Sew busy...

I'm on a roll - I don't know what it is a out the fall but I just love sewing and creating during this season. I'm working on some Christmas gifts and will be starting in the girls holiday dresses next week. I'm also on a skirt kick too- tomorrow I will finish my 3rd skirt this week!! Pictures to come soon-I promise!!

Sewing Swap

So, awhile back, my friend Gretchen (I used to babysit her and her sisters!)posted on Facebook about participating in a sewing swap. It was sponsored from Ashley Marie over at Little Willow Tree. I thought it sounded like fun and signed up. I just figured it was all women and had all sorts of things I could possibly send on to my swap partner. Life's been a bit crazy and a lot hectic, so I thought I'd get off easy and stick a scarf or wallet I already had finished in the mail and there you have it, first ever Sewing Swap done! Oh, but that is not how things happened - isn't life funny???

After a little mix-up, I got the name of the person I was to sew for. I'm REALLY glad I read the entire email because it was NOT a women I got to sew for - it was a 10 year old boy!! The only boys I have sewn for are my nephews and they are under the age of 5!! After some thinking, I came up with this cute camo wallet - I hope Corbin liked it!!

 

 

A few days after getting my guy's swap item in the mail, I received a great little package of my own! And wouldn't you know it, Gretchen got to sew for me??? Isn't the fabric beautiful? It's a cowl and I love it! I think it will go well with lots of things in my fall wardrobe. Please excuse my lame photos of myself - we had just gotten home from our Annual Girls Get-Away and I realized I still needed to get my Sewing Swap post done!! Thank you Gretchen for the great gift! I love it and think it will get a lot of wear this fall. Plus, I may recreate for some Christmas gifts this year!

 

Beautiful fabric - I love the soft feel!

Looks great with brown!

Ignore my lame half-face picture! Look at the beautiful cowl!!



 

Life as we know it...



Ok, I have no idea where September has gone. It seems like it was just Labor Day and the beginning of the month. To say its been a busy month, is an understatement! I feel like I need a vacation from my life right about know.

Happy First Day of School!

What a big girl!

First day of 3rd Grade!

First Day of First Grade!!
 

School started and I'm finding it a little hard to believe that I have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and that my baby is in pre-school! We have GREAT teachers and all 3 girls are doing wonderfully. Teagan loves having "real" homework and Zoe is a champ at getting her homework done each night. Harper loves school and thinks she is such a big girl. I have to remind myself that it takes about a month for the girls to adjust to school schedules, so we have some crabby, whiny, tired girls by the end of the week. It doesn't help that I've been tired and crabby too!

Henna at the Fair. Don't look at my bad fingernails!



At the Puyallup Fair with friends!

 

This past Saturday, I took the big girls to the Puyallup Fair. Let me tell you, it was CRAZY! It was the last weekend of the fair, so it was really crowded and the kids were, well, kids! We did have fun riding a few rides, eating Krusti Pups and scones. It was a long but GOOD day! Next year, we'll go during the week!! Or not at all!

 



Playing school at our Garage Sale - Zoe was a great teacher!

We had 2 different garage sales, 2 weeks in a row! We got rid of a bunch of stuff and had a lot of fun! The little girls had fun playing school and being cute trying to sell things to people!



Canned Peaches!
 



Fresh baked French Bread!

I had a great day at home on Friday - I watch my little buddies, Reed and Payton those days and also had my niece, so it was a house full of little kids!! I also baked French Bread, zucchini bread, made granola and baked potato soup for dinner.

My buddy, Reed! We hang out on Thursday's and Friday's!

 

This is Reed. He comes and hangs out with me on Thursday's and Friday's and we just love him around here. He is an awesome baby and its a lot of fun having him around. His mom was Zoe and Teagan's kindergarten teacher and we are crossing our fingers NOW that Harper gets to spend a year with Mrs. Nash because she is amazing! I feel so privileged!!

 

Ok, I better get to bed - another busy week ahead and if you're lucky - another blog post!!

Summer fun

Wow - I cannot believe that summer is winding down and school is starting on Wednesday! I had been hoping for a low-key, laid back summer with lots of down time at home - instead it seems as if summer just flew by in a whirlwind!

We spent a week at my grandparents with aunts, uncles, cousins and lots of FUN! Zoe and Teagan went to several VBS programs and spent several days with Grandma June and Grandpa Doug. Duffy and I spent a few days in Bellingham and it was great to remember all our fun times back in college. We've enjoyed time with great friends, camping with family, lots of time with cousins and FUN, FUN, FUN!

The big news is that Jordan, Bethany and Bella moved back to Sequim!!! They have been living with my parents since June and are anxiously waiting to move into their own place. It has been so much fun having the cousins together and getting to spend time with my brother and his family. Bella and Harper will be in pre-school together this year and boy, the teachers are in for a surprise! HAHA! Bella and Harper are a riot together and keep everyone entertained! I'm so excited that they get to grow up together.

We have come to realize that we are out-growing our house! With 3 growing girls, a dog, and us, we just don't fit in our house. We would like something with a little bit more outside room and a bit more breathing room inside. We are talking about putting our house on the market later this month and seeing what happens. I'm crossing my fingers that we can have a successful sale and find something that makes everyone happy.

Ok, off to bed - morning comes earlier than I want it to and with school starting, I better get back in the habit of busy, crazy mornings!

 

Fun at the park!

Sequim's very FIRST Hot Air Balloon Festival!

Ah, the joys of summer.

Bella and Harper - great lunch dates!

Makes my heart happy.

My joy!

On the Seattle Ferris Wheel

Drumming like her daddy

Hanging with friends

All 12 of my grandparents grandchildren - together, in one place!!

I LOVE this picture!

All 12 of my grandparents GREAT grandchildren!!

On the water.

Date night with dad!

Happy Father's Day

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to my great dad, father-in-law and my wonderful, loving husband. Hope this day is a celebration of you and all you do for our family. We love you more than you will know!!

Stay tuned

Wanna know what this lively pile of wonderfulness is going to turn into?? You will have to stay tuned! I'm currently cutting interfacing for my next 3 projects but I promise I'll post some progress pictures soon!

Hiatus

If you've been waiting for a post - sorry. I'm kind of in a different world right now! Blogging has taken a major back-burner for a variety of reasons: work was really busy for awhile, kids have been sick and crabby, we had family in town for awhile but the main reason for not blogging has been that I've been in funk. I'm at a point where I want to read and write about real life, the messy every day life of imperfect parents and imperfect kids. I find it kind of annoying how a lot of moms paint this picture of how wonderful and 'perfect' life is. Seriously?? Do you think I believe that for one second???

Needless to say, I've been afraid of what I might write, so I haven't written anything! I'm thinking about what I want my blog to be about and how to not make it a stressor in my life. So, hang in there! We are all alive and well and keeping really busy. I've been crafting and made homemade laundry soap today. I'm planning a quilt and trying to potty-train my very stubborn daughter. Yay...

One of my favorites...

Are you a Monkee? If you aren't, you should be. This is by far - one of my most favorite blogs. She speaks the truth. All the time. And I want to hang out with her. I think she would make me laugh and feel like I'm actually doing a good job at being a mom and wife (I have days where I really wonder what the heck I'm doing???)

Go check out Momastery. Right now.

 Leave my lame little blog and read something REALLY good!!

You wanna know...

What kind of sucks??? Packing a bunch of stuff up, moving it to a storage unit, then totally changing plans. Cause you know what that means?? You get to go and move all that stuff back to your house. And it's not all stuff you can just get rid of because you don't need it; it was stuff you decided you could live without for a short while. That's what I'm doing. Moving it all back in and putting it all away.

Kid Quote - Teagan

Teagan: Mom, when I have kids, you're going to be a grandma.
Me: Yup - that's right.
Teagan: Well, unless you're dead. Then you'll be in heaven.

Wrong

Seriously. It's after 11pm and I should be in bed. Sleeping. So I can wake up tomorrow. I have kids to get up and to school. What is wrong with me? This has been going on for awhile. Right about the time I should be thinking about going to bed, I don't feel tired. Very annoying. Especially with a little person shows up in my room before my alarm goes off (for real - why do they need to get up before 6:30am???) I think I'm going to start boycotting Daylight Savings cause its all their fault!

Things kids say

Teagan: You're going to be my kids grandma.
Me: Yup, that's right.
Teagan: But what if you're dead by then??

Halloween

What a day! We were finishing costumes right up to the time we went trick or treating! Our friends, Shannon, Ryan, Payton & Kendall joined us for our trip around the neighborhood and what fun we had! The little kids were so thrilled every time candy was dropped into their bags and the big kids ran from house to house to see what the next treat would be!

Now, the candy sorting and trading has begun. It's so cute to hear them talk about all their treasures!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Kid Quote - Zoe

While talking about dinosaurs and if they eat people:

Me: I'm sure they did eat cavemen, if they weren't paying attention.

Zoe: Why do they always say 'men'? Like there weren't any girls? Come on!

Ahhhh, a girl all about equality! Love her!

Oh boy

I've been so busy LIVING life, that I haven't really had the time, or energy, to blog about it! I decided a long time ago not to have blogging guilt. I used to think I HAD to post at least once a week (and ideally, I'd love to do that!) and would get bummed out if I didn't do it. It's not like I have a ton of followers anyway, but I like the challenge of updating those that do read, on a regular basis!

So, since it's been almost a month - here is what we've been up to:

• School is going GREAT! Both Teagan and Zoe have WONDERFUL teachers and they are thriving! Teagan asked Mrs. Nash for MORE homework! Zoe is really enjoying her class and all the activities they are doing in 2nd grade.
• Attended our family Girls-Get-Away the first weekend in October - what a wonderful time with the women (and little girls!) in our family. Love that time together and wish it happened more often!
• Cleaning up and clearing out - we've decided to put our house on the market and see what happens. We've met with our realtor and will probably list in the next few weeks (she's moving offices, so we don't want to make more work for her!) We know, it's a crappy market right now, but we really need to start thinking about doing something different and we need to sell first to do that. So, it's adventure time! I'm fully anticipating a really S.L.O.W. process, considering this is the slowest time of the year for home sales and its a down market in our area. But, you never know. I'll keep you posted!!
• We've all been a bit under the weather this past week - hopefully, we are on the mend. (Translation - mom gets sick just as kids are getting better!

Here's a few pic from my iPhone - which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! Duffy wants to give it a name since I always have it. It's like having a personal assistant! haha!

All the Little Girls at the 2011 Girls-Get-Away!!

Crazy Hair Day!

Sisters!

Crazy Hair Day!

Luci Dog

Snuggling with Dad - not feeling so great this weekend

Taking pictures to send to Bella

Winning!

I won!

I follow this great blog, Come on, ilene, (one of my favorite 80's night songs, BTW!). I just love her recipes, sewing projects and creativity. She did her very first giveaway for this great circle scarf...and I won! I'm so excited!

I can't wait for it to get here - I'm getting in the mood for some sewing. Maybe Christmas presents...

Purge

We are in the process of cleaning things out and getting rid of things for a garage sale. It's amazing to me how much stuff you can get rid of every year (yes, I have a garage sale, every year. Some years I have more stuff than others, but it's a great way to just clear things out.) In the middle of going through closets and bedrooms, rearranging spaces and still doing the day-to-day stuff, Duffy and I are decided that we wanted to put our house on the market.

If you live where we do, please don't laugh - we know there are over 1100 (over 500 in Sequim alone!) properties on the market, but we have to start somewhere! We just don't fit in our house anymore. And we really want to do something different. And we can't do anything until we sell our house, so we have to put it on the market first. Which means renting a storage unit to put all the extra stuff we "need". And more cleaning and organizing.

I'll keep you posted...


Where to start...Guess what I'm doing tomorrow??

Wow - I am a slacker!

Let's just blame it on summer time, lots of activities, extra kids hanging around and just pure laziness. Yeah, that sounds good.

I have been busy with family stuff, sewing, cleaning things out (haven't really started that yet) for a garage sale, and being a mom, wife, daughter, etc.

I realized the other day, as I was playing with Pinterest (oh. my. goodness. my new favorite place on earth. Or just on the internet!) that I've bought a bunch of shoes this summer. I love shoes. They make me happy. And they can totally make or break your outfit. I'm fortunate to be married to a fellow-shoe junkie, so it really isn't an issue in our relationship - we sort of enable each other actually. And a really weird fact, we have the same size foot.

Ok, here what I've gotten lately:

Needed new HOT PINK shoes!! Source.

Love these! Bought them for my cousin's wedding in San Diego next week - so excited!! Source

Sooooo cute and I can wear into the fall with jeans. AND I got mine at Ross, so CHEAP!! Source

I have these in brown and they are great! Source

Best flip-flops I've ever owned. Source

Ok, I think that's all so far. Just wait, Fall is around the corner and who knows what may be coming to my closet this fall!!!