What I learned from organizing my closet is

that I need to break away from solid earth toned items! I do have a pink item or two, but other than that it's all blue, green, black, brown.... And almost everything is completely plain.

HOW DID I GET INTO SUCH A RUT? And the sad part: after taking this picture and realizing my predicament I went to a yard sale & a thrift store & bought a skirt and two pairs of workout pants...all in solid blue.

Bits of Heaven

There were several moments in the past couple of days when I snapped mental photos for this posting. Like the other day when I'd just cleaned off all of Chick's outside toys & sat down under the apple tree and looked up through the leaves at a gorgeous blue sky. And today wearing a new thrifted skirt that's long and swishy against my legs (Chick likes it because it's a GREAT twirling skirt). And letting Chick hold a caterpillar. So many beautiful moments.

But I didn't break the spell by getting the camera (and the magic wouldn't have photographed well anyhow).

Here are the pictures that I DID take.

I finished up 3 projects this week, which is SO great since I keep coming up with more & my list just keeps getting longer. It feels great to get things done. 2 are presents, so I can't post pics, but the third is Chick's apron. If I ever sew another I'd make it a bit higher & longer, but I love how this turned out.

She likes it too.
And it's reversible.My neighbors had garage sales, and I got some GREAT fabricky things, as well as some from a trip to the thrift store...I haven't taken any pictures, but stay tuned for some greatness (relatively speaking, of course).

And the latest news on Babe? Well, she's been busy busy busy.

This week she started eating FOOD, and took to it like a fish takes to water. Today she tried avocado and loved it. LOVED it. Like, we couldn't shovel it in fast enough. And the most common phrase that we use while feeding her? "No Hands" because she wants to grab the spoon and feed herself.

A little over a week ago she started crawling, and in the past couple of days she realized the POWER that movement gives her. She is ALL OVER THE PLACE!

Here's a video of her in action.

Wardrobe Refashioning story

So, as you may have noticed, I took a 4 month pledge for Wardrobe Refashioning. I have several fun projects lined up.... I love the creativity on the wardrobe refashioning blog.

The official rules are:

1. No buying new! (handmade is excepted; So this allows for Etsy purchases etc!!) All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved or Thrifted, or Handmade only for the term. Employment related and special needs clothing (ie sports, school), shoes and undies are excepted from the rules, although you are encouraged to have a go at making these.
   
2. In extreme circumstances, maybe a special event, or the worlds greatest and most amazing never to be repeated sale that you simply can not pass up, you may use the Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card. You are able to use this card once during the 2 month part of your contract; ie 1 for 2 months, 2 for 4 months etc. Of course you need to fess up on the blog and display the button!
   
3. You must post on the blog at least once a week to let the community know what you've been up to. This will not only give you brag points, but inspire and encorouge others! Of course you need to display the button on your blog and have copied the pledge in at least one post, and provide a link to your pledge under the button.
   
4. You need to be honest and admit when you've fallen off the Refashionista Wagon! Go directly to Refashionista Jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200! Apply for parole once there.

• Here's my pledge: I, Paige, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period 4 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself (and husband and daughters) with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that my thriftiness brings! Signed Paige.

So anyhow, last night at enrichment there was a story shared about Belle S. Spafford, which is a good example of refashioning. I found the original article (here), and here is an excerpt:

Belle S. Spafford, outgoing president of the National Council of Women and former general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wore a borrowed 55-cent dress to the formal dinner honoring her service to the organization. When her colleagues suggested the dress looked as if it cost hundreds of dollars, Spafford (Relief Society president from 1945 to 1974) baffled the others with her explanation. “This dress was made from a remnant of drapery fabric, clearance thread and a zipper. It is a grand example of creativity and making do with what you have,” she said at the time.

The resourcefulness and skills of Relief Society women worldwide are being showcased in a new exhibit at the Museum of Church History and Art: Something Extraordinary: A Sampler of Women’s Gifts. The exhibit opened Saturday, 12 May 2007, and runs through January 2009. Spafford’s 55-cent dress is among the more than 60 items selected for the new exhibit.

Stretching resources and expanding opportunities has long been the maxim of the Relief Society, an organization for the women of the Church founded in 1842 by Joseph Smith, the Church’s first president.

It's What I Signed Up For

Let me paint a picture of my house right now:

tv is on (Clifford on PBS), the living room is strewn with sundry toys. Chick is sitting in her nightgown on a blanket covered couch, sipping watered-down apple juice from her ladybug plastic mug. On the table next to her is her water bottle (and mine, which she drank out of & now it's hers too). On the floor in front of her is a huge metal bowl, placed on a towel from the rag bin. The bowl has seen a lot of action lately. (By the way, so has HH. I'd rather mop the kitchen floor than get puked on ANYDAY).

Babe was crying in her swing, but I took pity on her, and now she's crying on my lap. She's freshly diapered & clothed because her diarrhea got all over her clothes & started getting on my carpet when I put her down there to make the bed. hmmm. Chick was recently bathed for the same reason...the bed IS made, though.

I, after spending most of the night sleeping cuddled with sick Chick on the couch and after having had a migraine all day yesterday, am wearing my pajama pants and an old painted-up t-shirt. I expect to remain this way for the duration of the day. I got the garden half done on Saturday & had planned to finish today...but maybe not now...maybe it'll be tomorrow. Either way, it looks like I have a bumper crop of plastic milk jugs : )

My sincere apologies to anyone that we've been in contact with...we went to church yesterday like normal, and it wasn't until partly through that Chick started acting suspiciously mellow. She came home and told HH that it was time to go to bed. When she got up she threw up. Fun times.

Well, I gotta go cuddle with my girls & tackle the laundry mountain (which is complete with bed sheets, extra towels, and things that it would be indelicate to mention).

Here are a couple of pictures of Chick in her former health.

Camping season has officially begun

This past weekend we had our first campout of the year! We went with HH's sister's family (4 sons), 1 single brother, & 1 brother's family (2 sons). That's right: 6 little boys and my 2 girls. Crazy fun times.

We went to Cascade Park, which is property that our church owns. Both HH & I had camped there a lot when we were little. It's right on a river, and lately they've put some little playgrounds and barrel swings & such there so that there's tons for little people to do.

It happened to also be a father-son campout, so my 2 SILs & I were the only women there, but no one seemed to mind us & HH got extra food from the overlap, which is always a good thing.

I didn't like camping much when I was growing up. It's really only been since HH and I have been married that I like it. I think it's because he introduced me to hammock camping, which I find much more comfortable (plus I love waking up to see the leaves overhead with sunlight streaming through & blue skies beyond). I even had a solid excuse to stay home with Babe & have a quiet weekend (I was in the middle of layout), but chose to hurry and finish what I needed to so that I could go.

So, yeah, it was fun. Good food, great company, fun memories, and plenty of jokes told in the wee hours (One of my contributions was the classic from high school)

What did the farmer say when he lost his tractor?

"Where's my tractor?"

Here's another good one:

Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?
Fo' drizzle.

The traumatic part of the weekend was when Chick almost fell into the fire. As it was, there was a metal barrier that kept her from actually falling in.

The next morning, though, I discovered a burn on the back of her leg--pretty bad, the skin was burned off. She had been wearing shorts and baby legs, and evidently she hit the metal right in between the two, so her clothes hadn't burned. She hadn't indicated that she was in any pain (until we cleaned it out--she really didn't like that). It's scabbed over & seems to be healing fine. It's ironic, though--just last week I was commenting to someone that she didn't really know what a band-aid was because she never got hurt. Maybe I should have knocked on wood.

For your viewing pleasure...

This is one of my favorite commercials on tv right now:


And here is a really funny video on Katie's blog....

The Dreamsicle Duo

If I named our clothing then these dresses would be named the Dreamsicle Duo.

I thrifted the men's button down shirt for $1, then used Dana's tutorial on MADE for Chick's dress. Chick's has a button detail on the back, because I sewed it on there thinking I'd use it to run a sash through, but then opted to not have a sash & liked the button thing anyhow. I kept the dress very plain, so the button thingy adds a little interest.

Babe's dress, made from the bottom half of the sleeves, is based on another tutorial (that I saw, skimmed through, closed out of, & never was able to find again). I love the cuff details. And the slobber details...those adorn all of her clothes of late. Anyhow, Babe's has a pocket that I took from the front of the shirt (used for Chick's dress) & be-ruffled.

Chick's hair-tie is just some fabric sewn into a cord. Babe's headband is the band that was underneith the collar.

Both were really fun. I have a couple more $1 shirts that I'm going to play with, so stay tuned (but they're at the bottom of a rather lengthy list).

Frustrations in Motherhood

I recently have been relieved to find out that I'm not the only mother that wants to (all-too-frequently) throw in the towel. Around 4:00 p.m., when HH could get home (if there's no traffic & he doesn't work late or stop at the store) and when I don't see his blue jeep rounding the corner, is when I call him to say, "Uhhh, HH, what's your ETA? Because I'm about to run away."

Chick's lack of naps last week really had me ready to bolt at the first opportunity, and then I remembered my Great-Great-Grandma Bertha.

Grandma Bertha had two daughters, ages 3 & 5 (One of them was my Great Grandma, of course). One day, while her husband was at work she left the girls in their apartment and ran away. When the husband got home & found out, he packed up the girls and left them at their grandma's (his MIL).

They didn't see grandma Bertha again for about 40 years. She'd run off with another man (married with 6 kids) & lived in California. She stayed with him until he died, and then breezed back into the lives of her daughters (who now were grown women, mothers themselves).

Evidently she was a very attractive woman (and of course we know it's better to not be), and was vain. After she came back she bragged about what a handsome couple she and her man had been--when they walked down the street people would turn to look at them.

I'm sure that's just what her daughters, motherless for so long, really cared about hearing. Actually, my great-grandma thought it was the greatest thing ever (to have her mom back), but my g-g-aunt Blanche was a little more disdainful (in the best possible way, because I hear Aunt Blanche was a really cool woman).

There are a lot of different perspectives in this story. The Grandma in the story--who lost her daughter & suddenly was starting all over with two young girls, the husband whose wife left him, the daughters that had their lives drastically altered, the man that she ran away with, his family...

And of course my great-great-grandma. I wonder a lot about her. Did she miss anything about her old life when she was in California? She must not have loved her husband, but what about the girls? She came back as if it was no big deal to run out on your family, but surely she realized the impact that she made on all of their lives? Did she wonder what her girls were doing & who they had become? Did she realize what she missed out on each day?

The more I think about the story the more I'm grateful that I love my husband and love my daughters so intensely that I could never leave them (though I'll probably still threaten).

As frustrated as I may get from Chick being a 2-yr-old, or Babe always wanting to be held, or HH not doing whatever it is that I want him to do... I know that those annoyances are nothing compared to the thrill of seeing these girls learning new things, hearing Chick sing as she plays, watching Babe trying to crawl, and cuddling with HH.

So, in celebration of the little joys that I get to experience because I am here being a mother, here are the highlights of yesterday's motherhood:

Chick, watching me get dressed, looked at me and said in all sincerity, "Hey! Dat's mine bra!"

Babe decided to progress from sucking her thumb to putting her whole fist into her mouth.