What he said!

When I took the kids to Jamestown, VA, we saw a forty-something man wearing a shirt with a silhouette of Ronald Reagan on it. The shirt read, "What he said!"

One of the young volunteers (with no memory of the Reagan administration) scoffingly asked, "Oh, yeah, what did he say?"

Clearly undaunted by pubescent scorn, the man answered, "Free enterprise, individual liberty...that sort of thing."

I'm always taken aback by the clarity and integrity you hear when you listen to one of Ronald Reagan's speeches. They're still very applicable today. Listen to his response when the democrats pushed socialized medicine years ago.

What he said!...including the "write your congressman" part!

On The Line

I admit it. I've always been a bit of a rebel, and now I'm a hardcore rule-breaker. I hung up a clothes line in my back yard, which is completely prohibidado in my neighborhood. I'm just trying to be a nice enough neighbor that no one turns me in.

My dryer appeared to be broken (in other words, not drying anything), so I rushed out and bought this small clothes line. Thank goodness Tony is smarter than me. He changed the settings on the dryer and WHALAA...it works again. The clothes line is cute anyhow.

Annalia: You'll notice that it's 45 here AND I'm going 45.
Tony: Wow. The speed limit finally caught up with you.
(This is why he normally does the driving...and so I can crochet or sew in the car. What a luxury!)

Sofia about go-fish: Having keen ears is good in this game. Having sharp eyes in this game is cheating.

Tony: You know, if I get into medical school (and we're poor for the next four to seven years), you aren't going to be able to buy a Diet Coke with a shot of vanilla from McDonald's every day.
Annalia: I know. I'm living it up while I can.

After a couple weeks of having Tony home WAY more than usual, I think we've finally settled into a bit of a routine. He has come to terms with some of the idiosyncrasies he had forgotten about, and I no longer feel like I "have company I need to entertain" when he's home. It's nice.

Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe

I couldn't resist this little number at Goodwill the other day (when we bought our crutches). I love a functional sidetable, especially next to my bed. Everyone needs a lamp and someplace to stow their books and sundries...an arm's reach away. Now, what color....?

My Blue-Ribbon Babes

We went to the Kitsap County Fair today. Grandma Cozette came along, although I somehow didn't get a single picture of her! :( I did get the other Cozette, once she finally got bored and passed out.


Sofia hurt her ankle on a slide yesterday, so we made a little pit stop at Goodwill on the way - crutches. Walking on crutches is apparently harder than it looks, so we found some abandoned strollers. One for James. One for Sofia. She didn't seem to mind being wheeled around. I think I heard her say "Mush!" a few times, when Anthony was pushing.


We found the girls' sewing entries, and it was blue ribbons all around!




The Sewing Camp Ladies were running a "make a stuffed animal" booth, so Hannah and Sofia both made horses (which we subsequently forgot in our strollers).


ate some fair food (calorie-free, like Grandma said)....rode some rides....so tired

Anthony's Favorite Booth at the Fair

Anthony wants to enlist. Armored personnel carriers. Some sort of automatic (unloaded) weapon. He entered a raffle to win a fighting knife and got to knock a door down with a sledge hammer. Happy day in Anthony land.


Even Sofia limped over to one of the guns.

Ooo...How Domestic of Me!

Here I am, modeling Sarah's birthday present, looking as if I were cleaning. I certainly was not! To quote a post card I recently purchased, "Housework never killed anyone, but why risk it?" ...especially when you're busy finishing someone's present, risking being late for their sure-to-be-magnificent party!

My Explanation

Ok. I thought everyone already read this story on facebook, so I just posted the pictures to go with it.

The other day, as I was jumping in the shower after an (extremely infrequent) run, I caught a glimpse of my sports bra on the floor. I though it had "ample" stamped on the inside and was confused by this bizarre sizing aproach....until my brain started working.

It said "sample".

...which is good, because I'm not sure what they would use for their other sizes, if "ample" was a medium/large.
I would hate for someone to have "scant" or "oh my goodness!" stamped on theirs.

Size

Want to blog. Have to sew.

Baby Pouches

I got a new baby pouch (Hot Slings) at Target for $2.50! I love seeing Cozy peek out of it. It makes me feel just like a mama kangaroo...without all of the hopping.

Foodie Saturday

Why do I blog about food so often? I don't know. Maybe I'm just hungry? Maybe it's because I live near Cosmos Italian Ristorante, which has raised my food expectations. I want food that is yummy and interesting. Foodie Saturday is a good chance to taste things I wouldn't have come up with on my own.
Like....


...or.....


Also, there's the whole gelato addiction. Now they have Mango and Mint (but not together). It turns out that my husband is not against nut-flavored gelato as a rule. He liked the Pistatio, just not Hazelnut (which I adore!)


I love my sister-in-law, who is visiting this weekend. We were standing in front of the gelato cooler.
Annalia: Can I try the Mint? (I take my little spoonful - yum.)
Beth: Can I try all of them?
Nice Gelato Lady: Sure. As long as I don't run out of little spoons.

Beth's my hero.

Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo, Fishy in the Sea....

What a sweet movie. BooBoo and Jon especially enjoyed it. Tony....not so much. Very visual, colorful and it took it's time. The little fish girl reminded me of Cozette...maybe it was the ruffled bloomers?

The Projects

Ok. These are the not top-secret, birthday present projects. I'll post those once they've actually been gifted away. I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Project #1: Cutifying Socks. I never thought that crochet-decorated socks were very cute, since I'd always seen them in tacky colors, covered in pony beads or jingle bells, but Jessica converted me. I think they were the candles on the diaper cake she made me? Also, a fun project to do in the car (if you aren't driving!) Love them. Don't be shocked if I send you some in the mail.


Project #2: Bibs. I couldn't bring myself to buy them as a gift, so I made a few. Now I'm hooked. They're way too much fun and way too easy. I can't stop making them from all of the random fabrics I have laying around.


Plus, Cozy thinks they're yummy.


Projects #s 3,4, and 5 are all quilts...I'll save those for another post...another day.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

...about the house James and Beth are buying.

That one of the neighboring houses has a field of corn and sunflowers in their front yard. Awesome! Dad backs me up on that. He now wants to till up their entire yard and plant corn. Poor Mom.


The gorgeous espalier.


Outdoor fireplace.


This intoxicatingly scented mystery herb. Don't you dare pull it up! I would be happy to rehab this little brick porch-ette for you. It would take all of ten minutes.


The children and I are filled with envy! We can't wait to find a cute little house of our own some day. I think the two of you are just what this home needs. A pinch of effort and a dash of style - I'm sure you'll love it. Let's have a rhody-killing, wallpaper-peeling party when you move in!

Cozette's New Hobby

Cozette has found her thumb. We are so proud of her.

...and you were right, Mary. I LOVE that outfit. I nearly bought it the week before, but resisted the temptation. Good thing, huh?

2 Scoops-A-Day Keeps the....Skinny Away

...because we wouldn't want to catch the skinnys - that would be horrible!

In all honesty, it was WAY more than two scoops and I'm sure one of the best days of my life....food-wise.

After doing all of our homey chores Saturday morning (watering the grass, dishes...ahem..sewing), we took off to the Fairgrounds. (The girls are entering their sewing projects.)

We were forced into a Cosmos detour (since we had to return a Redbox movie), so I got my panini fix, with a little gelato on the side.


Notice that I didn't even wait to take the picture before digging in. I couldn't help it - they had new flavors! Blackberry, peach, hazelnut...but we wouldn't want our old friend coconut to feel left out. In my defense - they were very tiny scoops...and I shared!


We filled out fair entry forms and then headed up to the Kingston ferry. Super long line when we got there, so we killed a little time at the local quilt shop (where Sofia decided she wants to start quilting - horse quilts only) and J'aime Le Crepes.


Such yumminess. The kids didn't save me any of the strawberry-chocolate crepe, but left me a few bites of the blueberry.


At J'aime Le Crepes, you can also get a rather rare kind of ice cream - Honey Lavender. Yum. I got the biggest serving they had, since I was going to share bites all around.


Only James was interested in bites of Honey Lavender. Tony said, "That tastes like little-old-lady bathrooms smell." Bummer. I was FORCED to consume most of it myself.


Saturday summary: Trip to Grandma's house. Lots of yums.

My Bug-Eyed Boys

Here are my cute little boys in the bug glasses they bought at the dollar store. ...and the pictures are blurry because they DO NOT hold still.

We're going through an adjustment phase in our household. There is someone here now who gets my oil changed and notices when I need air in my tires. He makes breakfast and changes diapers. He also notices when I buy a diet coke from McD's every day (it isn't as good from a bottle/can) and grounds my naughty kids from the lake (I don't ground children from things I want to do). SO - overall a good adjustment - but an adjustment nonetheless.

A Dozen Down....

...so I only have about 58 more to go. I'm working on a nine-patch quilt from Crazy Mom Quilts, but it's hard to make a scrappy quilt when you're fairly new to quilting. Not many scraps to be had. And I'm determined to have a huge variety of fabrics in this quilt. I love every single fabric on my nine-patch.

When I was a little girl, I loved to look at the different fabrics on the quilts at my Grandma Cozette's house. ...all beautiful...all unique... I knew that my Great-Grandma Tunnell quilted, so I assumed she had made all of those quilts. No. G.Cozette bought them at an auction for $30 each!



My little Cozette - helping me assemble nine-patches. (Actually, she was trying to eat them. Fabric - Yum!)

Sewing Camp Nostalgia

In order to be happy when you have a large family you have to either be extremely well-organized or have a very high tolerance for chaos. I'm surely the latter, which comes in handy during sewing camp...at least the way we do it. It is a week of lots of cousins, sewing projects for kids, sewing projects for moms, and trips to the lake, with occasional mommy jobs sprinkled in there (you know...dishes, cooking, and all that jazz).


Anyhow, if you can handle a crazy house, it's the best fun ever. Last camp, I think I was pretty worn out by the end (we were doing morning AND afternoon), but this time I was just sad it was over.


It turned out even better than we anticipated. We all had dreams of everyone sitting around, working on their projects together (without intensive Mommy help), but we thought those were fantasies that wouldn't be fulfilled until our kids were much older!


If we move away, I think our annual summer vacation may have to include attending sewing camp in Washington.


Projects completed in Sewing Camp - Part Deux (I'll let Sarah report on her own):
Annika: pillowcase, nightshirt, and pajama pants
Sofia: shirt, purse, stuffed animals
Annalia: numerous nine-patches and learned to crochet around socks (Jessica - what pattern do you use?)