Sewing Camp!

We've been counting down to sewing camp, and its finally here! I think Annika was just a tad bit excited about it. She woke me up at 5AM and then at 6AM - worried that they would be late. My alarm was set for 7AM. If only they were that anxious to go to church every week, we would never be late.

They're making dresses this year. Yea! Both of them need new dresses. Annika was happy to use the green flowered fabric I had intended to make dresses out of last year. Sofia hated EVERYTHING I suggested. She wanted silk with dragons on it. She finally settled for some red cotton with kanji symbols on it (or maybe it's chinese - what do I know).

We're missing the Kanglings this year. It's so sad to be going to camp without them.

Something New

My little sister, Becky, started her chemo today, and we all got new haircuts to prepare for it. Becky has her lovely henna, so we still don't look as beautiful as her...all you can do it try, right?

Shaving your head is strangely liberating - you're letting go of something that you're used to obsessing about....or at least occasionally brushing (let's be honest).


It was also an excellent excuse to go buy some cute hats and scarves!...since my kids are still getting used to my new do (they're slightly horrified of being seen with me in public). "Mom! Put a hat on! Your head is freaking me out!"



Jonny let me shave his head too. We have big plans to paint blue arrows on our heads for the "Last Airbender" movie opening!

Eat Beer, You Stinkin' Slugs!

There aren't very many down sides to living in the Pacific Northwest, but slugs are one of them!


They ate every one of my petunias down to a totally unrecognizable stub. Sad.

Lucky for me, they're alcoholics.


My slugs, drowning their sorrows in a bowl of beer.

The Cutest Aqua and Red EVER!

I'm not sure where I would wear this, but I want it SO STINKIN' BAD!

...I might have to have a fancy frock birthday party.

Little Fun OR Fun for Littles

I'm trying to make my back yard more entertaining for the little people in our family.


I think this swing set is perfect for Cozy - even for unsupervised play. (Which is what back yards are for, right?)


Cozy crying because I tried to make her swing for a picture when she really just wanted to eat.


I told Boo that buckling up might be overkill on this one.

$60 on Craig's List. Is it bad that I talked them down from $75? I always feel guilty about it afterwards.

Pillow Sneak-Peek

Merry Christmas to Me!

Last year, for Christmas, my Mom made me a quilt. It was lovely, with a bird theme (we do like bird watching at our house!), and I was very excited to get it.


How did I know about it? Well, someone ratted her out. She had kind of bit off more than she could chew and was trying to make each of her 5 kids a quilt for Christmas, so we were thinking about staging an intervention.


....it never happened. I think we were all too busy trying to get our own projects finished. - but I did make sure she knew I wanted my quilt in whatever state of completion it was...and by April, it was mine! A mere three months later and I got around to finishing it! (Cause that's how we roll - slowly!)



I'm actually really glad I got to put on the binding....I just love everything from Sandi Henderson!


I'm planning a pillow to match! Thanks, Mom! I love it!

Zoo...again

We're really getting our money's worth out of that zoo membership this year - I think we've gone three weeks in a row! Tony took the kids last week....


(I'm assuming this is a staged photograph!)

...and this week we have company that we're trying to show a good time.


(Maddy said those ears were so comfortable she slept in them and wore them to the zoo without realizing it!)

Of course, the zoo has devised lots of ways to get more money out of us (and they're so fun we can't resist them!) Tony let the kids feed the budgies.


Since I had to top that somehow, I let the kids ride the camels yesterday.




I didn't think Boo would be brave enough, but he waited patiently in line. Afterwards he kept saying, "That camel gave me a ride!"

Jonny Lore

I gave Jonny the last piece...

Jon: Because I'm your favorite, right? ...because I'm your only robotic child.
Me: Huh?
Jon: Dad told me that I'm a robot he made to even out the boys and girls.
Me: Well...we kind of made you together.
Sofia: Yea, Mom was his lab assistant.



Jon's first nature video. He's his own camera man. Could you tell? (wink, wink) This is what I've been finding on my camera lately.

I'm back!

Mom and I had fun gardening at Becky's yesterday. She did the mowing and heavy-lifting. I planted. Seems backwards, doesn't it? It felt great to be outside. We chose a nice, shady spot for some sedums and impatiens. Doesn't fresh mulch smell great!


Mom brought this fancy-schmancy windchime/chandelier. (It kind of makes my dollar-store windchime seem a little shabby.) I was suprised how much I loved it.


I had been planning to do some gardening all week, but, for some mysterious reason, I didn't get around to it. It's so much easier to get stuff like that done when adults outnumber babies!

I'm home now and it feels nice. I can tell how much Tony missed me, but the kids are all -"Hey, Mom. What's up? I'm going to go play." Deep down, I'm sure they missed me LOTS. Very, very deep down.

It was a rough drive home. I took Tony's truck (so that he could have the kid-hauling vehicle), which is no frills. Automatic nothing....with a tiny cab. Cozy figured that, since she was right next to me, I should hold her hand the whole way home (or tears would stream down her dejected little face!) She doesn't understand shifting gears...rolling down windows...traffic!

Did I tell you how good Becky's kids were for me? They were so good that I brought one home with me!

Visiting

I'm over at my sister's house this week. She's in the hospital, so I get to hang out with her kids...eat ice cream...read books...be super lazy.(Just rubbing it in, Becky!) It's a lot like what I do at home, but with more poopy diapers in between (not mine - babies, folks!).

Cozy came with me (since I'm still her beverage source), and Becky's kids have been extremely sweet with her. Sadly, the drive-way here has not been so kind. She's biffed it on the concrete two days in a row - on the face both times!

Taking care of a baby and 2 toddlers (one of whom believes she is still a baby - only a climbing, cat-chasing baby) requires a lot of skill sets, but I firmly believe that one of the most important skills a parent can have is "ignoring". Not ignoring your kids! Ignoring their whining, fidgeting, ignoring car-crying that you can't do anything about, and sometimes even ignoring singing. Of course it has to be used judiciously.

Today I was using my awesomely developed ignoring skillz on the way home from Costco. Cozy and Natalie were mad about STILL being in the car. Abby and Conner were hungry. I was happily thinking about the houses we were driving by...wondering which ones could be improved and which ones should be torn down...wondering what the neighbors are like over there...wondering why that sign says Arlington? Oops! Missed my turn about 15 minutes ago!

My punishment: more time in the car with cranky kids.
Poor kids. Of course, if they had been quieter, I wouldn't have had to go to "my happy place" at all.

My New Dream House

We found a new Dream Home to drool over while we're languishing in our suburban middle-class-ness. :) I don't really mind being middle-class, but it's fun to dream of living someplace idyllic...on a sweet farm or in the middle of a ferny forest.


This home just oozes historic charm - built in 1999. I honestly don't know how they did it. I would get to enjoy living in a quaint craftsman-style home WHILE Tony enjoyed our foundation not crumbling beneath us. Perfect.




...but just a little out of our price range.

Maybe because of the guest cottage next to the pond?


Yea, you know you'd want to visit me!

Rainiers Game

Tony took us all to Rainiers Game at Cheney Stadium - heavily subsidized by work (they paid more than twice what we did for each ticket we bought). We were on the "party deck", which came stocked with free drinks, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and cookies! More importantly - it had lots of space for active little toddlers to run around in.


Annika said baseball was a lot more fun than she thought it would be. (Perhaps I shouldn't have regaled her with tales from my childhood? I always took a book with me when we went to see the Houston Astros play.)


We even stayed through a pants-wetting (no, not by me) so that the big kids could run the bases after the game. What a fun tradition! They should consider that at the Astro Dome!

Thanks, Partner!

I got my swap in the mail, and, Julie, I love it! Those colors are perfect. (I actually have the green in my closet - waiting to be sewn into curtains!)


I think my entry table was just waiting for something like this to come in the mail!

Race for a Cure

Today we played hooky from church, put on our pink, and went to Seattle to "Walk for a Cure" and show our love for Becky.


It was fun walking around Seattle with traffic all blocked off...and it didn't rain nearly as hard as we thought it would!


Me and my sisters! (The one with my brother was too embarassingly horrible - Sorry, James. :)


Good times!

My Yard Sale

We had a garage sale today. Tony found a loving home for his bowflex. They were so excited to get it, and we were so excited to get rid of it! I re-homed my double jogging stroller (sold it for the $20 I bought it for)....and lots of other little things: talking potty chair that scared my toddler, the less sturdy of my 2 child-sized rocking chairs, shelves that I haven't put up in 6 years (and 4 houses), and some baby clothes. I'm not getting rid of all of my baby clothes, because I'm just not there yet. I'm just whittling them down to a good starter-set.

Part of me is still hoping Tony will let me have more kids...even though it makes me feel a bit like Veruka Salt with her pets (You know, from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the new, funnier one). "All I have is an Anthony, a Sofia, an Annika, a Jonny, a Boo, and silly old Cozette (who is stinkin' adorable)!"

...but I digress....anyhow, I made over $300 at my garage sale (that's counting the $150 I saved by having a garage sale instead of going to Evil Old Navy)...and I got a sunburn...but it was worth it.

On a sewing note: You may have noticed that I've been piecing all of my stuff on my seger lately. That's because my Kenmore and Sofi's Hello Kitty Janome are at the local sewing machine spa. They demanded some well-deserved R&R. They threw fits and fussed about it until I gave in.

...and I'm hoping that, when mine comes back, it will run like a brand new machine...because I suspect this stay is going to cost as much as a brand new machine!

Pillow Pals

I made a friend for my flower pillow. I hope they get along. We can't have bickering on the couch.

AnnaliaR(at)juno(dot)com

...and, yes, I know my address is Anna-Liar. We noticed it after establishing that as our address.

:)

E-mail Apocalypse

Sadly, my e-mail account self-destructed last night. I went to sleep with 300 saved messages (I'm sentimental) and woke up with 3....and an empty address book. So, if I used to have your e-mail address, I don't.

If you have a moment, please drop me a quick e-mail, so I can collect everyone's e-mail addresses AGAIN.

Thanks everyone!

-Mamalia