I am insane.

Ate a snack

Saw wildlife

Participated in wildlife clean up

Watched a lady carve an eagle out of a stump with a CHAINSAW????

Fed ducks.

Stole their food

Played horseshoes

Made something amazing.

Happy birthday Dad!  

Thanks for a great weekend!

Because for a second today, I sure did.

In case you were wondering which Disney princess I was...

Okay, so this is probably the billionth time you have read about Wordle.  Me too.  But I finally fished the link out of my "places to waste time on" folder and gave it a try.  Oh Wordle, how I love thee, let me count the ways!  It was not a waste of time, in fact it was delightful.  I even learned some dorky new things, like taking a screen shot, saving to a PDF and then making a PDF into a JPEG.  Since I am always just faking it when I do something fancy on the computer, it brings me great joy to figure out things I never thought possible.  (I give 99% credit to my Mac though.)  So anyway, I made this little guy in a few minutes and I am quickly obsessed with it.  I need new price tags and business cards for the shop and upcoming boutiques and suddenly I have them.  Who me?  Did I go to grad school for graphic design? Why, that's so sweet you asked.  Yes, I went to the University of Wordle.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude.  I hear they are enrolling right now for the Fall Semester.  Go over there and apply.  

I don't know what makes my heart beat faster, the photography, the fabric, or the fact that I recently packed up some of these same crates and dropped them off at Goodwill because they were so yuck.  My plan was to have these done for today's post.  I bought all of the supplies (kind of had them, you know that fabric obsession problem I am dealing with) except the crates.  Wal-mart?  Nope?  Target?  Nope.  Not too sure where to look next, but I am braving errands with Lucy today, it is that important to me.  Insanity, I know, but look at these things! (((Edited:  I found them at Staples!  Hooray)))  I am sure that people with big houses probably struggle with storage too (sorry, I don't feel too bad for you), but I really, really struggle in our humble storage-free house.  
Today is free-dress day at Halley's school.  Well, technically "uniform free" dress day... they always have specific guidelines... today's guideline is "Christian T-shirt and Jeans day."  Well, it is 90 degrees out, so jeans were out of the question, and her jean skirt is a little too scandalous for the "middle of the knee" dress code, thus the leggings.  Love to bring the 80's back!  You can see the ice cream cone embroidery from this post.  I am happy to say that it has survived multiple washings without unraveling.  I totally credit Sublime Stitching for teaching me how to properly secure the stitches.  The hair flowers are from this post.  I broke down and used my Urban Chiks charm pack that I have been hoarding.  It was difficult to cut up, but when I was done I was really happy.  So much cuter in Halley's hair than sitting in a drawer.  Why have it if you don't plan on using it right?  Plus, I gained more storage...   Lastly, Halley isn't really much of a t-shirt girl (probably because her wardrobe-control-freak-mom isn't much of one either) so I made her a I heart Jesus shirt from this post.  She was shouting it all morning!  I am wishing there were more free-dress days.  Uniforms are so easy and super cute, but I miss sewing for her.
Lastly, sometimes I look at my kids and wonder where they came from.  It kind of freaks me out.  How in the world can our genes produce such beauty?  I see my dimple and curly hair (mind you a much better version of it) but beyond that?  Not really looking forward to the teenage years, you know?

and yes, my hair is in that stupid Lauren braid again.  My "really shouldn't of cut them" bangs still haven't grown out, and the fact that I attack them with a flat iron multiple times a week sure doesn't help.

I have a really bad cold and I am much less tolerant than usual.

Well the only one having a party in my tummy is this wild baby. She seems to be constantly making campfires. Perhaps to roast smores. She then proceeds to stab me with the roasting forks. But that is another story completely.

Halley is addicted to TV. Lucy watches about 20 seconds before running madly out of the room in search of destruction. I blame it completely on Baby Einstein. Our friend Kristen likened them to baby crack. Halley got a taste of the Einstein drug very early and has never quite shaken it. I never let Lucy watch it, for fear she would need rehab like her big sister.

So I am a mean mom that lets them watch one show a day. By one show, I mean they can either choose from Veggie Tales (for the Christian in me) or Yo Gabba Gabba (for the indie music lover in me.) Twenty minutes. That is all they get. But honestly, I am okay with that.

Because I have found that most kids shows are AWFUL. Horrible. Either they have characters with bad attitudes and no consequences, or they are simply intolerable to me, the mom who sits with them watching.

On vacation we didn't have our much used DVR so we were at the mercy of whatever was on during the alotted time. Halley was in a glazed over stupor. Lucy was climbing up the balcony (standard). I was trying my best to tell my little addict why we don't say those words, or do those things in our family.

Not worth it.

So I am happy to be home to the DVR and thankful that Halley still believes that our TV can't get the same shows that the Bass Lake TV got.

Not a single day goes by where we don't sing some sort of song from Yo Gabba Gabba to help us through toddler issues. If you have never seen this show before, please find it on your TV. A handful of new episodes are airing this week and I can't wait.

This video below is from the very first episode and I have to tell you that this simple, silly song completely revolutionized our girls' eating habits.

I heart you Brobee!

Jenn from Take a Bow Creations is giving away ALL THREE of these yummies to three lucky winners.  You better bet that I am planning on being one of them.  Head over to her blog to drool over her photography, and don't even get me started on the RIDICULOUSLY amazing quilt under the headbands.

My paranoid self just did a little tricky posting while we were away.  Again.

Today I am going to highlight Wisecraft's amazing fabric flower tutorial. I keep on coming back to this simple yet stunning flower. I made this little clippie for my sweet niece and sort of wanted to keep it for myself. We even did a variation of it for our MOPS craft this week. It is a fabulous use of fabric scraps and can be done while you are watching one of Fall's new TV shows.

I have made hundreds of these signs.  Every birthday, wedding, Etsy etc.  You would think that I would have made one for our family first.  Ten years.  Big deal.  Mark it forever with a sign.  Well, the signmaker's family has no sign.

Since this little child ceases to amaze me with her antics (check out this morning's picture) I dug up the original email I sent to my friends regarding the inaugural Poopgate 2007.  We were trying to coordinate a girls craft weekend and I was beyond desperate for a break.  Enjoy.

But if I wanted to be silly and extravagant I might splurge for these absolutely unecessary, yet adorable baby goodies.  Why shouldn't she have a great pair of shoes, even if she can't walk?  Then nobody will look at my flip flops and spit up stained shirt.

That if I want to run into the grocery store to buy ONE THING I have to be prepared with snacks, sippy cups, time outs and drama?

Jason left at 4am to drive up to USC for the game today.  Us girls are here at home cheering on our favorite Trojans.  I think Lulu would rather play football than cheer for it.  Loving her old school pigskin pose.

We were sooooo young!

In-N-Out at a wedding?  

We have begun to call her Donald Trump (in the nicest way possible).  Can't you just see the resemblance in the hair?  Is it any wonder that her modeling agency had to "let her go"?  Well, actually when she became "unemployed" at 18 months it was because of her lack of hair, rather than her current abundance of Donald Trump / mullet-ness.

This week Mimi and Reese will give away one of their sweet pink bags in honor of the abundance of girls in my household.
Just head on over to their Etsy shop, try your best to pick a favorite bag (it will be really hard, I promise) and then come back here to let me know which one would best complete your life in the comments section.
If you have an idea for a bag you can leave that too for an extra entry into the contest.  If you are feeling extra fancy, blog about the giveaway (be sure to let me know the link) for a fun five extra entries.
The lucky winner will be picked on Saturday morning.