Way down in their nest, the little birds rest

(These last two posts are out of order according to the song...If I'd known that I was going to get to post this, I'd definitely have done them in order).

So all last week naptime was a struggle. Chick would play in her room for hours, not sleep, and be tired and difficult in the evening. I took out all toys and books, I gated her closet & tied shut the baby's wardrobe, I adjusted the crib to be unclimbable (I thought), I threatened & disciplined.

All to no avail. Even with her taking "quiet time" in her room I still didn't get to rest because Babe's schedule was off by enough to mean that I didn't get much time alone. So I was tired and difficult in the evening too.

Miraculously, yesterday and today BOTH GIRLS napped with NO fussing or drama for 2.5-3 hours AT THE SAME TIME. It's how things are supposed to be, my friends, and it makes for one happy mama.

So yesterday I took a long bath and read magazines while I was in there (to declutter my magazine pile which is getting too high). Then I painted my toenails & groomed my eyebrows : )

Today I worked in the yard--this and that, and spray painted some garden things since I didn't want the girls to be anywhere near the fumes.

Happy happy.

No pictures to go with this...I considered taking a picture of my foot, but really, even with painted nails I don't have pretty feet.

Way up in the sky, the little birds fly

So a couple of months ago, when I cut Chick's hair, I put the cuttings out on the porch for the birds to use in their nests. They've sat there ever since (that's the kind of backyard we have). I guess I was just too early, because today there was the cutest little bird (sorry, I don't know what kind) helping herself to some little white-blond DIY nest fixings.

Until Kitty came and plumped herself down for deck patrol.

**No birds were harmed in the writing of this email, but maybe I should move the rest of the hair. Kitty has given us 3 moles and 1 rodent in the past week or so!**

Little Chick's Slumber Party

Oh so sad! *Updated*

So I'm totally distraught. Biggest Loser just finished for the week, and KRISTIN is out. She and Sione were my favorites and they are both gone now. So so sad.

I don't even really care who wins if it's not Kristin. All I can say is NOT MIKE. jerk. cocky, selfish, jerk.

**Update: We had a lot of distractions last night, so I didn't realize how much a part Ron (yes Erin, EVIL EVIL RON!) played in Mike's decision. Honestly, I didn't trust him before, but I didn't realize that he was so out and out terrible. I was just watching online when the two of them were talking & I can barely stomach the thought of him. Talk about the "letter of the law"...sure he didn't write down Kristin's name, but he designed her elimination nontheless.

I'm still ticked that Mike decided as he did. However, he's not COMPLETELY a selfish jerk...he did give his year of groceries to Aubrey, etc.

Tales from the Weekend

On Friday HH and I both spent time working outside in the yard. The sugar snap peas are planted, and the little lupine sprouts are planted, and the garden looks a little better. And the birds are finally using the feeder (that, of course, has nothing to do with our efforts).

On Saturday I went to run some errands before a birthday party & a craft group meeting. Unfortunately I only made it about a mile and a half before the jeep transmission stopped working. When HH came to rescue me I found out that I'd been leaking transmission fluid the whole way. So errands didn't get done & I missed the party (the bizarre part is that the jeep broke down last year just in time for the same birthday boy's party...it's not like it's always breaking down, so the coincidence is weird). I was able to carpool down to the craft group, and these are the brownie cakes that I took (the group name is Dragonflies). I just circle cut the brownies (from this recipe), did a chocolate glaze & did the starburst dragonflies from the decorated cookie blog (where I also got instructions for the Easter cookies).

Luckily the transmission wasn't toast, it seems that there was a leak in a something-or-other, and HH (who is, of course, very handy) was able to fix it reasonably well. It still needs to go in for a check, but in the meantime it's driveable. So we were able to go up to church with my sister L & her family (my great-nephew was blessed--last week was O's blessing & this week was K's). Anyhow, afterwards was a potluck, and here are some pictures.

My sister L has 4 grandsons, so there was no end to little boys for my girls to play with. Aren't they cute?! Little E, on the far left, is 8 months and I think he's just so DARLING with his glasses! They were all well behaved, too, which is always nice.

Yes, chick, this is what little boys play with. Good thing that my neice M is playing too--she's baby K's mama so she needs to get used to little boys.Babe with cousin Andrew...he was jealous of her toys, and was probably getting her to say Matt Damon, but he's probably going to have to wait a while....Today I'm watching a friend's little girl. Chick and T are less than a month apart, and both love ring-around-the-rosy.

Sometimes

I wonder what the background story is....

More Easter pics

These cookies met with several catastrophes, but were cute anyhow, and tasted delicious.

My sister J is now a Grandma. Here the grandmas were comparing babies. I think Babe was quite taken with baby O.

This is where Chick was taught that the answer to "Who's your favorite cousin?" is always "Jake." Another cousin also taught her that the answer to any other question is "Matt Damon."

Grandma N is always the life of the party...

44 pintucks (and 21 ruffles) later

I would like to start by saying that somehow (unintentionally) I have over-represented my sewing abilities on this blog. A few of my MANY, MANY readers (ha ha) have gotten the impression that I'm a better seamstress than I am in reality. I'm glad that I've been able to fool you. Hooray for the internet & 2-dimensionality.

That said, Chick's Easter dress is all that I had hoped for, and I am actually proud of having been able to make it! I did use a pattern for general shape of the bodice & skirt, but I altered them. I drafted the sleeves, and I added the lining (which has tulle added) & ruffles & pintucks. I did buttons & buttonholes down the back, rather than a zipper like the pattern used. It's not really complicated in design, but I'm happy to have gotten the dresses to be so similar.

I studied the original dress. It was a great learning experience. It helped me remember when I was in college--in drawing classes I was given assignments to copy famous works of art, in poetry classes I had to analyze famous poems and write my own using the exact same pattern & grammar, and I think most religions recommend studying and following their Master. I've always learned a lot from these exercises, so it's no great surprise that I learned so much from studying a sewn dress that I loved. For instance, I didn't notice at first that the pintucks and ruffles were in different patterns.

ANYHOW, here are the pictures!

Curly Locks, curly locks, wilt thou be mine?

Hunting eggs with cousin K

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

We spent Saturday night at my parents' house. They have a new toy--a wii fit, and I loved it. I thought I'd share what my mii looks like.

I played for 33 minutes yesterday and today I'm quite sore...what a deceptive machine. I didn't even really notice that I was exercising....

HH suggested the possibility of getting one for our anniversary, but it's contingent on the stock market, so cross your fingers : )

Aside from the wii, we also got a delicious breakfast (Sausage, eggs, pancakes, poptarts, melon, juice, and milk!!), a good long soak in the jetted tub, and of course wonderful company. Thanks, M&D, for letting us spend the night.

A little update

Hi. I've been too busy to post on here, and I'm really still too busy, so this will be brief.

A friend mentioned Flylady, and I think my life will never be the same again (that's the hope, at least).

Last week we went with my sister & her kids to the Woodland Park Zoo. It was fun, and some of the animals put on a show for us. It was COLD, though. My favorite part of the zoo this time was the zoomasium. They had big green stuffed chairs in a corner with pictures of mama animals feeding their babies (Babe had her meal in that corner, as I'm sure many many babies have done before her). Very cool. Also in there they had these coool blocks called Tree Blocks. I totally want some (I guess I could make them....).

Babe had her 4 month checkup and though she's longer than Chick was at that age (75%), she's only in the 10th percentile for weight! She barely gained anything since 2 months, so it's been a busy week just trying to nurse her extra often & drink Mother's milk tea, etc. She went in this week for a reweigh and had gained enough that the Dr isn't concerned anymore.

This week has been layout...



...and in my spare time (ha ha ha), Easter prep. I'm doing these decorated cookies & stuffed mushrooms to take to my sister's house for the gathering. I'm making Chick an apron & a dress to match Babe's.


I'm afraid the quiet book won't get done, and I don't want to stress out trying to do it--I have enough going on right now.

Last night I had a wonderful dream...HH, Chick, Babe, and I went to Italy for a vacation. I was young and thin with thick black tights and a very cute fitted black wool coat on. HH and I were running through Piazza San Marco in Venice & watching the pidgeons fly up around us (don't know where the girls were at that point). Guess I'd better keep teaching Chick to speak Italian so that I can make that dream a reality.

Ciao ciao.

Everyone gets their day in court

The ticket debacle is finally over! (If you're new to the story, read here and here).

Today we went to court and after waiting for a couple of hours (we were the very last case), we met with the prosecuting official & our attorney. After telling our side of the story to the prosecutor, she decided that we were right--we didn't warrant a $1000+ ticket for "not yielding to an emergency vehicle." They dropped it to a faulty headlight charge. The attorney tried to get the judge to lower the fee, but the judge was a stickler (which we saw as we watched him take care of all the cases before us), and left the fee as it was.

On the way home I rented Twilight (FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY!!!!) to celebrate. HH is working late to make up for not working this morning. I'm going to watch the movie and eat crunchy popcorn to displace some stress. Maybe I'll stare out the window at the freakish SNOW for a while.

Special thanks to Meghan, who was going to watch Chick today (until Chick woke up and puked).

And special thanks to M&D N, who were willing to drive an hour to come stay with a sick Chick.

And finally a special thanks to Grandpa J, who was a great babysitter for both girls & who must have been great with Chick because she was yelling "Bye bye, I yuv you" out the window as he was driving away.

Ticket fee: $124
Attorney fee: $450
Relief that at least it's all over and done: Priceless