Random Thought

The giveaway has generated some traffic around this here blog and I love looking at the locations in my counter. It just occurred to me that the boys have made contact with 5 of the 7 continents. We had our first South America hit tonight, leaving only Africa and Antarctica. I'm hopeful we can go 6 for 7, but Antarctica seems like a long shot.....Anyone want to hook me up with Africa?

Thank you blogland!

Some new coasters I made with Amy Butler fabric

Jake eating his first ever watermelon slice

Anders devouring his

Yay! More than 2 people signed up for the giveaway! I'm looking forward to picking a random winner on Saturday and sending the girl off to someone. I'm in the process of making one for myself but my project has stalled...life just keeps getting in the way of my sewing.

I attempted to make a new ironing board cover last week and that project was a complete and utter mess. I know you can buy one pretty inexpensively, but my recently inflated sewing ego would not let me. Instead of spending 5 dollars I had to go and spend (waste) 20 on fabric, not to mention the 3 precious "free time" hours I gave up to attempt the project. I think that is why the next project I did was the coasters above. It was a sure thing.

Anderson and Jake have gotten into a new hobby of their own. It entails lots of biting, hitting and hair pulling passed back and forth from one brother to another. This morning was absolutely crazy! Anderson insisted on stealing every object that Jake picked up and Jake responded with some serious corporal punishment. He even emphasizes his hitting with "uh, uh, uh" sounds to increase the drama. I had to get them out of the house, so thankfully my sis, Grant and Claire were free for lunch. We did some strolling around the outdoor mall and ate at the family favorite, Baja Fresh.

Saturday Pics

Then...

Now

Swinging at the park
Jake (L) and Anderson (R)

Always heading in opposite directions to keep us on our toes.

Cheers to 2 Years and a Sewing Giveaway!

My blog turned 2 years old this month and my counter is almost up to 10,000 visitors!! Sounds like a great reason to celebrate and have a GIVE AWAY. I always enjoy entering the giveaways on the sewing and craft blogs that I visit so I'm going to have one myself. Just leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered into a drawing to win the above tote bag. It would be a great reusable grocery bag, library tote, or just something cute to lug all your stuff around in. Thanks to Sew Mama Sew for the great tutorial!

So, please, pretty please leave a comment so I'm not embarassed by a giveaway with only 2 entries....my husband and my mother. I'll pick a winner next Saturday, August 2nd! If you mention my giveaway on your blog with a link, I'll count it as two entries for you.

Excuse the drool

Jake Thomas
Androolson James

The boys have had a busy week! I can't believe it is already Thursday. Yesterday they had TWO playdates! In the morning they played at Grant and Claire's house. Jake loved pushing around Claire's bitty twins in the double stroller, which I got a big kick out of. Anderson preferred to examine all the toys in boy's toy box that my sister keeps for when they come over. We had a nice visit and my heart just swells when I see how much the four of them already love and adore eachother. My mind wanders to when Grant and Claire are in high school and the boys will be the age Grant and Claire are now and all the fun we will have going to the football games and watching Grant and Claire play school sports if they choose to do that. So much to look forward to!

In the afternoon we had Ashley and baby Simon over for a playdate at our house. Baby Simon is only 5 weeks old, so he enjoyed himself by just sleeping through the chaos. The boys and Ashley spent some time in the pool, playing outside and eating fruit salad. They had a good time and when it was time for Ashley to leave, Jake cried. It was so sweet, you would have never guessed by their interaction that he was enjoying her so much but it was clear he was so sad to see her go.

Today Uncle Jared came by and we did some shopping. I've been hitting up all the Old Navy's in the area to stock up on summer clothes for next year. I can't believe all the cute shirts I got the boys for 1.99 each! After the shopping we grabbed lunch and dare I say they were so well behaved. After Grandma's birthday dinner fiasco, I was reluctant to take them out but both Anderson and Jake did great! The waitress even complimented them!

Great Grandma Edgar's Birthday

Great Grandma Edgar and Anderson

Jake with a balloon.

Jake and Grandma at dinner

The Edgar family got together yesterday to celebrate Grandma's birthday. We met for dinner but unfortunately the boys and I headed home early. A certain someone didn't want to cooperate, eat their food, or stop saying "uh, uh, uh, uh," while pointing at everything and anything on the table. When it was clear that things weren't going to get better but probably worse, I opted to take the boys home so everyone could enjoy their dinner in peace. Of course that certain someone was as happy as can be to be at home and playing with his toys, totally oblivious to the gray hairs his Dad grew b/c of him in that short 30 minutes. I'd like to say he redeemed himself today, but far from it. He bit me out of anger and it hurt so bad I had tears. My spirited child is really testing his limits lately, a lovely preview of the terrible twos.

pease and fank ooo

Saturdays are my favorite day of the week. We seem to pack so much into one day and Anderson and Jake always have a great time. This morning after the boys woke up and had some milk we headed outside for a morning stroll in their cars. It has been wicked hot around here for the past week so we figured that we better take them out early for some fresh air. We started our walk around 7:30 a.m., so we were probably guilty of waking some neighbors with the loud sound of 8 rickety wheels on concrete. Lately when we go on walks, we purposely walk past all the houses that have their sprinklers on. Anderson and Jake love to touch the water as it sprays out and soak themselves. I'm just waiting for the day that someone yells "get those kids out of my sprinklers lady...". Until that happens, I'll continue to let them finger up everyone's sprinkler heads.

After breakfast (yummy cinnamon french toast with strawberries) we went to Home Depot. The boys love rockin out in the double race car shopping cart. They get so excited when they see the cart and realize what is about to happen. We are in the process of replacing their current mini-blinds with nicer, sturdier wooden blinds so we had to have some custom cut. The machine cutting the blinds scared the beejeezus out of Jake so I did laps around the store with the boys.

Then it was time to head home for lunch and send the little ones off to bed for naptime. When the boys woke from their nap we were out the door again. This time we made a trip to Old Navy, Trader Joes, Parisian, and of course the family favorite (Kevin might disagree) Baja Fresh. The boys ate like wild animals. Cheese, strawberries, oranges, pinto beans, black beans, chicken.... It was an incredible display of gluttony and it made me oh so happy. Usually mealtime is a struggle with one precious unnamed twin and occasionally his counterpart. It was pure bliss to eat my meal without having to catch food flying past my head or having to get down on my knees in a public restaurant to peel smashed food from the floor. The little people even said "pease and fank ooo". I'll have to look outside tonight, maybe a full moon would explain things.

Apronista

Close up

Finished Apron

I made my first apron using this tutorial. We are having a get together this weekend for Kevin's Grandma's birthday. She is a huge cook so I thought making her an apron would be a good gift. I found so many oober cute kitchen themed fabrics but alas I wasn't making it for myself. This material had flowers in it that reminded me of Grandma's couch so I hope she likes it!

It's done!

This is the completed valance. I don't have any hardware yet so I hung it in the boys bathroom to see how it looked.

This is the intended bathroom where it will actually be hung.

Work in progress

Patchwork valance to be

I finally cut my yummy Heather Bailey fabrics in hopes of making a valance to match the fabric panels I made for our half bath. I couldn't decide on just one of the fabrics so I decided to make a patchwork quilt type valance. Right now it is just a long strip of squares sewn together, but fingers crossed it will soon become a window dressing. If I am successful, it will be the first original thing I have sewn without a tutorial or pattern.

The ice cream incident

Cousins and Ice Cream

Cousins watching videos of themselves

Here we go...

Not much left Jake

Anders with an ice cream stash

Not ready to call it a day

Today the boys got to hang out with Grant and Claire and they had a super time! They love spending time with their big cousins and just think the world of them. The highlight of the day was a trip to Dairy Queen for their very first ice cream cup. Chocalate and Vanilla swirl of course. They have tried ice cream before and Jake has even stolen my cone away but today they got one of their very own with a spoon. Anderson and Jake have only practiced with a spoon a handful of times so we brought the camera with us knowing it would be interesting to watch. Major desire for ice cream combined with little skill using a spoon made for a fun time by us but torture for the little people

They started off slowly and it looked like they weren't going to be able to eat very much but before we knew it their cups were almost empty. Jake proceeded to sip the rest of it out of his cup, not wanting to waste a single drip. As you can see from the above picture he had it all over his face and wasn't phased in the least.

Spray Park at Metro Beach

Arriving at Metro Beach..Lake St. Clair in the background

Anderson in the spray

Look out, Jake coming through!

Touch but don't look

Splash, splash

We took the boys to Metro Beach today to the Spray Park. Anderson and Jake had a fantastic time! Jake might be our quiet guy, but you would never know it today. He was so excited to run through the water, touch all of the piping and splash through the puddles. Anderson was equally excited but took a different approach. He'd rather hestitantly touch the sprays and didn't like getting quite as soaked as his brother. Unfortunately the fun was short-lived as the thunderstorms moved in earlier than predicted.

18 month stats

Jake
Height 33 1/2 inches 75-90th percentile
Weight 26lbs. 13 oz. 50-75th percentile

Anderson
Height 33 1/2 inches 75-90th percentile
Weight 25 lbs. 6 oz. 25-50th percentile

The boys had a great appointment. It was a long one, they sent in the resident before the dr. which kinda t'eed me off. Our appointments already take twice as long as a family that brings in one child so we really didn't need the extra half an hour added on. We were in a tiny hot room for an hour and a half which doesn't really equate to serenity with two toddlers. But like most things we survived. Kevin did a great job keeping the boys occupied while I spoke to the dr and answered all the questions. After the appointment, Nanny and Papa took us all out for some pizza at the Office Pub. Jake gave out lots of kisses and Anderson colored some sharp pictures.

Wee Booties

I made these little crib shoes for Kevin's cousin who just had a baby girl. I used fabric from

Amy Butler's Lotus collection...Morning Glory. They just might be the best pair I have made thus far. Only one small flaw that would probably only be noticed by me. YIPPEE!

Belated BBQ pics

Jake and Anderson
Anderson dipping the bubble stick

Jake doing the same
Daddy sending Anderson into a fit of giggles

Keeping tabs on Lucy

Just an FYI- Some of you mentioned you were unable to leave comments previously. I have changed the settings so you can now leave comments without any hassle. HINT HINT! :)

The Blue Angels Redux

This is a video that Auntie Sara made of the boys. Thank you Auntie!!

Extra Long Weekend

Zippered wristlet (front)
Zippered Wristlet (back)

My weekend finds from IKEA. Funny how I spent a lot of time this weekend throwing away and simplifying, yet I went out and bought more stuff.

We had a great long weekend with Kevin home for 4 days. The boys and I love it when Dad is home with us! We were able to get a lot done around the house. I use the term "a lot" in a relative way. "A lot" around here with the boys is trimming ONE tree, cutting the grass, organizing ONE room, cleaning two bathrooms and getting the grocery shopping done. The rest of the time we are just struggling to keep with daily things so that the house doesn't become condemed.

Yesterday the boys enjoyed an afternoon bbq at Grandma's house. I don't have any pics, so Grandma or Auntie please send some over and I'll post them. Per usual Jake pigged out and Anderson threw his food all over the floor. They have a well visit on Wednesday and I predict Jake will weigh in a few pounds larger than his brother. These days it seems Anderson is living on fruit.

I had some time to do some sewing yesterday. I attempted my first zipper project. I used this tutorial to make a wristlet. I had some leftover fabic so all I needed to purchase was a zipper. I'm still mulling over the window valance, I have some ideas but I chickened out when it came to cutting the fabric. Next up is some baby booties for family members who have recently had babies.

Fabric Panels

New fabric panels in half bath

View from the other side

My favorite pattern

Some new wall decor

The bubbies

Awhile back I had purchased some beautiful Heather Bailey fabric from the Fabric Closet. I was going to make a handbag out of it, but after making the pain in the arse diaper bag, making another bag didn't sound very appealing. Then I found this idea on another crafter's blog and I thought the colors of the fabric would work perfectly in our half bath. The half bath is in need of some refreshing, so this afternoon I quickly made some new fabric panels to hang. They came out very nice and now I'm contemplating making a coordinating window valance. Sounds beyond my expertise level so that idea is on hold.



We've lived in our home for 5.5 years now and since we moved in we have never been able to come up with an idea for the very large empty wall in our living room that leads to the basement. The wall is about 25 feet tall from the bottom of the open stairs to the cathedral ceiling There was also the problem of trying to hang something on a wall without being able to balance a ladder due to the stairs. We'll we finally figured something out. On our last trip to IKEA we purchased some wall shelves, combine that with our new professional pics of the boys and voila. Thankfully with Kevin's long reach and some tricky balancing we managed to create a altar of worship to our Gods.

For my boys

Jake's half birthday last year...6 months old
Jake's half birthday this year...18 months

Dear Jake,

Your warm and gentle nature is awe inspiring. The love you share with your family is geniune and precious. You find humor and fun in the most simple of things. You love animals, especially dogs. Some of your favorite activities include rides in your little car, pushing around your lawn mower, and exploring different rooms in the house. You are a quiet soul and I know if you could talk you wouldn't say a cross word about anyone. Daddy and I love the nuzzling you do with us before we put you to bed and there is nothing more sweet than seeing your little bed head in the morning whilst you tell us stories of your journies through the night. We love you Jakey, you are a special little boy.

Anderson's half birthday last year...6 months

Anderson's half birthday this year...18 months

Dear Anderson,

You are the brightest star in the sky. Your smile is contagious and your loving heart can be seen by all. You love to interact with others, kindly saying hello to everyone in your path. You have an incredible love for learning and a curiousity that is endless. Books are your favorite activity and you are so happy when someone reads to you. You patiently listen while waiting to turn the pages and often you add your own commentary to the story. You have a great sense of others emotions, always offering a hug and a kiss just when someone needs it the most. Jake is your best buddy, when he is upset you always offer him a toy or a hug to cheer him up. Daddy and I love to cuddle up with you and teach you new things. We love you Anders, you are a special boy.