Button eyes

More kid drawings!  This is the last of my batch to share, for now at least! 

Arlene drew this - a button-eyed doll!  It's both creepy and cute, love it!

Birthday cards

Nothing is sweeter than kid drawings! And nothing is sweeter than handmade birthday cards! I love my little girlies!  They are making my day super special!

This is Arlene's ... I love the car on top of the bush!  And the HUGE tulips! 

Front of Lydia's card ...

Inside of Lydia's card. Aren't her birds cute?!  People-like heads with wings! 

Happy day to me indeed!

Happy Mr. Sunshine

Happy Mr. Sunshine, drawn by Lydia, age 6

If that doesn't bring a smile to your face I don't know what will!

I sewed and it was heaven!

Ohmygoodness I miss sewing! I have my machine in storage along with almost all of my other craft supplies while we're staying in our apartment. I borrowed my mom's sewing machine a couple months ago to make myself a purse {linky loo here} and today I borrowed her machine again to make a cute little present. I can't share what it is because it's for someone special that reads this blog! Here's a peek at what I made:

Trust me, it's cuuuuuuute!  I didn't realize how much I missed sewing until I was actually sewing today. I sure do miss it. I miss creating!  I may have to borrow my mom's machine a bit longer and make some more stuff!

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - the birthday wish edition

It's my birthday next Wednesday so this week's list is the it's-almost-my-birthday-Etsy-Favorites-Wednesday-birthday-wish-list List!  YAY! 

Scissor charm necklace - super cute! 

Flower pin - I want to build up my flower pin collection!  I think this one is just divine. I'd like ANY of the pins from this seller!  Check out her stash!

Halloween doll - I'm a broken record - I love this artists' work!  I covet all of their wares and want one so badly!  I'd love ANYTHING from their shop!

Scandinavian Flower print - I do believe in a past life I was a Swede. I'm really drawn to Scandinavian art. I want this print and I want to hang it in my new kitchen.

Camper charm - if this looks familiar it's because I had it in an Etsy Favs list a couple weeks ago. I feel as though I must have it. It's high on my birthday wish list.

A window into our evening

I've been very busy with work the past few weeks. Working late hours, working overtime, working at home. I've felt like I'm never at home and when I am, I'm usually working on the computer. Tuesday evening, Daddy had a night event at work, so he had to work late. Which meant I had the evening with the girls just to myself. It was so nice. I admit, I had to force myself to slow down and to just stop. To not turn on the computer or the TV, to just enjoy time with the girls. Work can wait. And it did. I began snapping some photos to capture Lydia's toothless grin! 

She lost her front tooth this past weekend, yay!  We were very happy to see that tooth go - for one because it was hanging on a string for a week or so and we couldn't bring ourselves to pull it out. A visit to Grandma's did the trick because she's a professional and is qualified to do gentle teeth-pulling. {She's a dental hygienist and is the master at pulling out teeth. Loose teeth and especially teeth hanging there by a string - make me want to vomit. Very happy we have someone else that can do the teeth-pulling dirty work for us!} And, this particular tooth was Lydia's chipped tooth. She had just started to walk, and we all remember it clearly - we were walking out of the Gold Star parking lot and she tripped and fell face first - really teeth first - into the pavement. She chipped that tooth and had a bloody lip, lots of crying, but she was okay, just had a chipped front tooth for five years. But now it's gone, yay!

After I got that cutie-patootie toothless grin photo, I started taking random photos. Because the photos {and subsequent blog posts} of just everyday life? Priceless memories I want to cherish. Our days are so filled with busy-busy-busy, go-go-go. With school, work and just the everyday things that occupy our time, well, our days just fly by. Last week I had seen an old colleague from two past lives ago - I had met her about 10 years and two career changes ago. We caught up on what's been going on with our lives, where we work now, how are families are doing. She didn't know I had kids so I filled her in on the girls. I heard myself telling her that I have twins, who are SIX and it sounded so foreign coming out of my mouth. How did the girls get to be SIX?!  Where has the time gone?!  On the other hand, our lives have been so enriched because of them that the past six years have been the greatest years of our lives and while it's flown by I have a gazillion little nuggets of good memories stored in my brain. It's like my life began when they were born, and I think from here on out I'll always measure 'what's been going on with my life' from the moment they were born until the present. I had lived a lot of great life moments since I had seen my old friend, but the other four years before we had the girls just seem insignificant now.

Our lives are filled with random moments of joy, random moments of stress, random moments of unhappiness, random moments of bliss. And random moments where Mommy gets to play and have fun with the girls.  Here's a glimpse into the window that was our uneventful but fun evening:

Arlene had the hiccups. And she decided to do the "swallow water while holding your nose" trick to see if they'd go away. Then she bent over upside down to cure them. It worked! Smart kid.

This is a drawing Arlene made for me. It says "You rock and like me." I sure do kid, I sure do.

She's our comic relief. So silly!

See? Pure silliness.

Lydia had homework to do. She has homework each week which she loooooves doing. Arlene hardly ever gets homework {they are in different classes} and that seems to suit Miss Silly Pants just fine.

I got this out of Arlene's backpack and it freaked me out. Are those horns or ears?

Lydia made that for me. Teehee!

Bedtime!  Horsing around time! 

The silly one again - she was being a zombie but moving too fast for me to capture the zombie action clearly. Lydia's in mid leap onto the bed.

We are into reading chapter books before bed. I always loved this book as a kid.

Look at my bookmark! hahahaha

Bedtime with two excitable six year olds can be a real slow {and sometimes excruciating!} process. This is their "we're perfect angels" pose. Hardy har!  The second before this shot was taken they were bouncing on the bed. I tell them each night that if they are good girls and do their nightly business {bathroom, brush teeth, etc.} without too much trouble or without taking a million years to do so, then I'll read to them. Let's say that they only get to hear Matilda about four times per week! But on this particular night, after the hanging-on-the-bunkbed-like-monkeys business and the zombie business, they got very focused and calmed down, so I read two chapters.

After they went to bed I started in on my work. I was so sad to discover that I had accidentally ripped out my owl pillow's foot!  See how his left foot is disconnected from his body?  Dispair!  He even looks sad, doesn't he?  His foot had been hanging there loose for awhile so I knew it was going to happen eventually. His feet are made of felt so the felt just got stretched and then finally broke off. Darnit. I love that owl. I got him from Etsy last year. Might have to buy a new one!

And, there you have it.

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - clovers!

Tomorrow is St. Patty's Day!  I crocheted some cute little shamrock pins for the kids, myself and the husband to wear!  We won't be getting pinched!  I didn't have a chance to get a picture of their cuteness {drat} but you can see the pattern here at this link. They were a snap to crochet - seriously they took a minute each. For this weeks' Etsy Favorites Wednesday list, I picked out some lovely clover things!  Enjoy, and Happy St. Patty's Day!

Clover hooks - I think these are just darling. Not being a fan of anything gold/brass, I'd probably give them a good coat of green spray paint. 

Shamrock tea set - adorable!  (and sold, darn, but still wanted to include them here!)

Clover hanky - teehee that word 'hanky' just makes me laugh. I sure do love the little clover detail in this one.

Earrings - dainty!

Clover ring - isn't that pretty?

Featured in a book!

I guess I always thought if I were ever to be published in a book, it would be for either my writing or maybe a craft project. WELL. I'll be in a book of photographs! Go figure!

Waaaay back in 2009 I was contacted by an editor at Lark Books. They had been fishing through Flickr and had come across the letter photos that I had taken during our summer vacation to Michigan that July. I had taken photos of each letter in our last name from around our vacation spots, which I later framed all together:

{The photos can be viewed separately via Flickr here.}

The photos are kind of like a vacation journal. It's also a stroll down memory lane, since most of the photos were taken around where we were staying - at my grandparent's cabin on Higgins Lake, where my family vacationed frequently when I was little. The "C" is part of a name plate (my maiden name) that my dad carved and painted some 30 years ago and it's still above the cabin door! The first "A" is the part of the Mackinaw Bridge and the "N" is from a Higgins Lake State Park sign. The "i" is from a sign at Tom's Mom's Cookies, the best cookies in northern Michigan!

I submitted my permission form for the book so long ago I had forgotten about it until today when I got word from the publisher that one of my photos was chosen for the book! I don't know yet which photo they chose.

The book will be called FOCUS: Letters. It's got 250 photos in it from amateur photographers. It will be available May 3 in hardback! I'm supposed to be getting a free copy, yay!

This is exciting! I don't claim to be a great photographer, not in the least, and really I was doing the letter photos project more as a whole project of spelling our name, not for photography's sake, but, it's cool to be featured in a book like this!  Once I get my copy I'll be sure to share more info!

Etsy Favorite Wednesday

Things I've been digging on Etsy this week ...

Calico necklace - I think this is so sweet, wearing fabric as jewelry.

Camper necklace - this necklace was part of a Treasury list that my camper pillow was featured in (link here) - I think it's very cute and it's going on my birthday wish list!!

Love fabric - this fabric is from my favorite artists on Etsy. She keeps coming up with new designs that I love!

Moustache pin topper - I want this!  Another birthday wish item!  I have a little bird pin topper from this artist. I declare I need this moustache.

Watch parts - don't know what I'd do with these but I want them.

Too busy too busy

This is my busiest time of year at work! I'm responsible for planning our annual marketing campaign and annual dinner, all of which is pretty much due in the next few days, yikes! It's all really fun work, just a LOT of it! I'm busy all day at the office and bringing work home with me. So, I'm taking a little mini break from the 'ol blog because the brain, it's fried!  Toodles!

House hunting: it's happening

Pinch me!  It's happening!  We settled on a GREAT price with the builder - we signed a purchase contract!  Where we're happily standing is where our house will be built!  It'll be finished in August! 

We are beyond thrilled. And a little in awe of just how awesome all of this has worked out. For three years we were on the market trying to sell our old house, and we were scorned and jaded because we had gone through so many Realtors and so many bad offers and unqualified buyers and money spent on updates and ended up selling with a lot of money out of pocket, but it was ALL WORTH IT because now we are getting the best deal on building a brand new house!  We went through all of that in order to find the perfect situation now, like it was just meant to be. Because of the way the housing market is right now, the builder reduced the base price of the model we wanted to build, threw in a bunch of upgrades as standard, and we negotiated with them the exact price that we wanted. We're getting upgrades for free. We're building the house for $60,000 less than what it was built for two years ago! That's insane!  And in a neighborhood that is full of cul-de-sacs and sidewalks. There's no traffic on the streets. The school system is great. The neighborhood is full of children. WE ARE SO EXCITED!

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - Whacky Wednesday!

It's Dr. Suess' birthday today!  Which means it's WHACKY WEDNESDAY!  The girls got to dress up for school in their whackiest outfits, which they picked out! 

In honor of Dr. Suess' birthday, here's a smattering of bookish Etsy finds to savor!

Wall quote - true!

Handmade book plates - claiming your books as your own.

Bookmark - lovely!

Kindle case - I love printed books but I'm quite smitten with my Kindle too.

Journal - write a book!

What is your favorite Dr. Suess book? Mine is The Sneetches!

Check out Suessville.com - it's delightful!

YAY READING!!!