Cute, huh?

Just a cute picture. Because it's Friday and I'm beyond cabin fever.

I'm about to leave the house and go to a movie theatre by myself. Oddly enough, I actually might do it if I had any ounce of energy past 8 p.m.. Someday, perhaps. In the meantime, I am still working on sewing that Amy Butler apron - it's a bit more involved than one might imagine. Especially when it involves a lot of seam ripping (argh). Self-taught sewing is quite a bit harder than expected!!

As We Wait....

We are cycling the H1N1 through our house right now. We've been holding on tight to our homeopathics (colloidal silver and Exberitox). And as far as viruses go, this one hasn't hit our family that hard. Yet. I am a bit lethargic and achy and have been for a day here or there, but that's about it. Juliet will be the last to get it (but I'm praying that she won't!) and we'll see how she does. So, our house is on lock down (and have been for a week or so). Needless to say, I'm getting a bit cagey. To pass the time and not expend much energy (beyond being a mom of three small, crabby children) I've been reading and sewing. Our house is a pit right now, and I have to let that go. I've read "Midwives" (wonderful, heart wrenching book), "Her Fearful Symmetry" (same author as "The Time Traveler's Wife" - very haunting, addictive read) and am currently reading "Lovely Bones". I am awestruck at these amazing writers - great prose, great stories and a really wonderful way to pass time in this weather.

Some randomness: Clinique's website is giving away three amazing bonus gifts with free shipping right now. My favorite products? Black Honey Almost Lipstick and their exfoliator. Free shipping with code FSEMAIL. Do you ever go to slickdeals.net? I love that website - it really has good deals posted on a continual basis.

Pandora is a really cool website. However, I found myself lead from typing in "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night" (yep, I really have a thing for that song) to listening to "I Got Five on It" which is a rap song referring to a certain weed that is illegal in most states. Don't even get me started on my rap music past. It isn't pretty. And I'm not proud.

I ordered (from the library) Nigella Lawson's "How to Be A Domestic Goddess" and love it!! Such a British slant on cooking, which is so refreshing. She even has a cooking with the children section.

Pink Martini is releasing a fourth album tomorrow. I love them and they are even from Portland! They've gone international now, but they are having their release party at the Crystal Ballroom tomorrow - what a talented band. They describe themselves as "if the United Nations had a band in 1962, we would be it." That's pretty accurate.

Here's some pictures:
Juliet leaning over the back of the couch - she squeals with delight when she gets to do that.
And Juliet eating crumbs under the kitchen table. She was picking up leftover brown rice in this one, I think.

This is the stuffed Panda Juliet got from the ambulance driver that took her up to Doernbecher earlier this year. She loves playing with it now!

And this is generally what our family has been doing lately. Lots of laying around in an overheated wood burning room, snuggling, watching movies. Actually, it's been a bit fun!

I am off for an outing now - I must regain some sanity today.

Photoshop Fun

Isn't it amazing how one can transform the feeling of a photo by tweaking it in Photoshop?

Before (straight out of the camera (ahem. ok - I upped the exposure just a wee bit)): After.

Of course, there are those out there that like the pure, unadulterated photos - not mucked up by a computer program. I'm not one of those. The grittier, brighter, more contrasted, the better. Just my humble opinion.

Super Sick Samuel

So, Samuel is in the beginning stages of what seems to be the swine flu. I know, I'm tired of hearing those two words together - but he was exposed a couple of days ago and his cousin has been pretty sick with it, so here we go. So far it's just a cough and sore throat and I'm on my way this morning to get all my immune boosting herbs for him. My prayer is that Juliet doesn't get it.

Samuel is a self-proclaimed super hero today with is "cape" on. And finally I caught Juliet's teeth in a picture!

My Latest Project

Oh, my. Christmas is almost upon us and I figure I would rather enjoy making gifts a bit ahead of time than frantically running through stores grabbing clearance socks, if you know what I mean. So, I have begun sewing gifts. Ok, I have only completed one, but that counts, right? I broke open my brand new Amy Butler domestic goddess apron pattern and chose the long apron - isn't it beautiful?! And if you are saying, "Oh no. I hope Kami doesn't plan on giving me an apron for Christmas", don't worry. I will only be making aprons for those I think would like them. Because lets be honest - it takes me many, many, many hours to make one. I chose the following Michael Miller fabric from his Summer Soiree collection and am contrasting it with a white and black polka dot fabric. Love it!!

Baby Girl

Here's just a quick pic of my sweet girl this morning.

If I Were Adventurous...

I would make these. But I don't think my sewing skills have reached the level of Martha Stewart. We have our family photo shoot coming up in November and I am struggling to find outfits for everyone. I really want the colors to pop, so I decided last night to purchase some hot pink tulle to make Juliet a tutu. After looking at online tutorials briefly, it looks like they are pretty easy to make!! And since it will be frosty outside during the pictures, I will be layering some thing under said tutu. Can't wait!!

WAYback Playback

Do you ever have glimpses of your childhood that hit you suddenly and randomly during a daily task? I had one. Yesterday. I remember listening to this Sandi Patti CD (or was it a tape?) every night for probably months on end. As I pulled it up on Amazon (good job Amazon for carrying literally everything!) and listened to small pieces of the music, those warm fuzzy teenage years came flooding back. Who listens to this kind of music as a teenager?!

Juliet Today

Does this pose of Juliet's remind you of Andy Bernard from "The Office" this week? I'm still giggling...

Typical Juliet face.

My Happy Place

Today was a very good day. Jude (as of two days ago) is potty trained. No more daytime diapers. Yay!! Only took 6 months - no joke.

Juliet cut her first two teeth. She's a bit earlier than the boys in that department and not too much drama related to teething, so that's good. I did realize the hard way that she can now bite off pieces of a whole apple, so I have to step up my eagle eyes a bit.

I picked up my new eyeglasses today - yay for chunky Dior frames!! So fun. Even with bling on the side! I also purchased some Ray Ban aviators real Top Gun- like. Lovin' those. I picked up this book at the library this afternoon. It's so inspirational! But I can't cut out the patterns. Bummer.

Speaking of sewing - I actually started sewing my first Christmas gift today! The boys went up to Rainier with Colin until tomorrow and I just re-discovered how much fun stuff I can get done with just one child in the house. Well, I'm not cooking either - thank you very much New Seasons for the delicious deli sandwich. Along with sewing and taking a break from cooking, I am watching chick flicks like there is no tomorrow. It started with "Ghost Town" (I guess this isn't a chick flick, but it's darn funny) and just finished "Center Stage". The acting is just painfully bad, but I love dance movies. I will be seeing "Fame" in the near future. I look forward to a quiet evening by myself, watching more bad/sappy movies (perhaps "The Cutting Edge" or "Hope Floats") and sewing. Or reading. I am currently reading "Midwives" and it is an incredible book. It's one I can't wait to open at the end of an exhaustively long day.

And here's one of the many pictures I took of the baby today in a vain attempt to show her two new teeth (which she already tried out on me a couple of days ago - ouch!). No luck, but I'll keep trying.

Frogs

The boys found some frogs last month in the yard and they were so excited!

Shaving Cream = Loads of Fun

At the suggestion of Callae, my faithful bible study leader, Colin and I went to Target to purchase some shaving cream for the kids to have some tactile fun time. You just spray it on the table and let them play like it were finger paint.
Here's what we started with: Here's what we ended with:

They loved it and it entertained them both for about 45 minutes. So fun! Clean up was a cinch with a dry cloth and their clothes just thrown straight into the wash. After clean up Samuel asked if we could do this again tomorrow.

As a random side note, do you ever learn a new word and suddenly hear it everywhere? My word - nepotism. I read it in a book a couple of months ago, then heard it used about the president, then on the radio. Weird. It means favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship. You learn something new every day!

Pictures. Lots of Pictures.

Here are some more pics of the kids. Generally this is how I find Jude - thumb ready to go in his mouth, toys all around him and his blanket close by.

Jude needs a nap from the moment he awakens in the morning - sometimes he puts himself away.

They get confused why I take so many pictures of them. These two play so well together - I love it!

Funky picture if Juliet. I really am surprised how much I put blue on my baby girl, but it works for her.

Such a funny face!

Sweet. Very sweet.

Colin put pants on her head.

Keys are her favorite toy. I just can't imagine how dirty my keys are - it's building her immune system.

Samuel made this scroll in Sunday school and toted it around with my high school tiara on his head and some sort of cardboard around his ear. Odd child, that one.

This is how I find Juliet after she has slept - she pushes her bumper down and stares and cries at her door until I come grab her.

Beans and Rice, Baby

Ok, I really do take pictures of my other two children, I promise!! I just had to note Juliet's coronation into the world of beans and rice. We eat a lot of beans and rice around here (and if you don't know why, then you really need to Google "Dave Ramsey") and it's a momentous event when a family member joins us in this corner of our culinary world. I was reading the current issue of "American Baby" while pumping the milk you see in her sippy cup above and discovered that she should be having finger food by now. Ooops! In my effort to keep her a baby forever, I've only been giving her pureed foods. My bad. She loved feeding herself!