SPRINGTIME

sunshine • buds on trees • warm breezes • sandbox • sweet william peeking out of the soil . . . Spring is upon us! 

Canon 5D│50mm f/1.4 @ 1.8 

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 10 - { Something I Made }

:: Today's Photo Challenge :: { Something I Made } I originally made these arm warmers for myself.
But after shrinking them in the wash (doh!) I sadly handed them over to My Girl, and she happily received them.
(I'll make myself a pair one day.)
I followed instructions from an amazing fellow knitter/blogger.
(Her blog is nearly a daily visit...check it out HERE)
If you are on Ravelry you can find my knitting notes HERE
:: Today's Gratitudes :: just enough to get by, facial tissues...soft, soft tissues, My Love grocery shopping with the kids so I can rest, playing cars with Baby Boy, books resting in random spots - waiting for My Girl to pick them back up and read again

Creative Projects // №. 2 ~ Halloween Costumes

My Girl decided to be an Owl for Halloween this year.
I was tasked to either find an affordable pre-made costume, or make it...
After coming up empty in our search for a pre-made costume, I dusted off my sewing machine, rummaged through my scrap materials and yarn and took on the challenge of making it.
My Girl and I browsed knitting patterns for a mask that might resemble an owl and came upon this pattern: Zsa Mask
I cast on and knit away.... I finished it off with felt additions and tassels on the ears.
We knew immediately (after seeing it on Pinterest) that we would use this tutorial for the wings.
The only modifications I made were to cut each set of four feathers. I didn't have enough material to double them up.
The wings were made entirely out of materials we already had, either from previous projects or projects that never came to fruition.
We had lots of ideas for Baby Boy's costumes.
In the end I stayed up a little late one night and knit up a quick little Bear Hat.
45 minutes from start to finish! Thank goodness for big needles and yarn!
If you're on Ravelry you can find my notes HERE and HERE 

30 Day Photo Challenge - Day 5 - { Someone I Love }

:: Today's Photo Challenge :: { Someone I Love } 
How do you choose one person you love? I love many, many people in the wide world, but I decided it was only fitting to share an image of My Girl...
Because today we took the first part of the day just for us.
I took her to IHOP for brunch... her favorite.
We wandered the bookstore and shopped a little. It was just her and I.
It used to always be just her and I.
Before Baby Boy.
She loves her little brother, but cherishes the times I focus on just her.
Even if it's just lingering in her bed after saying goodnight, and snuggling just a little longer.
She will be grown before I know it, so I treasure the days we can take a little time just for us.
Love her so much...
:: Today's Gratitudes :: Artful Blogging magazine, spoiling My Girl, new clothes for Baby Boy, and a hubby who stays home on a Saturday with our Baby Boy so I can take My Girl out.

// Flashback Friday // Peppermint Patties

Me: 1981 My Girl: 2004

My Girl and I both shared a love for York Peppermint Patties when we were toddlers. When My Girl was little, I used to always have a bag in the house, and so did Grahamcracker. I think I might just have to pick some up soon! :)

Mother's Day 2011

I was awakened from a deep sleep by My Girl... She smiled brightly, and declared that breakfast was ready! In fact it was "right here!"
She proudly presented a tray with heart-shaped pancakes, butter, syrup and a copy of the "Mom's Gazette."
She had made the pancakes all by herself with only minimal help from Daddy when the batter was not exactly pour-able. ;)
What a wonderful way to wake up.
Something I've been waiting 10 years for! :)

I enjoyed sipping my coffee on the patio in my hammock chair, with my loves in view. I also received a very lovely Lisa Leonard Designs necklace from my wonderful hubby! I've been wanting one of her pieces for a long time!

// Flashback Friday // Beautiful Girl

Choir performance for International Day Of Peace - 2010

Guest Blogger - Edition 3 - The Backyard Beach

Reviving an old category on the blog and getting back to "Guest Blogger" posts. (Not sure how frequent they will be, but My Girl has lots of things to blog about! ;) 

Daddy recently built a sandbox in the back yard. It has created much fun and time spent outside.
Yesterday My Girl set up a backyard beach and had a grand time with her animals. She wanted to post about it on the blog! :)
(P.S. We're huge Phineas & Ferb fans... ;)

The gang's all here!

 "Snowball" chillin' in the ocean...

"Spot" on lifeguard duty...

Tropical treat...

"Shell-don" the waiter... :)

mini date with My Girl

My Girl has grown and matured so much in the last year.
She is blooming, entering those years where I will have to let loose the apron strings a bit and watch her blossom into the girl she dreams of being.
Knowing deep down that she is amazing, and will be alright.
But nevertheless, I get weepy thinking of her growing up...
We have rough days where I expect too much of her...
Days when this sleep-deprived Mama depends on her too much...
She is wounded more easily when I show the slightest disappointment in something she may have done (or not done.)
We also have good days... Days when we really connect. Usually over something we do together such as color a huge poster after BB has gone to bed, look at birthday party themes in magazines, have picnics in the backyard, make cookies together...
I am making a focused effort to devote a little time just for her and I, each week.
This weekend was the first of what I hope to be many Mama-Daughter dates.
We only had a little bit of time. She tagged along with me to the grocery store to pick up a couple items, and then we headed to Starbucks for a treat.
Her drink: Tall Soy Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino
My Drink: Double Tall 1-Pump Vanilla Soy No Foam Caramel Macchiato
(I sound like Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail ;)
We even ordered the cute mini donuts and both marveled at how much they tasted like packaged donuts. ha! (won't be getting those again!)
It was nice to sit with my girl and drink in her energy...her beauty...her smile. :)

//Flashback Friday// - 2006 My Girl wrote a song about me! *swoon*

 ---photo from 2007 look at that little 6 year old?! time sure does fly!

When My Girl was about 5 or 6 years old, she had a cool little cassette tape player/recorder, a gift from Nana,  that she toted everywhere.
I gave her a blank cassette tape and she went to town recording all sorts of things. One day she presented me with a little surprise...

I Love You Mom Forever and Ever
(click the above song title to hear it for yourself!)

“Hello this is me **yne**.(disguised her name on purpose)
I want to sing a song.
It’s really pretty.
It’s about my Mom.
So you probably want to hear about my Mom…Well here it goes!

‘Thank you for coming today!
Presenting:
I Love You Mom Forever & Ever.
Mom there’s a thing that I have to tell you,
It’s a song that I always love.
That I sing when I’m ever mad.
It makes me happy every time.
It’s really cute.
I love you Mom forever and ever, always when I’m mad, I still love you, mmhhhmmmm…
Every time I’m blue or mad or sad I still love you, you are my favorite Mom in the world.
I love you, I love you. I love you forever and ever.
Things are beautiful, things are sweet, things are beautiful, I love you.
Very, very much, I love you. Looooove you!
Every time it’s raining outside I am bluuuue.
But every time I’m blue you cheer me up, you cheer me up always.
‘Cause you are the best Mom I ever had!
The End’”

--Isn't that the sweetest?!
Today the tape recorder is used mostly by Baby Boy. The tape player part is broken, but that doesn't deter him from singing in the microphone...sissy joins in now and again! ;)

errand day

Despite the arctic cold front that has moved into our area, we had to run a few errands today.
We all bundled up and I jumped at the chance to wear as many of my knitted goodies as I could!
My Girl wore a hat I knit for her, and BB was wearing his gnomey hat I knit that is a bit small but fits just enough to keep the right areas warm! tee! hee!
My Girl and I snapped the photos in the first image with my iPhone as BB slept in the parking lot of the thrift store.
Unfortunately we had to be out and about around his nap time, so he took a short one in his carseat as My Girl and I played with my camera.
The bottom image shows our thrifting treasures. A beautiful robin's egg blue Pyrex bowl, and a framed embroidery. I have determined that if I ever find these robin's egg blue Pyrex bowls at thrift stores and yard sales I WILL buy them, as long as I don't already have them. ;) I have my Mother-In-Law's pea green set that I love, but there is just something about this robin's egg blue...ahhh...
I plan to paint the frame of the embroidery piece, and hope to share the results after it's had it's "facelift." :)

p.s. I processed the images in the 1st photo using the PS Express and instagr.am apps for the iPhone and then made the collage with the Diptic app. The yellow stripy photo was snapped of the lining of my "purse" and the blue-ish image is of my new Pyrex bowl. ;)

We've all been feeling a bit yucky due to allergies lately, but this morning My *sweet* Girl, upon knowing BB and I had a rough night of sleep, took care of her brother so I could stay in bed an extra 10 mins. This is the scene I walked in on when I finally emerged from my room!
I love her so!

//Flashback Friday// - Autumn 2006

It was a delightful autumn day in 2006.
One that will remain forever in my mind thanks to these images.
I straightened her angelic curly hair, just to see what it would look like.
Normally not one for much fuss, she enjoyed all the pampering.
I asked if I could take pictures of her and she obliged.
She was only 5.
You can still see the toddler chub lingering on her plump cheeks.
I want to go back in time and kiss them a bit more.
I will satisfy that urge by clutching her a little tighter today, and kissing her 9 year old cheeks while I still have the chance.

braces!!!

My Girl got braces put on today! Wow! I was about her age when I got my braces on for the first time too!
Somehow she seems even more grown up now! boo! hoo!
I keep telling her over and over how beautiful and cute she looks with them on!
She got "jewelry for her teeth!"
You can't really tell in these pictures but the hardware has improved greatly since her Dad and I had braces! They no longer use bands on the back molars and the brackets are made so they have a little door to hold the wire in place instead of rubber bands. Her brackets have little speckles of color in them too! So cool!
She'll have them on for about a year for the 1st phase, and then have them on again once all her permanent teeth come in.
Isn't she the cutest?!

//Flashback Friday// - circa Fall 2008

She was only 7...
still had all her baby teeth...
and looked so beautiful dancing in the light.

~My Girl~

My Girl Was Here

My Girl is always up to something creative these days. Her imagination is boundless. She loves anything craft-y! Give her paper, glue, markers, clay, paper plates, straws etc...and she'll produce something magnificent! It also helps when Mommy picks up cool magazines like this:All those pink tabs are hers. She has marked many of these projects. What's really neat about most of these ideas is that most of them can be made with household items you may already have. I'm not sure if it is still in print. I bought it a few weeks ago...maybe months, I can't remember. If you have any little "crafters" in your brood, My Girl and I highly suggest this magazine!This was one of the projects featured in the magazine. She played with it in the tub the next day and it got a little soggy... :o) Here she is giving all her Webkinz a ride in the "boat." (Another collection of hers...she currently has 8...spoiled? Maybe just a little bit. But in my defense she has been gifted a few of them and bought the rest with her own chore money.) We've lost count with the Littlest Pets. She now has a caddy that she got as a birthday gift that she can carry up to 150 Littlest Pets in...it's half full!Here's a little diptych of her playing outside on one of the warmer days we've had recently. Her Littlest Pet VIP sat on the porch and enjoyed the fresh air. :o)

I was browsing my April 2008 picture folder today and saw that I have only 65 images saved. (That is personal photos, I did take many more than that, but they were of AWANA events.) That's pretty low for me. Compare that to my March 2008 folder with 207 images. Granted there were two birthdays and our annual trip to the ice park in that batch. Slow month picture-wise. But April went by so fast in other aspects. School is just about done for the summer! Yipee! My Girl and I have been cramming two lessons into each day to finish in time. We started school six weeks after the local schools started. We are now only one week behind them! I am so ready for summer! We have about 5 inches of fresh snow blanketing our back lawn right now. I opened the blinds this morning and moaned...ugh! The streets are still pretty clear as it's too warm to stick...Enough already! I went back and took a look at some photos from last summer...To generate a little hope...Here's two of my favorites...

And this beautiful weather is only 12 weeks away...whaaa!!!

I've got photos!

Not much going on here. But I do have new photos! I got my new (new-to-me) 50mm lens on Saturday and had to try it out yesterday! Our pear tree in the backyard it losing it's leaves, so My Girl and I raked them up into a pile and had some fun. I took quite a few pictures, and so did My Girl, but I will spare you all and include only my favorites.

David had a long weekend. We spent Friday around here. David worked on his car. He has changed the color scheme to red and black. Painted his dash, and put up the red crushed velvet on the ceiling. Looks NICE! I haven't been able to get photos of the "after" yet...soon.

Saturday I cleaned the entire house. David helped with some dusting and vacuuming. He also hung some shelves in My Girl's room for her Beanie Baby Bear and Barbie collection. I still have to paint them, but they are up!

Sunday we made it to church. And I got to play around with my new lens!

Hope you all had an excellent weekend!

P.S. Click photos to see them larger.
P.P.S. Yes, My Girl has a thing for photographing feet... cooky girl...