, and then a real game of uno, and then she and eric worked a puzzle and then i helped her with her shower, and now she's reading from her amazing library while i write this. great time with my girl tonight!

10. i'm about to get to read a book to my child and then tuck her in and go have round 2 (or maybe 3 or 4 or 5) of tiff's treats with my husband.

11. i received text messages and e-mails and facebook messages throughout my day from friends wishing me a great day - it was!

man, that's a lot to be thankful for. i'm so blessed! if this is what it's like to get older, bring it on...i'll take the love anytime!

birthday eve

being my birthday eve today was great - it was labor day! which means it's a stay-at-home day. which means we won't really stay at home, but we don't have to go to work. so fun!

after a yummy kolache breakfast and seeing coach and nonna off to return safely to garland, we got ready for the day and headed north - to ikea! we were there at 10am sharp, when the doors opened, and both kids took a nap in the car on the way (it is about a 45-minute drive).  

my family gave me their present a day early - i could rejoin the family...that is, they gave me a chair that was all mine for the playroom. as of late, i've noticed that eric sits at his desk and computerizes as the kids play in the playroom, and i am relegated to the couch for lack of a better place to hover nearer to them. so we went to pick out my chair.

but the problem, you see, is that when we got to moving things around this morning to see about room for the chair, we discovered (ok, it was me who really discovered these thing) that we needed different storage in the playroom. and then eric insisted on the kid-size chair  to match.

and while we were at it, we should probably look for a table for my sewing machine as well (thanks, sally, for the recommendation!). 

and here's a side view. i love the shelves that are visible from the hallway. better than the standard 2-shelve unit.

and then we stumbled across shelving for a library for ellie (has been on my to-do list for months). and where i thought i'd DIY it on this project, i can't beat a $30 price tag for 2 shelves.

quote of the weekend comes from ellie: "mama, really i just think this library is great. now i don't even have to get up to change books when i need a new one."

and in the process of converting from books in cubbies to these ledges, we did some cleaning out. in the "donate" pile was a green gideon's bible...one of ellie's favorites as a baby (as i recall, it traveled with us everywhere in ellie's backpack because she was always calmed by the gideon's donation). and kaleb picked it up and loved it! preach it, brother!

great birthday eve today...loved every minute!

beach, day 3

i was so motivated to tell you about the first two days in the sun and surf...i'm not sure what happened. oh, yeah...we had so much fun we were exhausted! and it's taken me the rest of the week to catch up :)

so we headed out sunday morning. but not nearly enough for ellie. when you get up at 6am and have just had a great previous day of beach experience, you're ready to put on your suit and head to the waves before the sun comes up - she begged ALL MORNING to get dressed and go surf the waves. and finally, at 8.45am, we headed out. being the first day of school, we had the beach all to ourselves - what a great time of the year to go on vacation!

 kaleb fell asleep on the way (we took the car today), and after we unpacked the back, we laid him in it to finish his nap.

and when he was done, he got right in with the girls to make some sancastles and get dirty.

in the afternoon session on the beach, the waves were GREAT, and we got to play in them lots. ellie was in a silly mood, and flapped her wings like a chicken. i joined in the fun, and apparently i was the only one caught on camera :)

daddy and ellie played in the waves

even ellie got into t he mess of the sand...and she's usually pretty clean! it was so cool to watch it drip from her hands to land on her legs and feet - and then go wash it in the water. again and again!

the kids conversed in the shallow water. just shooting the breeze. 

busy little man.

kaleb was fussy for a bit, so fabo grabbed him and they walked down the beach a bit. and with no one else there, we could use all the beach we want!

daddy and ellie built a great sand castle, complete with mote around it - this was ellie's wish for weeks leading up to the trip. she wanted to "build sandcastles in the sand" - and it came true!