Some Days....

you just need to throw caution to the wind, forego clothes, and sit naked for awhile.

Slouchy Book Bag

Sometimes I get inspired by sewing blogs and really think I can dive into a project like this: But then I see the materials needed and get really scared:
What the heck?! I am an admitted sewing junkie with almost every gadget available, but I don't even have the slightest idea what at least two of the above tools are. Perhaps I should rummage through my husband's garage today....

Big Huge Labs

I just stumbled upon a pretty cool blog called Big Huge Labs that I think is a pretty fun site to play around with your photos. In just a few minutes, I created the above photo booth collage (I love photo booth pictures!). This site also does various sizes of photo mosaics, jigsaw puzzles, photo frames, magazines covers (not sure I will ever be needing that one), etc. You can share these documents right onto Facebook or Flikr, or just save it to your computer and get them printed.

Valentine's Preparations

For Valentine's Day this year the kids and I made cookies to give to the neighbors and Jude's preschool, made cards and put them with candies for Jude's school and Samuel helped Colin sneak out one night to pick me out a card a roses. So sweet! I truly love Valentine's Day with kids - what better way to say you love someone than with sugar cookies? =)

February Scrapbook Pages

Once again I had an insanely hard time with these pages. I scraplifted this page from Maggie Holmes and realized it would be a lot easier if I had the entire kit sitting in front of me like she undoubtedly did. However, I powered through and decided to simplify it a bit, knowing that years down the road, I probably won't remember what embellishments were left out. I finished the page below yesterday, with Juliet sitting next to me the entire time. She played with glitter glue and watched "Sense and Sensibility". What a girl!!
My craft space is a mess, but I'm ok with that. I have one more layout to finish for Samuel, then I'm off to make a bag for myself.

So Excited About...

I can't wait for the arrival of this book: Oliver + S is such a fun company for patterns - I own a few and I admit I was lured in by the marketing. Included in each pattern is paper doll clothes. It just brings me back to my childhood days...

Of course I pre-ordered this book and I should expect it in the mail today or tomorrow. Yay! I just finished a bag and am ready for my next sewing project (although I have yet to make myself a bag, which I desperately need).

What the Littles Do During Homeschooling

I have to say that one of the most challenging things about homeschooling Samuel is keeping the little ones occupied and not too much of a distraction. I used to wake up at the crack of dawn and start homeschooling before Juliet awoke, but I have been favoring sleeping in until 6 lately instead. So, that leaves me with about an hour of schooling and two very busy, very interactive small children to tend to. Yesterday, both kiddos decided they wanted to do some fabric manipulation, which makes sense since we homeschool in my craft room. Sissy took to putting pins in a scrap of fabric (not the first time she has done this and surprisingly she never gets hurt):This is fabric I also practiced making buttonholes on.

Jude did some sort of fabric cutting and gluing it onto paper. His biggest challenge was trying to understand why my scissors wouldn't cut with him using his left hand. I encouraged him to try using his right, since I don't own left-handed scissors.
Most of the time, though, these kids are making a tornado mess of toys around Samuel and I, which I have to turn a blind eye to and realize that schooling is a priority, not a clean house (it's been a tough one for me to wrap my head around this year).

Fort McGladrey

Upon Samuel's request, Colin brought home some cardboard boxes from work and they set out to make a seriously big fort. Before the fort was constructed, however, these boxes were all over my kitchen and I walked by and saw Jude taking a quiet moment to himself (see his thumb up and ready for sucking?):I also like that he put Woody's hat on top of the box.

Scrapbook Page - January

This month I chose to do a scrapbook page on Juliet's second birthday. The page went surprisingly quick and I will be doing an identical one for Samuel's birthday. And here is what Juliet is currently looking like:
She usually has blueberry all over her face and her hair is a curly mess. In this picture she is offering me her doll, which she has recently taken an interest in.

It's Potty Time!

This is one of those photos where my husband says "Really, babe?" (incredulously). Yes, really. I love capturing little moments like these to use as blackmail later. Colin is trying in vain (and quite sporadically, might I add) to potty train Juliet. Here he is sitting next to her reading a potty book. No dice. She has absolutely zero interest in potty training. But sitting next to Papa getting a book read is a pretty sweet deal....

A Bit of Hypocrisy...

As I was dusting my nightstand (an activity I do not do nearly enough) this morning I had to giggle at this:Just a wee bit of hypocrisy for your Saturday morning.

I have some random pics to post soon enough from the month of January. I didn't take a ton, which is unlike me. January was a weird month - I often found myself either taking care of sick kids or pining away for summer and the glowing ball in the sky I think some refer to as the "sun".