This and That

September just zipped right on by and I barely breathed. It was a crazy, busy month with Benoit’s tonsillectomy and recovery (still underway), his mom’s visit, and the start of Sophie’s school. I need a break already! But life is good and I’m a blessed woman. Here are a few things for which I’m thankful.

Sophie loves school and dove right back in. There is NO crying or whining when it’s time to go. She’s practically running in and I’m watching the other moms kiss and hug their kids while mine is apparently ready to be rid of me for a few hours. I’m very happy that she loves it and wants to be there to play and learn. She is getting so growny and the other day she colored a picture and then put in on the fridge for display. She also went on a ‘big kid’ playground this week shaped like a rocketship. There were older kids on it (and it was probably 30 feet high) but she went right to the top to play with them. An older girl, probably 6 y/o, tapped her on the arm for tag and she got upset. She slowly walked her way down nearly tripping on her bottom lip, I swear. It was so sweet and sad. I just hugged her and told her the girl was playing a game and then we went over to the smaller playground.

Audrey is getting rather chatty these days and while her words are not very clear, her meaning is. She signs ‘milk’ and ‘please’ while saying ‘peees’!!! So adorable. And she LOVES milk. She’s infatuated with it to the point that she doesn’t want to eat food. Just give the girl some milk and call it dinner, she doesn’t care. When we have snacktime (which she calls ‘nack time’), Sophie usually takes Audrey’s food because she’s not eating it and then announces, ‘Audrey share with me!’ I suppose that’s one way to teach sharing.

And here are some of our new Halloween decorations. It is October, after all!

A family portrait!

Playing in the sandbox and concentrating so hard. Sweet little memories.
Sophie is not big into dress up but rather enjoyed being a princess at a playdate.

My favorite people!

I ain't afraid of no ghost!

Spooky!

Naptime Crafting

Last year at Sophie's school, the kids gave offering each Thursday in chapel. I didn't find out until the end of the year that Sophie was not able to open her coin bag that I had made. I really didn't think she would be able to (it was a drawstring bag) but I didn't think she would try either. But apparently she always wanted to do it and couldn't. So this year, I made her a new coin bag for her chapel money that has a velcro opening. Now that she's older, she will also need to do little chores to earn chapel money. She LOVES to play with coins and Benoit has a tub of coins in one of the kitchen drawers and we always have to shoo her out of it. So today, I told her that she had 3 chores to do to earn coins:

1. Make her bed


2. Put her toys away


3. Put her clothes in herlaundry basket.

Today, she has earned 2 coins, which you can find in the little coin purse below. I made the cute fabric flower to match the interior lining of the bag. Pretty cute, right!

To make one of your very own, check out these tutorials. I skipped the quilting section but otherwise, this is exactly what I did.

http://www.valeriecustomquilting.com/patterns/free/QuickNEasyCoinPurse.pdf

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/08/full-and-textured-fabric-flowers.html

Baby blankets

I've been planning to make Audrey new baby blankets for a few months now and just haven't found the time. Mostly, it's difficult to get out to buy supplies. I avoid taking both kids out like the plague and that only leaves me with Tues/Thurs while Sophie is in school. But that 5 hour window flies by after feeding Audrey, letting her nap, trying to go to the gym or grocery, and then feeding Audrey again. But I won't complain about having some time to run a couple of errands with a little peace!

So back to the baby blankets.... I bought some swirly pink minky fabric and two coordinating fabrics. I wanted a brown/pink and black/pink blanket and found some cute prints. I just pinned it out and sewed it up with my new machine (thanks mom!). Here are a few pics of the final product.

My adorable model with both blankets. Now for her close up.My other adorable model giving me the evil eye because I was interrupting Dora. Like momma like daughter! And a couple of pics of my sweet four month old just because!

She's rolling over every time I put her on her back. I'll upload a video soon!

Feelin Crafty

I've been getting crafty lately and having fun with it. Below are a few new crafts I've tried my hand at. Let me know what you think!

Babylegs leg warmers for Sophie and Audrey. I got this idea from http://littlebirdiesnest.blogspot.com/2009/03/easter-legs-another-baby-legs-tutorial.html. Sophie is modeling a pair here, which don't match her outfit. Around the house, we wear all sorts of weird things.
An offering bag for Sophie to take to school for chapel days. I had an old drawstring bag and I just added some cute beads to dress it up!

My kitchen menu board which keeps me organized each week. I got the idea from http://www.makeandtakes.com/wipe-off-weekly-menu-board. It's just a pretty frame with scrapbooking stickers on the glass. I use a dry erase marker to write in my weekly menu and added a pretty paper to dress it up. Also, notice the beautiful 'abstract' by Sophie.

That's it for my crafty side this week!

Pretty Little Things

This weekend, I decided to make a couple of burp cloths for Audrey since we all need pretty little things in our lives. The first one took me a really long time because I kept messing up but the second one I finished in about 45 minutes. That's still really slow, but I'm just learning how to sew again after a 20 year hiatus. I got the idea from a cute blog I follow (http://www.makeandtakes.com). Let's give credit where it's due! Anyway, here are the two burp cloths followed by some pics of the pretty little thing I created them for.

Yes, they need to be ironed, but they are still cute!
A full length version.
My cutie pie!
A little afternoon workout.
Both my pretty little things....Sophie was 'helping' at bathtime.