Daily Conversations

I asked: What do you guys want for lunch today?
She replied: Eggs!
I said: We don't have enough eggs to have eggs.
She countered: Omelets! Eggs in a nest!
I replied: We don't have enough eggs to make those.
She exclaimed: French toast!

Sheesh! I feel like I'm talking to a three year old! ;)

Girl Friday

This girl gave herself her very first haircut on Monday. I was really hoping that by never mentioning hair and cut in the same sentence that we would just tip-toe past this phase that kids seem to go through. I was really, really hoping. We were cutting out letters from paper and it must have been when I turned to scan them into the computer she worked her magic on her hair. I didn't even notice until quite a bit later -- she had walked away from the project while I was busy with the scanner. When I saw her pretty little blonde curls on the table my heart fell. I immediately went to inspect the damages. Thankfully it wasn't too bad. Especially with the rest of her hair down around her face. I pulled it back for the photo. She seemed to only cut the parts that tend to hang in her face. On Tuesday I took the girl to get her hair fixed. After it was washed and combed the stylist informed me that she had cut quite a lot in the back as well so a pretty big trim was necessary. Hmm. I wondered where all that hair went? On Tuesday night *B* found quite a large pile of cute little blonde curls under his fishing bag. The Girl hid the evidence. Sheesh.

This mom gets her hair cut approximately once every three years. I just don't have the patience for it. The benefit to doing it this way is that, by the time I get around to cutting it, my hair is long enough to donate to locks of love. It really does grow insanely fast. So here I am. Shopping around for a cute haircut. Suggestions welcomed.

ps. That's blueberries on her face.

Girl Friday

This girl was thrilled when one of the neighbor grandmas let her borrow a huge box of Barbie dolls. Thrilled. I love that she hates it when they're naked. She likes to change their clothes, but is quick to let me know that running around naked isn't okay. They need to get dressed. Did you know Barbie is evolving? There's quite a variety here. Some with the typical big chest/ skinny waist/ big hips, some with not so big chests, some with not so defined waist/hips. It's kinda nice to see that they're making new molds. Her favorite is Erika from Barbie in The Princess and the Pauper movie. She sings. And The Girl sings along. I love that.

This momma was inspired by an intriguing question [asked by the fabulous, and always inspiring, Kal Barteski] that was right up my alley. How are you evolving? Life is constantly changing. I am regularly trying on new hats, wearing them around for a while, taking note of what I like and what I don't, so that hopefully the next hat will be a better fit. Right now I'm making more of an effort to take our food back to basics. I've started making my own yogurt. We're implementing the use of more whole grains like amaranth and millet. We've bottled up loads of vegetable soup/salsa from our garden. Oh, and we got chickens. I think I might be evolving into an urban farmer. It makes me happy. 

ps. We survived our trip. More on that later. I'm working on a video...

pps. If any of my favorite thrifty yard sale ladies ever stumble across a batch of Barbies that are in good condition for what you consider a good price [I haven't the foggiest] I would love you forever if you'd snag it for me. The girl will love you forever as well. Promise.

Girl Friday

This silly girl will occasionally have breathing issues. It started when she was 5 months old and hospitalized for three days with pneumonia/dehydration. Since then we've run the gamut of nebulizer treatments and doctor visits with the occasional trip to the ER. This weekend we rushed down off the mountain after we ran out of medicine and she was not breathing any easier. After getting her blood oxygen level checked we were advised to go home, give her a breathing treatment and take her to the ER if she didn't improve. A few hours later we found ourselves in the ER. Girlie has pneumonia. She also loves blueberries.

This silly momma will occasionally have issues that involve awareness/backbone. After putting The Girl on oxygen, giving her the appropriate medications and waiting for what I am assuming to be an appropriate amount of time, the doctor came in and said he was taker her off the oxygen for 10 minutes to see what her blood oxygen level was holding at. After about 6 minutes her saturation level was 92 or 93%. He put her back on the oxygen, stating that her level was dropping too fast, and said he was admitting her to the hospital. Now here's where the awareness/backbone part would be helpful. Good questions to ask: At what point does her blood oxygen saturation level become unacceptable? Is admitting her to the hospital really necessary? Could we wait a bit longer and check it again before proceeding? All excellent questions I thought of after being with her in the hospital overnight and into the afternoon [while we waited for our pediatrician to make his way over and discharge her]. On the children's floor her blood/oxygen saturation level hovered around 89-90%. They monitored her levels but never once put her on oxygen - when I asked if she needed it [I believe my exact words were - in reference to the tiny oxygen mask the ambulance transport people left, "So, does she not need this?"] they said her levels were fine. And here I though the only reason she was admitted was because she had to be on oxygen. Silly me.

ps. I like blueberries too.

pps. In case you were wondering, the girl is fine. Wild and crazy, as per usual.

Girl Friday

Me, I have a love for hats. I used to buy hats all the time. I realized that I never wear the hats I buy. I quit buying hats. Recently I went shopping with my dear sister. I always buy stuff I never wear when I shop with my sister. I bought a hat. I love the hat. The Girl loves the hat. I love the hat on The Girl.

The Girl has started saying, "Oh dear!" Randomly, she will come to me and say, "Momma, lets laugh and sing!" So I start singing and three or four words in she busts up laughing. Which makes me laugh. When she feels somehow slighted by something I've done or said she sings this little song, "Mommy's stupid yes sir-ree" to the tune of A Happy Family. She single handedly ate four klondike bars yesterday while I was curled up in fetal position on the couch [we've had the flu this week... hopefully I'm the last] and her dad was running errands. The evidence was all over her princess dress.

ps. Lace frame how-to.

Make It Do

Have you ever paused to wonder where exactly the forks go? Or the spoons for that matter? I do this quite often. I can never remember. I suppose if I were more diligent at setting a nice table on a regular basis I wouldn't have this problem, but I don't... So I do. Plus, I believe I've mentioned that it's The Girl's job to set the table, so throw being three into that mix and it becomes quite the puzzle. How to help her set the table without leading her around the table indicating each item for her? Enter the interactive placemats I shared a couple of weeks ago for JS.

This project was really simple to make and has yeilded huge results. I created an 11 x 17 template [obviously the most time consuming part of the project] that included the makings of an informal place setting in proper placement + spacing, dropped in some cute papers, and printed + laminated at Staples. Done and done.

A few things to consider:

1. I originally intended to use this template as an embroidery pattern to put on linen placemats. I still think that would be really cool.
2. Don't have Photoshop? Cut out the individual elements and trace around them onto the paper of your choice. Adhere to the background of your choice + voila.
3. Cut the shapes out of fabric instead and applique/ use a fabric glue like Fabri-tac, Aleene's Fabric Fusion or Heat 'n Bond to stick them on [side note: it's been a while since I used Heat 'n Bond and I've never tried Aleene's Fabric Fusion or Fabri-Tac - they just seemed like what I would look for if I were to do this project. All products got overall good reviews with a few terrible ones. I am not necessarily endorsing the products, just brainstorming]. 
4. Print the page, as is, and let your kids color it.
5. Template = Pattern. So many options.

Finally, the true test - can The Girl set the table properly? Well, see for yourself:

ps. I wanted to fit everything on the placemat [including the cup] so I went with a salad sized plate vs. a larger dinner plate. In my trial you may notice that things are a bit tight. I've made the necessary adjustments to the template.

pps. The song in the video is All The Ways by Frances England from her Mind of My Own album.

ppps. The template is in the box. Please leave a comment if you grab it. I've been getting a bunch of people downloading my templates and I think that's awesome. I'd love to know who's using them.

My Very Most Favorite

time of day is the quiet early morning hours when the world is just starting to open her eyes. 

She reaches her arms high in a great big stretch and with a wide yawn she breathes in all the possibility of a new day.  It was my pleasure to witness this very chain of events this morning. And as the sun peeked his head over the mountain I took this photo of my babies all cuddled up in bed with their daddy. Life is good in the morning.

Shout Hooray!

Girlie had a birthday! She has graduated from a very sassy two to a very sassy three. No big surprise there. I've had a few things I've been meaning to get down about her at two. I'm having a really hard time getting things down lately. Hopefully I can remember... Girlie, I love how you giggle behind your hand when you know you're being silly. I think it's hilarious that you can't seem to remember that you just saw what's in the cupboard only five minutes previous. I love how you swim like a mermaid. So glad you enjoy the water. I love the faces you make at the camera. I have to hide my smiles when you lecture the boys. I get a kick out of your hand on your hip when you give instructions. I love how you are always wanting to put the eggs back on the nest so they can hatch. I love how you sing 'Good Night Ladies' to the chickens. I love that your nightlight is really a lightnight, that your favorite movie is, 'Howl's Movie Castle,' and that you love prunes. But I'm sad that your yellow boots are getting too small. Most of all, I love being your best best friend. *cake banner + flags created using Crystal Wilkerson's Sweet Summertime Paper Packs 1 + 2, and Crystal Wilkerson's Doodley Doo Birthday Brushes. Click the photo for product links.

2.for.Tuesday

one: A feelings/ASL book template made by Nisa Fiin [Splendid Fiins at JS]. I really have no words for how awesome this project is. I knew immediately that my kids would love it. The girl was such a ham while taking the photos too. I wasn't sure if we'd get photos of her or if we'd need to use the incredibly cute ones included in the template. I'm so glad we got her to play it up. It's so much fun to watch her watching herself.

To make the book I printed the photos and mod podged them to a board book the kids got at Wendy's. I put mod podge over the photos to seal them from dirty fingers as well. I did use an exacto knife and sanding block to get the edges lined up nicely and I inked them to make it pretty where it was sanded. That's pretty much it. Oh, the little camera thingy on the back cover is from Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend Elements. I think it's awesome!

Please note: I resized the template to 5x5 in order to fit the book I had. The template comes print ready for a bookmaker like PaperKiwi or Blurb or whatever. Also, it comes with another page template with space to put lots more photos of each feeling. This preview is of the ones I did because of the space I had in the boardbook. two: Click Cards. I made these using Liv.E Click Elements available Monday at JS. I've been working on my own cards etc. for a Project Life [365] album we've been working on. It's still in it's very basic stages but I think I'm getting close to being on top of it the way I'd like it. See, my problem is that I like 8.5 x 11 albums so I didn't want to buy the kit. I make things way too hard on myself!

Girl Friday

Just wanted to jot down a few things the girl has said recently. Things I really don't want to forget. 1. I was changing baby *E* and he was fussing and I'm chit chatting and cooing to him and I called him sweetheart. And this is how it went after that: The Girl: He's not a heart! Me: Sure he is. He's a sweet heart. The girl: No he's not. I'm a heart. Typing this now I know that there was more to the conversation, but alas, I can't remember. I should've done it two days ago while the memory was still fresh... 2. The Girl was talking to her Daddy on the phone when the boys came in from school. The conversation turned to something like this: The Girl: Do you want to talk to *A*? Daddy: No, I want to talk to Mom. The Girl: *A*? Daddy: Mom. The Girl: *A*? Daddy: Mom. The Girl: *A*? Daddy: Mom. The Girl: *A*? Daddy: Mom. Until I finally took the phone from her. Really. And maybe you just had to be there, but I was and I want to remember it. So there you go.

Will You Be My Valentine?

I used XOXO Valentine Cards from Elle's Studio [available at JS] to make these fun bag toppers.They come journal card sized so I just mirrored two of the same images with tops together and then covered the valentine message on one side with a photo of my girl. She couldn't get enough of them. She LOVED them. I loved watching her love them. ps. pretzel sized bags fit the card size best for this project.

Needed:

vacation home for one very very rambunctious little girl. I promise that she will not leave a single surface free of one thing or another... including but not limited to paint, syrup, honey, pencil, pen, marker, poop, Vaseline, lipstick, etc. You get the point. It will only be for a couple of weeks... Anybody? I knew when I was refilling the honey bear that it was a bad idea to let her watch me. Bad idea. I'm sure you've guessed what happened next time I was confined to a space. Sadly, this story involves not the honey bear, but the refill bottle and unfortunately the couch was targeted again. And the toilet and bathroom counters [because she did try to clean her hands at one point] and random drops and drips on the carpet and floor in between. I think I'm far too distracted right now... Am I being overly ambitious with my super secret project? Argh.

2.for.Tuesday

It's been one of those days. One of those days when everything she does drives me nuts. Everything. Oh, but it looks so sweet in photos. So that's what you get. The photos. Because all little girls should be sweet. Wouldn't you agree?

one: she kept telling me, "Baby stinky." I had no reason to believe that she would try to remedy the situation. No reason to believe that it would take near a whole box of wipes. No reason to do anything other than grab the camera and take a photo.

two: he was so happy there on the floor. I think he may have actually fallen asleep. I always wonder why she can't leave him alone when he's giving me a few minutes respite. But she just can't seem to stay away. He must call out to her in some sweet little baby voice... "hey you. Girl. come over here and see how close you can get without actually smooshing me. See how many times you can pat my head without actually making me cry. See if you can wrap your arm around me with out choking me." Really. I think he might actually be saying that. Because that's what she does. And she looks so sweet doing it. If only she would have fallen asleep there next to him. That would have made my day.

2.for.Tuesday

one: I've been running into lots of great digital scrapping templates lately. This one I love for its simplicity and empty space [though admittedly the empty space isn't justified in the layout of my blog. There needs to be some type of end to the white space here for you to really get the feel of it]. Mostly I love the hand drawn quote bubble. So, it's free from Paisley Press. Get it here [among other great free things].

two: The doll. For the most part it's finished. Still missing hair and extra clothing. Whether or not it will have a face is still undecided. Eyes and cheeks I'm thinking, but probably nothing else. But I'm calling it done because I've fizzled on it. As indicated above on the scrap page, she will never give up her, "baby." That's what she calls the bear. She has very little interest in the doll. *A* seems to enjoy tossing the doll around. Maybe once it has hair? I'm not going to hold my breath. I don't know why I thought a mere doll could replace her baby. Even if it was made by mom.

The Girl Is Two

and I'm not really sure I'm ready for all of the growing up that's happening around here. Today she won't leave her diaper on. Actually, that's not just a today thing. She takes her clothes off quite a lot, but today she is taking her diaper off and putting her clothes back on. I've been trying to make sure she goes potty, but I made her put her diaper on again after I asked if she needed to go potty in the toilet and she said no then proceeded to pee on the floor. I've also had to put the kaibosh on her getting her own drink out of the sink because one doesn't need to stand in the sink to get a drink. The chair had to be moved. Next she wanted some dried apples so I put some in a bowl for her. According to her I didn't give her enough and not enough is apparently worse than none because she dumped them all on the floor and threw a fit. Thankfully the crying fit on the floor caused her to fall asleep. I think that might be a little terrible, but good grief! She is now on the couch taking a nap. I hope it's a long one. This is a page I made with a template from JS.com. Nice and easy. [As for the other birthday this month, I went to the scout store to buy his shirt + numbers + book + scarf he needs... $62 later I'm thinking something is wrong with that. And it's all stuff he needs. Really? That's just not right. Happy Birthday Buddy. I hope you like scout stuff.]

When Her Eyes Are Closed

she is invisible. She will only eat her food if she is on the front porch [or on my lap]. She can be found with buttons in her hands and pockets. There is not a single pencil in our house with an intact eraser. She also eats crayons. She loves to sing "Follow the Prophet." If you say, "gimme five!" she will say, "up high, down low, up high, down low..." She turns her bibs around like capes. When Daddy leaves she says, "bye-bye, love you, have a good day!" and then blows him a kiss.

So We Decided to Just Jump In

with both feet. The girl is in panties today. Let's see if I can pay attention enough to keep them dry. Wish me luck.

**UPDATE**

She did so great all day! I went to the temple with Mom and when I got home there were two pairs of wet panties on the bathroom counter. Poor *B* had to clean up two puddles. I guess he didn't believe me when I said, "If she says she doesn't need to go but it's been a while she needs to go. Take her anyway. " Today [the day after] hasn't got quite so well. No pretty pretty panties are clean. It just isn't the same.

Round Three

While in Phoenix this summer I purchased 1/4 yard each of nine different fabrics. I am currently in the middle of project #3 with said fabrics. Oh, it's been fun. What started out as a birthday banner turned into a birthday banner + squashy hearts [for the I Love You jar... more on that later]. After the hearts I had baggies full of odd scraps not really big enough to do anything with but too big to throw away. So imagine that little bit of randomness flying around in my brain + thoughts of a homemade [aka cheap] Christmas in the Miles house and you get collisions = sparks of brilliance [or maybe I should say craziness... it seems like they go hand in hand in my house]. I digress. The point? I've undertaken a huge job of tiny proportions. I can't wait to show you when I'm done. Here's a little sneaky peeky: Enjoy the journey! ps. since I had the machine out I did another quick + super easy + way too cute project. baby legs [tutorial here]! Love them! The Girl liked them too. She just doesn't understand why she can't be in my face when I'm holding the camera. I kept having to put her back on the bench [bench because it kept her at a distance longer + notice that her hair is turning blonde?] Since the project was a success the green/yellow argyle socks are up next. I picked the up at Target 2 pairs/$6'ish.

Just a note to let you know I'm taking a little break to try and take control of my life for a minute. Don't know when I'll be back. Hopefully soon. ** ps. I think it's so cute that when the girl wakes up from her nap she calls for *I*.

Two Hundred

and the winner is... Mel! The girl had a hard time picking. I laid all the names out on the floor and would pick them up and drop them and swirl them around. She would swirl them around and look at me. So I'd tell her to get one and I pick one up and drop it and then mix them up again. She would mix them up and look at me... This went on for a while and I was wondering if I needed to get *A* to pick instead, but finally she picked one up. Finally! Yay Mel! I'll get your prize to you as soon as I know what it is [hee hee... any requests?]. I've been playing around with some photos I took of the girl in Phoenix [her one year photos. can you believe it's been a whole year?] I don't have any patience for design right now so I've been blatantly copying pages from other people. Today Mandi is the winner. I loved this page and it was calling to me since JS was sharing that amazingly cute digi paper freebie at the birthday bash today. Again, no journaling. Nothing feels right. I'm starting to wonder if I'm just going to upload all my pages/photos to Blurb like they are and hand write the journaling in as it comes to me. Sharpie does make that cool new pen that isn't supposed to bleed through paper... I'm not even sure if these kinds of pages are going to make it into the book. I'm so undecided on the book right now. Enjoy the journey!