Tag Yourself

I have been tagged by Toni at Raising Eden to share 7 more random things about myself.  I can't imagine anyone (who doesn't already know) wants to know this much about me, but let me see what oddities I can come up with to entertain you this time....

1.  I never moved as a child.  I was born and raised in the house pictured above.  It's true.  I just wasn't born and raised there when this picture was taken. ;-)

2.  I hate to cook.  I love the IDEA of cooking.  I love to eat good food.  I like looking at cookbooks and imagining myself cooking.  I like wearing aprons.  I really love eating (did i mention that?) but the kitchen is not my friend.  I find the actual cooking and cleaning up afterward rather inconvenient.  Were it not for having to feed a family, I would likely live my days on cereal, popcorn and Panera.

3.  I am 5' 9" and my best friend from womb to tomb (thanks Toni!) is 4' 11"

4.  I have a quick temper, but probably couldn't hold a grudge if I tried.

5.  I own a great deal of clothing that doesn't fit properly, doesn't go with anything else OR fits  great and goes with a bunch of stuff, but is ruined in some way.  Why do I still have this clothing?  Because I have hope that it may fit or go with something at some point and I firmly believe that the minute I give up on it and donate it, I will lose/gain 5 pounds or will find its perfect mate.  And because I can't be naked.

6.  I am the youngest of 4 and 7 years younger than my closest sibling.  

7.  I have a terrible habit of cutting bangs, hating them, saying I will NEVER cut bangs again and forcing everyone I know to PROMISE me to never let me cut bangs again no matter what picture I show them, growing my bangs out and then deciding I want bangs again.  I am fairly certain this has happened about every 2 years for the last 10.

There, that ought to be random enough.  I still don't feel like I have enough people to tag SEVEN...  yikes!  But I'll try this for a spin as I've always been one to bend the rules a bit.  If you'd like to be tagged by me, then leave a comment on this post and let us know to link to your random 7.  Tag, you're it....... 

Vintage Love

I love coming from a family that has an appreciation for old stuff.  I know vintage is a trendy word these days, but I am pretty sure we did "vintage" before vintage was cool.  I could fill this blog with pictures and posts of all the great things saved or found within my family.  For lack of time, I'll pass on that and just share a few recently lovelies.

So here goes, I am a bit of a footie-jammie snob. (Hmmm... maybe I should have saved that as I have been tagged again to share random bits about me!)  I really like Carter's jammies for the kids.  We keep our house pretty cold in the winter and they seem to be the warmest and hold up the best that I have found (or can afford... I am sure there are some other wonderful ones out there).  I usually look for good sales, scour the thrift store or hope one of the Nanas buys them.  And, silly me, I have given away all the boy jammies.  But when I found these (previously appliqued with a fire truck) at SA for 69 cents, I grabbed them.  What, you may be asking, could this possibly have to do with anything I was talking about at the beginning of the post?  Well that sweet little circus elephant that replaced the fire truck, was cut from a couple of GREAT pieces of vintage fabric that my sister, Kathy, recently handed down to me... having decided that she was probably not going to use them for her teenagers. :-)  

Isn't that tail peeking around the backside just the cutest?

My other sister is another crafty lady and she just made this sweet blanket for Ellie.   It is backed with fleece, so very soft and warm; and the vintage embroidered piece is from her MIL's things.  Ellerie loves the blanket (so do I!) and Michelle was sweet enough to give me a WHOLE PILE of these embroidered doilies and the like!  Some of them need a little TLC, but I just love imagining how I might use them.

My mom has brought me these vintage books and I am truly digging them.  Little Black Sambo, while possibly not entirely politically correct, is a favorite from my childhood (I love when those tigers turn to butter!)  and the novels are the sort of old-fashioned boys' books that just inspire adventure.  Who could not love a book with that kind of bicycle on the front???

And, lastly, my own recent find for Ellerie, is a sweet little vintage dress, still with bloomers.  It is a size 5, so it'll be a bit before she wears it.  And, in spite of the location of the tag, I have to believe that this sweet tie and keyhole MUST go in the back.  It actually looks like a pretty easy design to try to copy too.  (read as "I like to think I am more capable than I am") So maybe it will be my pattern for next summer's sundresses.

Inspiring, at the very least.

Squeezing One In

There are so many things I wish I could be blogging about these days and pictures I'd like to post.  SIGH.  Alas, they have not yet invented (and, when they do, I won't be able to afford) the computer that types while you THINK up a clever post.  So, in the brief few minutes before taking Tate to preschool and attempting to get groceries so that we ACTUALLY have some food worth eating in the house, here are the recent birthday projects:

This little backpack was made for the girl across the street.  She and Calvin have become pals while waiting for the bus in the mornings and he wanted to do something for her birthday.  The design was his choice and my drawing.  The instructions for the bag are here.  I got the shirt at SA for maybe a dollar fifty and used scraps for the rest, save the grommets and cord which I did have to purchase, but which were NOT expensive.  We put a notebook and some sparkly pens in the pouch and had a lovely little gift to give.  Easy-peasy.  

This bag was for my mother's birthday.  The front design I cannot take credit for.  It was in the box of scraps that came from HER mother and I thought it fitting to turn it into something for my mom.  I love these vintage patterns (along with a lot of other vintage goodness that came from that box).  And now when Mom uses it (even if it is just for toting treasures from the auction), she can carry a bit of Grandma and me with her.   And if anyone would know how much I would LOVE to be toted around with treasures from the auction, it's my mom!

The Tooth of the Matter

Well, we are surely headed for braces around here.  Calvin was a trooper this week "losing" his first tooth at the dentist instead of the old fashioned way.  Poor kid has a tiny little jaw and some big, honkin' teeth!  The tooth was loose, but not loose enough to come out and the new tooth was coming in behind it, instead of underneath.  So here is his tooth, in the corner of a plastic tooth chest from Dr. Kelley's.  A little part of his babydom, wiggled out with some "happy gas" and "pliers."  

Gone, just like that, and with the new one already there to take it's place.  Growing up is hard and good all at the same time.  Little, and sometimes painful, losses here and there to make room for the new, the emerging, the lasting.

A visit from the tooth fairy and a dollar for your tooth?  Well, that just sweetens the pot.

Hooray!

Well folks, thanks for the response to the last entry!  6 whole comments!  I feel like a celebrity!  Since that entry, things have been nuts here.  We had our annual church picnic, two days without electricity after a very windy Sunday night, two birthday presents sewn (more on that later), Meet the Teacher night at Cal's school, had Calvin's first loose tooth pulled, AND........drumroll please......... AN OFFER ON OUR OLD HOUSE!!!!!!!!  I swear I could stand up and belt out the doxology every ten minutes or so!  The inspection should be done in the next couple of days and, as long as that goes smoothly, we should be set to close in two months or less.  Thank you for the prayers and good wishes.  I won't give a true sigh of relief until we've ACTUALLY closed, but this certainly helps.  Oh, yes, it does.

  

Let the Good Times Roll

So, yesterday was a bad day.  The boys were fighting and they were disobedient and hideously mouthy to me.  I felt like I spent the day screaming my flippin' head off and on the verge of tears for a number of reasons.  My friend, Jaime, could tell you that I was pretty down and stressed and grumpy.  She listened, very sweetly, to my explanations of what was wrong and then she said something that I've been chewing on ever since.  She said, within the context of our conversation, that my "blog is pretty cheery."  

Hmmm...  it is.  Which, I guess is what I meant it to be.  I like that it focuses me on the good things.  But, I don't want to give the impression that I have got it all together.  Looking at other people's blogs, I must admit that sometimes I feel a little inadequate in one manner or another.  There are a lot of things that I would like to be doing that I can't manage to do for one reason or another.  And, I do think that occasionally I start feeling like everyone else is doing it ALL and handling the naughty kids and unwashed dishes with a grace and lightheartedness that I often lack.  

We bloggers do have a bit of a dilemma here, don't we?  Taking pictures of the bright, clean spots in our homes and the sweet moments of our lives.  Talking of all our crafting and baking and homemade and handgrown this or that..... Nobody wants to see a picture of me screaming at the boys with fire coming out of my eyeballs or my currently DISGUSTING kitchen or of my kids punching each other or threatening to throw rocks at me or of all my frozen chicken nuggets and high fructose corn syrup laden cupboards.  Do they?  We've sort of created a funny little world here.  But it is hard to be "real" with strangers.  And my family and friends have to be my therapists often enough; I certainly don't need to dish out any more of that over the internet.  I suppose there ARE blogs out there for that.   I've decided to stick to the sunny side here.  That is what I want to appreciate and share now and what I want to remember when I'm old.  

So here are my happy bits for the day.  Tate had his first day of preschool and loved it!  He is bummed that he doesn't get to ride a bus like his big brother, but the back pack and snack at school seem to make up for it.  

And, unlike yesterday, we had a nice little breezeway picnic lunch and the boys shared about their days.  SHARED and in a rather civilized manner.  OKAY, I am not messing EVERYTHING up, even after a bad day.  

Thank you boys, for the reminder that we ALL are actually capable of having a good day and treating each other with patience and kindness.  Thank you family and friends for your non-blog related therapy.  Thank you fellow bloggers for mostly keeping light, instead of keeping it real.  Let the good times roll.

Happy Belated Dear

We had a pretty dreary weekend around these parts.  But before the oddly cold/muggy weather descended, we had a great birthday cookout for Mike and me.  Delicious food, family and s'mores by the fire.  A lovely little celebration for us and for the "end" of summer.  Fall is on its way....

A Self-Portrait at 32

32 years ago, I was born.  My mother was 32.  

I have her hands, her gray hair (if I wasn't dying it), her love of a bargain.

If you are only as old as you feel, sometimes I feel OLD.  Did my sisters warn me I would feel this way?  Rumor has it, my limbs and eyes and ears will be failing even more in my 40s.

I'm ok with thirty-something.  

Most days.

That was Fast

Calvin is 5 1/2 and off to kindergarten.  That was fast.  

Here comes the bus...  Yikes!  That was fast. They told us to plan on it being late the first day.  I missed the whole thing completely.  

Thank God Daddy stayed home!  Cal was off without a hitch, while I ran across the street with a half naked baby waving at the back of the bus.  Not even a kiss goodbye.  SIGH.

Home again, home again.  That was fast!

One day down....  countless more to go!  Happy first day of school Cal!  Someday, even you will say it was fast.

Happy Birthday Meg!

Happy birthday to you....

Happy birthday to you...

Happy birthday dear Megan...

Happy birthday to you!

(As, usual, some kinks to be worked out of the "pattern" for your birthday gift, Meg!  Maybe I'll have it figured out for next year ;-)  Hope you manage to use it in spite of the sagging factor and (ahem) you can always give it back if you can't.... I figure it's a decent gift when I have trouble giving it away!  Love you!