while trying to be productive...

cute kids need their pictures taken...
(I have actually made a bit of progress on the girls' room. I found and bought fabric for curtains this morning and then spent the rest of the time making my brain hurt thinking about how to sew them. I'll try to keep ya updated. :))

madeline must be in some kind of growth spurt. At Nana's birthday party Madeline (and all the kiddos) ate a huge bowl of "macky" (as the girls like to call mac and cheese) along with tons of fruit etc. Afterward, when the table had been cleared and we were getting ready for gifts, Madeline sat herself down again and asked for more "macky". I didn't take her very seriously so i just sat the whole pot of left-overs in front of her to see what she'd do and sure enough, she ate every last bit of it using only the spatula! 

here sophie was completely mesmerized by some bugs in the back yard. doesn't she have the cutest little ski-jump nose ever?

sweet Will and his Nana. cute story today: will was on his way to walk to swim lessons with andrew when the girls (specifically Sophie) got wind that he was going to the pool. Apparently this caused major distress because Will ran into the room where i was and pleaded with me in his most adult voice to "please go try to make sophie happy...she is just really sad that i'm going to the pool and doesn't understand that it's for a swim lesson... i tried to tell her but...she just really needs...can you just give her some comforts?"

Slip Cover Reveal

I am a total scatterbrain. Our 2yr old twin girls room has been on the top of my "to-do" list for the last year. However, when we found out we were having a baby boy, my brain switched to thinking of everything nursery and boy-related. But then i couldn't make up my mind on fabrics and paints etc. so i started working on the girls' room again. Shortly after, 2 sweet friends from Texas came to visit and offered to help me get something completed. So i decided to have them help me make a white slip cover for an upholstered rocker that my grandma gave me. That was one thing that i knew for certain that i wanted for the baby's room and i figured that between the 3 of us we could surely follow some "easy" directions and give me a jump-start in that room.
We followed the "lazy guide to slipcovers" found here at this very talented gal's blog: http://pinkandpolkadot.blogspot.com/ 

so, here's the "before"

 the "After"

Now back to the scatterbrain bit. Somewhere in between working on the girls room, leaving it for the baby's room only to return to working on the girls room again, to having my friends from tx visit, Andrew and i got super excited about completely changing the look of our living room. This was the project that involved tons of sanding, mess and painting. (Pictures to come) Anyway, we were nearly done with this project when my friends finished this slipcover. Seeing how beautiful and white it was, i stole it from my nursery and planted it in my living room. I'm very, very happy with it there but it does leave me a little discouraged at my progress with my other projects...
I'm considering using this blog as an accountability partner...we'll see. My new goal is to have the girls' room presentable by the end of july. This means, curtains, things on the wall, painting projects completed, and their stuff organized.

But even as i write this, my brain can hardly focus and all i want to do is get my sewing machine out and make some cute burp cloths i saw online! :)

happy father's day

We were so excited to have Andrew here on Father's day- this was the only Sunday he has off this month so we were all very happy it landed on today!

Picnic in the Park

"Maddiecakes"

sweet little sophie was very happy to only eat chips and watermelon- since it was father's day and all, we decided to fore-go a battle :)

these kiddos love their daddy

Here are some highlights from Will's card to his dad (transcribed by me, of course)
"Happy Father's Day..Thank you for giving me popcorn last night. i love you all the way to Africa and then all the way to China. I'm thankful you have an IPOD touch...Remember to buy yourself 20 vegetables just for you..(???) Your best pal, Will"

I got this great idea from a blog and thought i'd share it here- it only took about 20 shots before i got 3 that were good enough to go into the 3-picture frame.  i should clarify, i got a good one from Will in 2 shots, the rest were spent on the silly girls! :)

hair clip project

 Both girls have hit the glamor stage- they love necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, tutus, pigtails, and clips in their hair. We go through many clips a day as they'll fall out or the girls will want them changed out with outfits... :) Anyway, i saw some adorable felt hair clips at a super cute children's boutique in  ft.collins the other week and fell in love with their simplicity....unfortunately, i couldn't fall in love with paying $12 for 2 clips... So, for a little friend's birthday i experimented with making some of my own. They were pretty easy and lots of fun.

 

i bought 2 sizes of regular ole metal clips. (the blue circle clip used the small size)

 i made the little fabric flower first. (just a small strip of fabric, folded over length wise and then basted, pulled tight into a flower and then stitched to secure) Then cut a small strip of felt close to the shape of the clip, folded it over the top of the clip, sewed the flower onto felt, put a small amount of hot glue on the clip, pressed the felt down, and then sewed it to the clip in a couple spots. It's especially important to secure it at the bottom. there are small holes in the metal clip that i used to anchor the felt onto. You can see where i sewed a little better in the picture of the back of the circle clip. Then i just sewed a bit around the edges to make it look a little more finished.

Ta-da! :)

texas girls

we met jennifer and jaimee about 10 years ago when my sis and i went to texas for a unique 2 month training school. we loved them right away and have been long-distance friends ever since. they stayed down the street with cailan and her family for nearly a week this month which was great fun for us all!

s

sorry about your eye, jaimee...at least my arm and the ice cream made it into the pic. ;)

cousins

"sister day"- at some point in the last 6 years j & j were introduced and became friends with my sisters in law as well so it was especially fun for the 6 of us to hang out for the evening.

coolest kid on the block

I'm definitely saving these for his rehearsal dinner some day :)

Projects...

here are a few sneak peaks at the projects we've been working on lately. I say "we" a little loosely as i've  also been doing quite a lot of this ;)

first project: lots of sanding, dust and more coats of paint than we expected

2nd project: giving a comfy old chair a lovely new look

wouldn't have been possible without the help of 2 great friends!

 

 Stay tuned for the "after" pictures