grandpa camp

We just got home from a week of Grandpa Camp in NE Maryland.
The whole family was there for most of the week and we had a great time relaxing, catching up and playing with the cousins.

We went to the county fair...

made stepping stones for grandpa's yard...

and hiked to the creek at the nature preserve across the street from Grandpa's house.

Grandpa had daily activities for the kids.

We dared each other the touch the electric fence...

had a crab feast...

toured the Herr's snack factory...

and made bird houses to hang in our yards.
We swam every day, did a little shopping, snuck off to Starbucks for a girls morning out, drank too much soda and ate too much dessert... all in all it was a wonderful vacation!

wip list: crochet pillow

I made these flower granny squares a couple years ago thinking they would make a fun throw pillow, but they sat and sat in the bottom of my yarn bucket until about 6 months ago when I cleaned out my yarn and took them to Miss Mary's (the lady who taught me and Regan to crochet). The next time we visited she surprised me by stitching them together and putting that pretty boarder around the edge. I thanked her and brought home my pillow top only to let it sit in my WIP pile until I uncovered in last week.I was happy to cross another thing on my WIP list, only 4 projects left!

wip list: pillows for bed

My bed is finally starting to look complete with some fun pillow cases and throws to match the quilt. It is so much more fun to make the bed in the morning when it all goes together so nicely :)
I'm still working on my WIP list. I've got a few more things crossed off, like some pajama pants I made for the boy's (sorry, no pictures) and a crochet project that has been sitting in my yarn bucket for months (will post pics of that soon).

crossing things off the wip list

I finally fixed these napkins I made almost two years ago. I did not realize until it was too late that the backing fabric was NOT prewashed and so they were all wonky when I washed them! I tried to live with it but couldn't so they sat in the WIP pile for 6 months before my mom ripped them all apart for me and then went back to the WIP pile to be worked on only when feeling really guilty that they were STILL in the WIP pile. I am glad to say that they are D.O.N.E.!

random

Adelaide's favorite hiding place :)

I gave Micah a mohawk the other day...

and an accidental bald spot, you can sorta see it on the right side of his head... Oops!
I'll probably shave it off before the weekend.

I've crossed off 4 things from my WIP list and am about to jump back in and do some more this afternoon. I'll post pictures soon.

Tallulah won our "2011 Clean Room Challenge", she kept her room clean for a whole month! The other kids did a great job too, but Lu was the champ, so she got a little something extra- a $10 Build a Bear Card (that I got 50% off awhile back and have been saving for a special occasion). So today we went to the Build a Bear Workshop and she picked out a new bear.
She refused to pose with her bear, Emily, so this is the best pic I got :)

on the james river

One of my husbands co-workers invited our family out on his boat last Saturday. It turned out to be a beautiful day, sun shinning, temps in the mid 80's and a nice breeze on the water.

I was worried about what it would be like having an 18 month old on a boat all morning, but she was a champ.

The kids got the fish for the first time and Regan and Max both caught a fish or two.

The fishing, although exciting, was soon abandoned to climb into the beckoning water...
and then onto the raft for some tubing.

Luckily the rocking of the boat won out and Addie slept like this for the second half of our outing.
It was a wonderful start to our weekend. Thanks Jerry!

5!!!!

Tallulah turned 5 yesterday! I can't believe it. She is growing up so fast :(

We, according to family tradition, started our morning with Tallulah opening her presents on our bed, everyone still in their PJ's.

Tallulah was happy to pose in her birthday dress (a present from Grandma) before church.

After Church some friends came over for lunch to help celebrate. Tallulah had requested spaghetti for lunch and homemade ice cream cake.

After our friends headed home Regan gave Tallulah a makeover...
and the boys set the table for an afternoon tea party.

Happy 5th Birthday sweet girl!

grounded

I cleaned off my sewing desk last night and made a list of just the unfinished projects I found piled on the desk. (The desk was piled so high I have not been able to sew on it for weeks... or months. My sewing machine has found a new home of the dining room table.)

So, I have officially grounded myself from starting anything new until I finish these projects (plus sewing for the shop, I still have some more camera straps to finish and list and possibly a few custom orders).
I will let you know how I am progressing. I am hoping to get through this pile quickly cause I've got some projects I really want to get started on!

bunting is in the shop

Thanks for your patience with all my shameless self-promotion these days :)
If you are interested, you can check out my shop here.

bunting

I started making bunting the other day and I am totally hooked. It is so much fun! Here is what I have made so far. As soon as I figure out pricing I will be putting them in the shop.

There are my little crocheted flowers from yesterday's post, just a little extra cuteness :)

just a little peek...

at what I am working on right now...
More pictures soon :)

cathcing up

We dropped another kid at camp this morning. This is Micah's first time, and he was pretty excited, he's been trying to pack for a week :)
I think it made it easier for him to go knowing his sister has gone twice and having seen a lot of the counselors last week when we were dropping off/picking up Regan.

I finally got a hair cut yesterday... it's only been 21 months since my last!
I am still not sure what I think of all those bangs... I know I am NOT happy that she cut them CROOKED! Oh well, it's only hair :)

Awhile back one of the ladies at church gave me this serger that she was not using. I was super excited, since I had one on my birthday wish list. Unfortunately life has been so busy that I did not find the time to sit down and figure out how it works until last week!
I am so glad I finally pulled out the manual and got the thing threaded- finishing hems with this is SO much easier than with the zig zag stitch on my regular machine!

I started this table cloth months ago, but have been waiting to get the serger working to to the edges.
It was inspired by this table cloth on Aesthetic Nest.

I have been wanting to teach Regan how to make friendship bracelets for awhile, so I was super excited to find this on The Purl Bee over the weekend! I may have been a bit too ambitions when I started this one!

Lastly, today is day 30 of our Whole30, but really we ended it yesterday. Some friends invited us out for lunch and we ended up at a pizza place... pretty hard to find something grain and dairy free at a pizza joint! Even after that I still find myself reaching for the Whole30 approved foods for meals and snacks. Although I do not plan to continue eating "Paleo" now that we are done, I do hope that my eating habits really are changed for the better. I lost a total of 8 pounds during the 30 days (I think my hubby lost 15!) and for the most part had more energy (except for when I stayed up too late).

Okay, enough of my random rambling, we are headed to 7-11 for free Slurpee's (since it is 7/11). Hope you are having a wonderful Monday!