Come help me on the hunt!

To find me?!

No, but I can understand why you might think it's for me since I've been a little MIA these days with the move and the baby and the reason for this hunt...
but no... for now, this hunt isn't for me.

To find my kids lost in the endless stack of boxes?

Closer... but no... they leave a trail of crumbs and noise to help with that!


For a new camera??

Pictures from here

YES!!!!!

Eeeeeee!

I.am.too.excited.to.sleep.

That and my belly is so darn big that I just can't sleep no matter what, so I might as well be too excited for it!

Our camera (tear) started slowly breaking a while ago and I was actually promised a new one for my birthday in Feb, but with the move and the baby and ___(insert)___ whatever else excuse we decided that we shouldn't spend the money just now.

I pretended to agree, but in my heart of hearts I just knew that a camera was in my destiny sooner rather than later :)

So the big question-

WHAT KIND OF DLSR SHOULD I GET?

Quick, quick, send me your comments, fill my inbox, tell me please so we can't order away before we find another reason to wait!!!

Do I have to bribe you with pictures of the new baby when he arrives any week now?!


I promise, no old point and shots were intentionally broken or harmed in this pursuit. All fatalities were the result of natural causes.

Growing babies and heading north

Hello there little guy!


I can feel you kick, kick, kickin' away in there all day!


My other two pregnancies were spent anxiously impatiently awaiting the arrival of a new bundle, but this time around I have to admit I've been a teensy bit distracted....




Before we could announce IT'S A BOY!
Or even, boy, oh boy, am I really going to have 2 boys?!

Daddy got offered a new job in Portland and the next thing we knew I felt like I couldn't even find my belly bump over the pile of boxes!

So I thought now that we've arrived (at long last) to our new home in the Northwest it's about time I dedicated a little blogging to the little you growing inside

And just to show you how much we think about you we even packed a new suitcase just for you!


Ok my little man, now it's all up to you, so

GROW



BABY





We can't wait to love you so much more than we already do!!

And hey, seems like 32 weeks sure does fly when you've got a house to move, so I what do you know?!

I guess we'll be seeing you pretty soon....


Yippeeeeeeee!!!

Gorgeous photography courtesy of Kiss The Camera, check out the amazing work Christine does in Scottsdale, AZ.

1 shirt, 2 shirts, old shirts, new shirts! A little how to...

We're getting ready for our big move and we've been fighting the inevitable questions like

Oh really and how long has it been since you fit in that?

College days are over... give up the holy t-shirt...

Come on, it's stained everywhere... call a rag when you see one!

Logically, given that we're in the middle of packing and moving a shirt with stains and a tiny little hole in the center like this should make the trash pile done and done...

But... I like sewing quite a bit more than I like packing and cleaning... sooooo naturally I was thinking more along the lines of the endless refashioning potential!

Then I came across this unworn brightly color, but slightly plan t-shirt and thought hum, it's still mighty cold up in the northwest this time of year (where we are moving). Perhaps a long sleeve t-shirt would get more use.

And that's how these two babies mingle, mashed and blended into 2 beautiful "new" shirts!

Shirt #1

Shirt #2

Ta-dah!!!


Adding sleeves to an regular tee is quick, easy and very functional especially when you're moving from Phoenix to Portland!


Wanna try???

Here's all I did:

First, I measured the length and circumference of the chunkiest part of Sienna's arm from the arm pit down to get the size of my sleeve strips. Measuring from the arm pit down is key here, because you'll be attaching the sleeve to the end of a short sleeve, not the shoulder.


Next, I cut the strips out of the bottom, using the natural hem of the t-shirt as the cuff of the sleeve. Then folded them in half and sewed a tube.


To attach the sleeves, I tucked my right-side-out tub through the armhole of the short sleeve shirt turned inside out.


Then pin all around making sure to line up the seams of the sleeves.


Carefully stretching from both sides as I sewed, I attached the long sleeve to the end of the short sleeve.


After those short 15 minutes or so I fold it right side out...


And there was my new long sleeve shirt!


Ha! What a walk in the park!

Like this one :)


Now, I was left with a half of a shirt and just as I was about to toss it...

Into my scraps bin (oh no, goodness sakes, not in the trash!), but yes, just before it hit that scraps bin I had an idea to refashion that part too into another dress/shirt!



So I pulled out some other left over strips of pink and purple jersey fabric I just knew I should save and pieced them together to make a cute little tiered top!

I still had the original problem of the stains and small hole in the shirt, so I used some other smaller scraps to make the waded flowers for the front and cut the shirt half slightly higher to take out the hole.


Almost PERFECT!!!

Almost is key here since I did have to fudge a little with the uneven sized scraps I was limiting myself to and the obvious fact that I really had to sneak in a few minutes here and there for this project while I was supposed to be packing not sewing :)


Shhhh... I still don't think the Mr. Seamstress knows I wasn't packing that whole time after all...

Should the case be taken to a jury think we'll just have to bring up the important facts here that I did save us money (which all husbands like), still finished my packing (which my husband mostly cares about) and even enjoyed myself just a little (favorite part of all)!!

Melting Into Spring Jumper

What's a little girl to wear when she finds that winter is melting into spring??

How about a bright, swirly jumper!?

I'm sorry for all of you who can't fathom this idea just yet, but over in our neck of the woods spring is almost here!

So naturally, Sienna and I decided to go looking for it...


And needed the perfect jumper dress for the job!


One that has bright springy colors


But still with some soft, cozy velvet


And maybe a little extra lining since as you know we haven't found Spring just yet!

Ok, this one will do...

Now, hurry Mommy, we've got to find Spring!!!

SHH!

You gotta be really quiet and pay attention...


And look very closely...


But sometimes that you can just listen and the tree will tell you if it's here...

Wait, did you just hear that...??

Oh that's too silly!

I think I just found it already!


Almost Sweetheart, almost.

A Mary Poppin's birthday party

Come join us as we look back at Sienna's Jolly Holiday 3rd Birthday Party!

We celebrated Sienna's 3rd birthday 2 weekends ago and had the party at this wonderful train park in Scottsdale with an almost Mary worthy magical carousel and everything! The down side to the practically perfect location was having to get there at the crack of dawn to reserve your spot, so from the wee hours of the morning that I opened my eyes til the last guest was gone it was Step In Time!

So please pardon me for the picture quality here... hosting 3 year old birthdays in a park is a little crazy without even trying to take pictures, but I'd say if you love to laugh then keep on scrolling for some fun and goofy pictures, plus a few pretty good Mary Poppins theme party ideas if I do say so myself!

First there were costumes....

Mary Poppins (scandalously pregnant) and Jane

Despite the particularly warm, sunny day of 75, "Jane" stayed in costume all day and for, well, I do believe she still thinks she actually is Jane.

I don't think we helped by letting her call her brother Michael, although he was more interested in drinking his first CapriSun than dressing up like Mary Poppins characters.

In case you don't think I'm a bad enough mother for giving my 1 year old a CapriSun, I made sure that everyone else had spoons full of sugar to help the medicine go down.

Sienna actually helped me make these out of melted white chocolate and red sprinkles! Super easy and the kids LOVED them!

Next, what would a Mary Poppins' party be without umbrellas?

I found these PERFECT while umbrellas from the Oriental Trading Company that you can actually decorate yourself!

I had to admit that these didn't go exactly as planned... I wanted to make ruffles to sew along the bottom of each one like a real "Jane" umbrella would be out of a water-proof shower curtain, but you can't do every good idea you have I supposed! Even still, I think it's a nice token or tuppence for everyone to take home!

Don't worry the boys had fun at this ultra girlie fest too!


I laid out long strips of butcher paper I've been saving since I stopped teaching for just the right occasion, such as, needing long "side walks" for the kids to draw magical chalk pictures to jump into.

That, and the really cool real KITES (also from the Oriental Trading Company) that they got to decorate themselves too!!

Then after we decorated them....

You guessed it!!

Let's go fly a kite!


Up to the highest height!

And send it soaring!!

It's been a week since the party and the soundtrack only played through 2 or 3 times during the party, but I still find myself singing silently in my head all day :)


And finally, last, but not least...


We finished off the day with Funfetti Penguin cake for all!

It's supposed to be the Jolly Holiday penguins with the menu...

Don't laugh, it was the best I could do with limitations of frosting, food coloring and trying to involve a very excited almost 3 year old!


Sienna had been begging for a Mary Poppins theme party for months and months. When I couldn't persuade her to go for something like Strawberry Shortcake or a little easier, I started hunting all crafty corners I know for Mary Poppins theme party and ideas and was quite surprised by how little I could find online.

I did find this ADORABLE professionally photographed party that set the bar far higher than my highest kite would reach on a practical budget. But if you're looking to do a Poppins Party I recommend checking it out for some more fancy ideas...


Such as these scrumptious candied applies, but I decided our age group wasn't the best for something like that... or, adorable as it was the real tea set for that matter!


Now, truth be told, there was one other tiny little part for the party that got left behind, because I simply ran out of time! But I think it would've been so cute and easy that I just have to tell you about the cute little carpet bags I was sewing for all the party favors!! They just didn't get done in time... but can we still say it was the thought that counts??

All things considered I'd say the party was very supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!