Innocent bystander

If I wasn't a mormon, I think I'd be a coffee drinker. For now I fill the need with hot chocolate, flavored to french vanilla with my favorite CoffeeMate. I just love having a warm glass in my chilly hands and snuggling up on the couch to sip it, especially when the rain is drizzling and the wind is blowing. My favorite mug is one my talented brother-in-law made with it's own curlicue handle that's perfect for twisting my finger around. It's a big mug, which I love because that means I can have not just 6, (one packet) but 12 oz. of warm deliciousness. (Please do not comment about the caloric intake of 12 oz. of hot chocolate....I don't wanna know.)

Today was a sad day for me when I pulled something out of the oven, burned my hand and let go of the pan only to have it land on my much-loved mug. The curlicue was shattered, I gasped, Rob made some half-empathetic comment and I had to give him the "don't mess with me, this is serious" glare. (It's the same one I use with bad hair days, being unable to find an outfit, and an unfortunate color choice for my pedicure) Granted the cup could still work but it's just not the same without that handle. I'm a little choked up just writing this right now. So I mourn the loss and hope that tomorrows weather doesn't call for rain. And oh so talented brother-in-law, if you're reading this (he's so not) or your wife is (she totally is), my half-birthday is coming up!

The Golden Arches down on the farm

So Rob is out of town tonight and I have been feeling under the weather due to allergies so Ava and I decided to just do McDonald's for dinner. However, after giving her some chicken nuggets with ranch dressing to dip them in, I turned around to find the dressing completely gone and all of the nuggets still sitting there minus one bite. This is the conversation we had:

Me: Ava are you gonna eat your nuggets?

Ava: No want it.

Me: Eat your nuggets, you can't just eat the dressing.

Ava: No.

Me: Are you just going to eat ranch dressing for dinner? You should have told me that, it would have been much cheaper than going to McDonald's.

Ava: E-I-E-I-O

I have talented friends..............

So my friend is an amazing photographer. And lucky for me, she barters away her skills. I traded a homemade soap container for those darling snow pictures some of you saw on our Christmas card. This week it was her turn for the babysitting co-op that we do and she told us to dress the kids cute because she was going to take pictures. I offered to pay/trade her and she told me it's just her little thing she does with the kids. She said "You make crafts with them, I take pictures." Surely she is not comparing the cotton ball sheep ornament and the paper plate tamborine we made to the beautiful pictures she takes. But even if she is, who am I to complain? Just look at the darling Easter pics I got out of the deal.

Just behind the pickle

Here is the conversation we had with Ava this afternoon:

Rob: Ava, do you love daddy?
Ava: No, I yuv mommy.
Abby: Who else do you love?
Ava: I love peeekles (pickles).
Ava: I love daddy.
Rob: Great. I rank behind the pickles.

Camp Jellystone

We went camping this past weekend with some friends of ours. We went down near San Antonio to a place where we certainly weren't "roughing" it. Although we slept in a tent, the place also had an indoor pool and showers. Ava really enjoyed herself and getting dirty with her friends and I forgot how much I love sitting around a campfire at night having a good chat. Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Horsey Horsey we're on our way.........

Apparently the kindergarten teachers in our area get together over coffee so they can brainstorm nightmarish homework projects that will drive parents crazy. Or that's the way my friend Michele sees it. Each year, the kindergarten kids have a "Rodeo Roundup" (whatever that is) and as part of that are required to bring to school a handmade stick horse that they make with their parents. I do not have a child in Kindergarten. My friend Michele does. Michele called me this morning to tell me she was up all night watching "How to make a horse" videos and trying to cut out a horse head from felt and then finally deciding to use a sock for a head but not knowing how to do it exactly or what to do about the yarn for the mane, etc. I think she told me at one point (around 3 a.m. last night) she was in tears. Tears we cannot have. So tonight, after all the kiddos were asleep, Michele came over with her sock and a few supplies and here is what we came up with. Just another testament that two heads are better than one......or three if you count the horse. Here is Michele taking it for a test drive!

Proof is in the Pudding Pictures

I have been a blog slacker, I admit it. The last time I posted was, well I can't even remember without looking it up. But, in my defense, I haven't been just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I have been BUSY. And I have pictures to prove it. So hopefully I'll be forgiven for not being around for awhile. Here's the story. A friend of mine is having twin baby girls and my friend Tracey and I decided to make her some cute hooded towels and one thing turned to another and pretty soon it was way more than hooded towels (though we did those too). It was a good thing I didn't get into it by myself because I seriously couldn't have done all that sewing without Tracey around to chase after Ava quite a bit. So without further ado, here ya go:

The Booties...............why is everything cuter when it's tiny and in pairs?


I posted these before but had to include them again as part of the whole package.

The onesie dress

And the culprit that started the whole project - the hooded towels! It's hard to tell from this picture but they are very shabby chic.......it even said so on the tag.

And then you put it all together and it looks like this: Or this:

So now that that's over I should be back with some regularity at least. And at the request of Marie, in the next week or so I will post the instructions for how I make the hooded towels, even though it's nothing fancy.