For Sam

A book bag for Sam was today's project.

I really like how it turned out.

I know he liked it because he actually said, "Thank you,"

OUT LOUD!

I think it mattered that I made his first.

It's rough being in the middle.

The outside is Cars fabric and the inside is denim blue.

I like finished projects...

Want-To-Do List

Seeing as I have plenty of To-Do Lists, I thought it was about time I had one of these.

None of the kids sleep well when Scott is out of town and last night was no exception.  I don't know if I got any real sleep at all.  It sure was fun to wake up to my first project all cut and laid out to be sewn.  Yippee for me!

And here's my first project... DONE!

Close up of the fabric...

Close up of the inside because, yeah, it's reversible!

Jack

I heart you.

Change

Here's where I wax eloquent, be prepared.

Nine weeks.  We have nine weeks of school left.  Nine weeks before the movers start boxing up all that stuff that makes any house our home.  Nine weeks to cherish friends we may never see again.  Nine weeks to anticipate.  Nine weeks to purge and make priorities and write lists and organize my books.  Nine weeks isn't very long to get it all done.  Nine weeks is a long time to wait.

Raisin Toes

If you play in a water bucket with your running shoes on and then your Daddy takes you to the park for a couple hours, when you finally get home to your Mama, who is the only person who understands when you say, "Sock off", even if you are clear as day, and she neatly whips off your shoes and knows to let you take off your socks all by yourself because you are NOT a baby, then you might be able to show her your raisin toes and raisin feet and she will laugh at your Daddy because come on, how could he miss that your feet are shriveling up into alien feet, did he even check???, and she will not let you try to pick off the bottom of your feet because she has lots of common sense, unlike some parents, I mean people.

Nap in a Lap

Could be the last time I hold one of my children while they sleep.

There ought to be a Hallmark card for moments like this.

Something weepy and sentimental...

nothing like what really went down.

"Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?" asked by older child who obviously does not appreciate this MOMENT I'm having.  I say nothing.  I shut my eyes.  I try to block out the noise of EVERYONE ELSE and cherish my baby, these are the times that fly by so fast for crying out loud.  Then I notice that even though another adult is actually in the room, I don't hear anyone else volunteering to put food on the table.  Is it possible that no one notices this MOMENT???  So I throw subtle out the window and announce, "This could be the last time I hold one of my children while they sleep!"  They stare at me like I'm speaking Farsi, I can tell they are wondering if that statement somehow translates to, "I'm making dinner in a jiffy!"  Know when you're beaten.  "Could you at least take a picture for me?"  Sulk in the kitchen while I make dinner and watch everyone have fun playing tag in the yard, even the baby that was so MINE just a few moments before.  Ain't no Hallmark card for that scenario.

Kaden

Kind of makes my heart grow another size larger...

We really did go on vacation

Who is that masked man?

Wild Horses..., but next time we'll get the Lexus.  

Middle age, we're there.

One of the lovely art galleries we perused.  Perusing is something you can do if you don't have children with you.  Cussing is what you do (hopefully not out loud) when you lose your marbles and bring the little darlings with you for the educational value.

See what a little perusing can do to me.  

Not a care in the world in the lovely Shanandoah Valley.

Officially Available, the house that is

Well, we secured our home in Virginia so it was time to list the ol' house-a-roo.  Such stress I could not have imagined...

The fantastic realtor wasn't too happy to announce that we could end up paying $15,000 at closing.  Apparently this whole "economy in the tank" thing is real enough.  Seeing as we can't afford to pay Virginia the $6500 we owe them to secure the lease AND pay our closing fees here in Texas, we put the homestead up for rent last night at ten.  This morning we had three inquiries and we even showed it this afternoon.  I hope this is the right step... I'm so glad we are renting in Virginia!  It makes me want to wait a long time before we buy again.

A little math

Chloe's room minus Chloe equals CLEAN.

Hey There, Delilah

Finally, my very own Dyson vacuum.  

She works like a dream.

We named her Delilah.

She's a beauty, she's mine.

The decrepit Hoover is no more.

Not exactly what I was expecting

What happened to the photo I thought I took?  The one where Chloe and Abby posed with their baskets I made, all filled up with the eggs we dyed.  Either I was hallucinating or this shot went off a second prematurely.  Abstract?  Why yes, that's the way I roll with Easter photos, you know.  I think I'll blow it up and frame it.  Maybe title it, "Why no one ever asks me to take photos at the family reunions."

Sometimes pictures are deceiving

It was so nerve-racking to look for a house.  The first one we saw when we got to Virginia was the one we liked best... till we saw it and wondered where the other 1000 sq.ft. was located.  It was so much smaller than our house, but it was listed as 300 sq.ft. larger!  It was a realtor's definition of "cozy"!  Crazy...  So we drove around bummed out that maybe square footage was calculated on a smaller foot here in Virginia and spied out all the other homes on our list.  Not happy times.  Too old, too small, too ugly, come on now-- is this for real?  What are people thinking?  There is guesstimate and then there is deception or insanity.  Either way, it didn't look like renting was going to be an option.  Then we drove by the first house we looked at online and it looked promising from the outside.  We met a realtor while we were out cruising for homes and decided that if the Wakefield house didn't deliver, we would have to think about buying and renovating... not exactly what we were planning on spending our free time on!  After about five minutes in the house we were practically beaming, I'm sure.  It was big enough and renovated enough and in a great area of Alexandria AND we could afford it!  Happiness all around.  Woo-hoo!  And trees, my goodness, big ol' beautiful trees!  Can't wait to move!

Shove

In all fairness, I did ask him to eat his sandwich.

Faces to love

Jack

Sam

Abby

A lovely shade of green

Amy gifted us a bit of this black and white fabric.  

I love it with that beautiful green!  

Chloe rocks in green!  It's totally twirly, too!

A Tiskit, A Tasket

Today, I made some baskets!  Easter baskets, that is, for the girls.  I had so much fun designing them myself, even though I took the first one apart four times until I got it just right.  The first one took over six hours (lots of kid care in there, of course), but the second one was start to finish in less than half an hour!  The picture is not zoomed enough, those are darling butterflies printed there.  I've got the boys all ready to go for tomorrow, fun, fun, fun!