-Sunday-

I have been working on my sampler in the evenings and enjoying it so much.  I am further along than this now, but I will show more next week.  I am in love with this variegated thread.  I really think it makes each sampler unique because everyone's thread is going to be a little bit different.

We have also been doing a little bit of baking.  I love baking.  There is nothing better than a freshly baked goodie fresh from the oven.  These are Glazed Doughnut Muffins.  One of my favorite recipes that I have found via Pinterest.  These muffins use basic ingredients that most people have in their pantry so they can be made pretty much year round.  They are a perfect combination of doughnut and muffin. 

We also got a bunch of Granny Smith apples, and we made our first apple pie of the season.  Lets just say there is only one slice left, and we just made it yesterday....*rubs belly*

-seven-

She turned seven last week!  Sometimes it really does catch me by surprise that she isn't my little toddler anymore.  She is growing up to be such a sweet, lovely girl.  I just want to hold on tight and bottle up her eagerness and zest for life.

I made her the bento box carrier in "Little Things to Sew".  She loves pouring over that book and has been asking me to make her this for months.  I used a Japanese fabric with Princess and the Frog that I got over the summer at Super Buzzy.

I think the reason she loved it so much was because of the inside.  She loved the little appliqued plate and utensils.  So, of course, I made sure to include that.  

This is definitely a project I would never have picked one my own.  However, it really wasn't hard, and I got it done over a few nights.  It was my first time making cut out handles, and they are easy!  Now I want to make more things with cut out handles. ;0) I love when you discover that something that looks intimidating really isn't.  Plus, when she opened it she was delighted and thanked me over and over.  So. worth. it.

We took the two older girls to Disneyland to celebrate, and they had a wonderful time!  It was their first time, and I think they were the perfect age.

They loved the rides and other attractions, but all they really cared about was meeting the characters from their favorite movies.  We got all their autographs and pictures with each one, and we have plans to assemble a little book.

My favorite picture of the whole trip.  

We were waiting in line to see Minnie,  and Felicity saw this little girl.  She went over, and they started discussing and comparing which princesses they had met.  

The face!  The crossed legs!  Gah!  I can't help but giggle.  Clearly, this was quite a serious venture we were on.

Happy birthday to my dear, dear girl!

-crafty fun-

1. Blackbird Fly by Poppyprint, 2. Hangin' With My Gnomie PTS8, 3. patchwork tote, 4. Scraparadise, 5. Triple dresden on Kona raisin, 6. glamour shot, 7. Spool Pillow, 8. Nicey Jane hexies, 9. SG quilt progress report, 10. IMG_6091, 11. Elephants on Parade, 12. hexagon pillow 2, 13. Pillow Talk Swap (ready to send), 14. My Pillow Talk Swap from Little Miss Shabby, 15. Pillow swap - finished!, 16. 100th post prize cushion

The baby is finally sleeping a little better.  She even sometimes naps at the same time as the two year old in the afternoon.  Bliss!  We are starting week five of school and getting a good rhythm.  So, I am excited to have a little more crafty time. 

I am joining in the Pillow Talk Swap this round!  This is my fourth time, and it is such a fun swap.  The pillows that come out of this swap are almost all swoon worthy!  So excited for a fun challenge.  I believe there are still a few spots left open currently if you have been wanting to join in on the fun of this one.

(image from Alicia Paulson at http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/)

Ginny over at Small Things is also hosting a stitch along for Alicia Paulson's Winterwoods ABCs cross stitch sampler.  I love the slow pace of stitching this throughout the fall to have ready for winter.  I like more yarny and handstitch projects in the fall and winter.  There is something so cozy about curling under a quilt and stitching.  Not that we are really anywhere close to really needing quilts right now, but a girl can dream. ;0)  

Kids Clothes Week is coming up in October!  Yay!  I really want to make a few things for the fall.   Some skirts for the girls and maybe some pants and a vest for the little man? 

 Do you have any fun crafty plans?  

-tin can caddy-

This is a project I found via Pinterest, and I was immediately excited to make it.  I started collecting cans and got a nice little assortment.  Then they...sat. for. months.

 However, a few weeks ago I went and bought some Modge Podge, grabbed some scraps, and got to work.  I have never used Modge Podge before!  Fun stuff!  I was introduced to all sorts of fun things to make when I was in the Modge Podge aisle at Michael's.  :0)

The caddy is perfect for holding all my crafty supplies, and I love having it on the lazy susan.  Brilliant.  I can sit and not have to move my lazy butt to reach the essentials. :0)

In the tutorial she has you hang the little cans on the big can, which I think looks really cool.  However, I am lazy and just stuck the cans around the bigger one.  The nice thing about that though is it makes the little cans more versatile, and you can move them to a different location if your heart should so desire.

So, there you have it...go forth and collect some tin cans!

Also, Michelle Patterns has just released an awesome new document on how to format PDF patterns!  I just bought it, and it is full of useful info on formatting, wording, and all the little nitty gritty technical stuff that goes into putting together a PDF pattern.  She is offering it at 50% off until Sunday with the code: patternmaking!

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

My friend, Jen, recently came over and brought me this beautiful dresden pillow!  It is so lovely.  I love all the neutrals.  It goes perfectly on my red couch, which is so hard to make pillows for.  Not many things go with a red couch.  I am blessed in my friendship with Jen.  It was one of those friendships that God provided at just the right time, and she is just so much fun to hang out and laugh with.   

{happy}

Juliana had her first day of enrichment classes at the charter school we are enrolled in for homeschoolers.  She gets to go to school one day a week and is taking a farm animal class and a camping class.  She *loved* the whole thing.  I was told she learned about animal poop (manure), constellations, and that the boys were not very good at listening.

{funny}

Josiah set up all his dinosaurs under his crib.  He excitedly showed them to me.  When I called the kids downstairs for lunch, we found him fast asleep.  Hard work admiring your perfectly lined up dinosaurs.

{real}

Josiah's interest in books has really peaked lately.  He asked for a cup of water, placed it on the table, ran for a book, and sat down to enjoy.  Guess he has been watching the rest of us.  So sweet.

However, this is how I found him "reading" this morning after we were finished with school. *sigh*  At least he left one book on the bookshelf.

-smashing-

Something I started this summer was a Smash book!  I admit that I am terrible about documenting things about our family.  I was first introduced to the Smash book idea through Gwen when she was giving one away for her birthday.  I totally fell in love with the idea of just writing and pasting all the little bits of our life.

So, I bought the pink one to use for the family. I am doing it Project Life-ish style.- except monthly instead of weekly.  There is no way I could keep up if I tried to do it weekly!  I add little thoughts about the kids and all the things we have done throughout the month.  It is fun to have a place to write down all the funny things they say and a place to paste the sweet little things they are always drawing and making.

I like to use PicMonkey for the pictures.  I upload pictures from my iPhone and camera and make little collages. You can either keep them as one or cut them out for little Polaroid style pictures.  It makes it much easier to fit everything in, and then I don't have to print tons of pictures.  I have been having so much fun with this one for our family I also bought one for me to use more as personal journal for me.  I went with the orange one since it was a little simpler in style and had more pages for writing.

In an effort to get my act together even more in the photo department I also made Felicity and Josiah's baby books using Shutterfly.  It was so easy!  Besides uploading the pictures it didn't take much effort to put them together.  I am definitely going this route again for Samantha.  I also love how flat they are in comparison to how bulky regular photo albums can be.

From Josiah's...

From Felicity's...  

Now I don't have to feel guilty about the kids only being able to pull out Juliana's baby book to admire and ooohh over!

-rainbows and more-

So, I am trying to finish off some of my unfinished small projects because I just ordered some pretty yarn, but before I use it I told myself I would finish all those pesky small things I still have lying around. Why is it so much fun to start a new project even when you have so many others just waiting to be finished?  This iPhone case was the first thing cross stitched off the list! ;0)  Rainbow chevrons! Fun and bright!  I bought this one from Amazon.  It isn't the greatest quality but it looks cute on!  One thing to be aware of though is that the grid is rather large so if you want to do a more intricate pattern I would probably choose a case like this.

We started back to school a couple of weeks ago.  Our year is going well so far.  I really put a lot of thought and effort into our curriculum this year because I learned a lot from last year and got a better idea of exactly where Juliana struggles and what she is interested in.  I also keep it simple.  Learning is supposed to be fun, and it is clear to me that at this age that the most important thing is for the kids to  love to learn.  Our resource teacher at the charter school tested Juliana on what she should know by the end of the year,  and she did awesome.  In fact, she did more than awesome.  *whew*  I am not a failure. ;0)  I keep seeing all these first day of school pictures, and I admit I didn't get one of the girls.  Their hair was messy, and their outfits were mismatched.   We had a great first day though!  One of the things we are learning about are the Works of Mercy.  Juliana and I were thinking of ways for her to help clothe the naked and came up with the idea for her to sew a dress for a little girl who needs one.  She loved sewing it and did most of the work except the binding.  We will be sending this little pillow case dress off to Little Dresses for Africa.

Soccer season has also started up again!

Juliana came up with the name for her team "Star Girls", and the girls all voted for hers.  She originally came up with the "Green Jelly Beans", which I think we were secretly disappointed didn't get picked. ;0)