Tilly's Tea

Trying something new...

2009-11-01T18:17:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be shifting my main blogging over to

I'll still have this blog, sort of as a family log of all of those cute/funny/silly/insane things that the kids do, think and say. And of course, the archives are still here and you are welcome to continue reading what I post, incase anyone is interested. I just think that it is a better fit for the sort of blogging I plan on doing, and I've really been enjoying the layout over there. So, please update your readers, feeds, bookmarks etc. and come join me over there!

Thank you all and blessings,

Tilly

Jenny's "collection"

2009-10-27T11:48:00.003-04:00

I *SO* wish I had new batteries for my camera, so I could have taken a picture or video of this...it was super, super cute! Jenny has taken to gathering up "collections" of things in one of the many metal baskets I have. Just lots of little things that she likes, until the basket is full. Then she comes to find me and asks if I would like to see her collection...um, Of Course! She then sets the basket down on the floor, squats next to it, and unloads the items one by one in a circle around her, while naming each item. Here is this morning's list:

A puck (pacifier)

A cup

Music notes

A lego

A crocodile

ball

cup

chugachoo train

soap (not actually soap, lol)

breakfast (from the kitchen set)

a bead

a cat

a phone

a... shape

a clip

another clip

a blue lego

egg

lid

*grin*

At this point she sees a larger metal basket and sets off to find another collection, leaving her circle of goodies. A minute or so later, Anthony will wander in to ask me something/get a kiss etc. and will spot the circle of wonder, squeal and sit down in the middle and proceed to name everything that he likes. When he's done he very carefully chooses three toys and runs off to play with them. Rinse and repeat! I just love watching those two!!

Today and some blogging shifts

2009-10-22T23:14:00.004-04:00

Today was a really good day! It all started with my coffee when I realized (to my embarrassment) that all of the coffee mugs were dirty. Actually, most of our dishes were dirty... I was really afraid that this was a bad start, but it actually turned out to be the perfect start. While the water got hot (our kitchen water takes forever) I cleared enough space to organize my dishes. My sister-in-law laughs at me every time, but that's just how I learned to do it. I start by sorting them by type (glasses get lined up, silver ware gets put in the biggest dirty bowl/dish, plates get stacked etc.) then I set them up in order that they will be washed; glasses first, then silverware, followed by big plates, little plates, cereal bowls etc. etc. etc. I got all of the glasses and mugs washed by the time the coffee had brewed, so I poured myself a cup and called Heather to give her the lasagna recipe she wanted. I walked over to the table, and tried to move my chair back. Hmmm, have to move the bags of apples first...okay, move the....Gross!!! :-S The bottom two layers of apples had gone bad in one of the bags and leaked all over the floor...you know, that nasty sticky stuff? So while trying to remember the lasagna recipe and thinking about my ever cooling cup of coffee, I sorted apples and mopped up the mess. I realized that apples would be the project for the day, since without that bag, I had a half bushel of apples stacked on my counter. I also noticed that my floors have not been properly vacuumed and mopped in about forever, and that one really clean spot really Really stood out. So floors too. After today I am very in love with my new pairing knife. It pealed the apples so beautifully, and she and I really did peal allot of apples today! I filled my roasting pan for applesauce, and then my crock pot for apple butter. At this pint, Jenny was asking me what "these" were, which reminded me that I needed to cook up all of those butternut squash. There were allot of them!-7 or 8

this one's insides looked just like a tree :)

While I was working, the kids were busy with their own project in t

he other room...tent building:

This is the sweet face that greeted me when I knocked :)

And this is what they did when I asked t see what they were doing...you see, you sleep in tents ;)

Here is the fruit of today's labor (minus the shiny floors!)...

3qts. of applesauce, 10 cups of squash, and the apple butter cooking away!
This is the shelf in our freezer where I keep things I have made; this morning it had two containers f my homemade meat sauce (I started with the whole tomatoes and everything!), 1lb pre-cooked hamburger and onion, and 1qt of applesauce I made last week. (Darker than today's because of the brown sugar and more cinnamon.)

Here it is at the end of the day! Full already, and I still have 1.5 bushels of apples to be processed into sauce, butter and pie filling. :)

And here is a peak at my current knitting project...a hat for my sister:

As for the blogging shifts, I just wanted you all to know that I am trying to figure out the best way to work this... I like having the other blog, but juggling the two isn't going as well as I had hoped. I should get everything figured out in the next few days though!

"The Sickness" Day: 3

2009-10-02T11:25:00.002-04:00

It's going to be a long night when it takes a 10:30 Wally-world run to be able to go to sleep...

But there are clean towels for bath time later...

And there is always the fun of getting to stay in your nightgown all day (and wearing new pink socks)

But he thinks the best part is taking of your shirt and running around saying, "Noo!" just because he can...

"The Sickness" Days: 1 & 2

2009-10-01T13:59:00.005-04:00

Yesterday a bit of gentle crafting with cousins was in order as Miss Jenny was coming down with the cold her brother already had. It kept her out of trouble and helped Mama to keep her cool. We were inspired by This wonderful blog. Thanks Heather for finding it!

Today was a fun lunch out with Nana, for a change of scenery before the cold really takes over. They napped for a few minutes in the car (so afternoon naps are out), so today they get to meet Buzz and Woody. ;)

Less is More

2009-09-23T11:00:00.003-04:00

First let me wish everyone a happy fall!! This is my favorite season...I feel like winter could be my favorite season, but we don't really get winter in Virginia...just naked trees and bare ground. I was over at my mom's house the other evening and they were reading Farmer Boy, and it was saying how in the wonderfully sheltered part of the barn yard, there was almost never more than 2ft. of snow..... I can count the number of times I've seen that much snow on one hand. Hmmm, I've gotten off topic...

Happy Fall!! I am really excited for the change of seasons, this fall especially. I am ready for the change....in need of it. It is going to be a time of big change for our family too. We have all settled into a bit of a rut and it's just time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Those weeks of super heat that we had near the end of summer was just to much for us.... we got a bit to used to just lazing about trying to stay cool. The house has suffered from it, the kids have suffered from it, and goodness nows I have. I am one of those people who does *really well* with a consistent schedule, routines, bedtimes etc. And right now it's just not happening. Our days involve way to much computer time (and for the little Doodles, way to much "Max and Ruby" time!) and not enough reading, playing and cleaning. ;) So starting on Monday--well, Sunday night really, (we have a big weekend and need to just make it through the week, without any earth shaking changes!) we will be starting a new schedule, complete with chore lists, daily and weekly routines, all the good stuff. :) I know it will be bumpy, but it has to be better than this. Every time we start potty training, something comes up and we drop it, so Miss Jenny will finally be able to graduate from diapers. (yay!!!) This will mean allot less computer vegging for Mama, and as close to no TV for the Doodles as possible (I am realistically viewing this, and while things settle into place there might be a Max and Ruby or two). However I do still have some computer time carved into the evening, so I will have a set time each day for blogging, blog reading etc. So hence the post title, Less computer time will actually = more blogging. :) I have so many ideas that I really can't wait to get started! Remember that this blog is going to be my primary family journal blog, and While the Water Boils will be my homemaking blog, with all of my projects, recipes, menus and such. So if this blog looks oddly lacking in craft posts just go over there for a peak! So...I will be back on Monday with (hopefully!!) a report on our first day... I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happenings

2009-09-10T14:14:00.002-04:00

Once more with feeling! It seems like my carefully planned routines and goals somehow got tossed out the window. Or perhaps they had the same fate as my master plan/fall cleaning (although I know it wont all happen!!) list. Carefully written out with my favorite pen, only to be pulled out of my notebook, and I kid you not, stomped on for a good 10 seconds by Anthony. ... ... I'm not superstitious, but I can't help but feel like there was a bit of foreshadowing there. ;) Oh well... I'll just try again...starting fresh all over again. That's just the way it goes with these crazy monkeys, isn't it? I do hope I'm not the only one! We have been making small steps in some areas though...

I have been working on only nursing Anthony at nap time and bed time (and when he wakes up in the night) for about a week now. He is not a fan. I am. I love the idea of extended breastfeeding, and child led weaning, but it's just not happening with this dude. He's big, and while most often sweet and loving, when he's being demanding it gets rough quickly, do to his size and age. You know when you see the cows by the side of the road, and those big-ish calfs walk up to the happily grazing mama cow and start head butting her? You know how she steps around and headbutts them right back, just enough to get them to stop, before inevitably nursing them? That's how I feel right now. Jenny was easy, I was 3 months pregnant with Anthony and we were just both ready to stop at the same time. I offered her a cup once and that was it. Er...not so much with Anthony. We are both trying really hard, and he is throwing fewer fits and is more open to getting a drink instead, but not always. This week I've been trying to carry him in the sling more, so that he doesn't loose the cuddle time (which he still really needs!), and that seems to help some. The problem with that is that means I need a new carrier. I have a mei tai sling, that while I loved while he was a bit smaller, doesn't work well now. He has to be on my back in it (which is fine), but it doesn't hold his big strong self snuggly enough, so he can still pitch a fit and that makes it so hard to stay standing. My shoulders are also a bit on the narrow side, and since you have to wrap it snuggly around your arms ( like a backpack), I only have so long before my arms go numb. Not fun! I have a ring sling (actually, I just took advantage of a sale from a blog I read and got another beautiful one from this etsy shop...I LOVE it, can't wait for a smaller baby to use it for!) but he's not happy in it for long stretches, and it does still only let me use one arm. So after talking to Joe, I've decided to get one of the Ergo carriers that I've heard so many good reviews on. I really like these two colors; so I'll ask Joe which he likes best, and hopefully order it over the weekend! Once I've used it a bit I'll share more here. They make an insert for newborns that just snaps in, so the idea is that you can carry the babies from birth all the way through their toddler years, so we'll see. I like different slings for different ages, but it would be nice to have one on hand that I know will work for any age.

Jenny has really taken to playing "Mama and Baby" lately, and has decided that her baby doll's name is Michelle. She asked me what different names there were (I don't remember her wording, but it was really cute) and after I listed several she chose Michelle. She is normally in some state of caring for "Baby Michelle" and Anthony and I are often told to "Be quiet, the baby's sleeping!"...it's pretty cute!

In other family news, Joe's sister Bitty has moved in with us in mid August. She is such a funny girl, we've really been enjoying it. She is taking 21(? 24?) credits at the local community college, so we don't see her much, but we've all adjusted really well. If all goes according to plan, she will be with us for about 18 months, taking classes every semester and then transferring to one of the state 4 year schools for the spring semester of 2011. (My, 2011 is odd to type!)

That's it for now, both "babies" are napping, so I need to go get a few things taken care of. I hope you are all having the same beautiful early fall weather we are!!

A Portrait

2009-09-03T23:46:00.005-04:00

photo taken by Bitty - my first portrait since I got my nose done!

Picnicking I

2009-08-18T13:50:00.009-04:00

Last weekend we went on a wonderful picnic. The campgrounds are right on the VA/WVA line and way up in the mountains. We had the most amazing time...I'm hoping we can get back a few more times before the end of fall. I took a ton of pictures, and couldn't really narrow them down much. I have tried, but there are still a ton of pictures. You don't have to look at all of them. :) I tiedyed Anthony's shirt, and made Jenny's t-shirt dress. :D

note: we didn't get drive through food, it's just a paper bag, lol

There's West Virginia, on the other side of the road... (taken from where I sat!)

ah Jenny...

my sister made me this super pretty anklet, and these are my very favorite shoes...

"No Daddy, I really must share!!"

Picnicking II

2009-08-18T10:57:00.007-04:00

July with Anne

2009-08-09T18:49:00.008-04:00

While I was at Anne's home I finally got to see one of the "blooming teas"! It was beautiful...and tasted very good. I still think it looks a bit like a spider though! ;)

Jenny at the hotel, all ready to go out!

Anthony really took to Anne... but that's not the point of this picture. ;) See the different colors of his feet? No, his circulation is fine... the left foot is after we washed it, and the right is before. :-O Dirty feet and that purple hotel carpet! Gross, huh?

:-)

The last night we were at the hotel in CA we were determined to be packed by 7 or 8pm so that we could be in bed at a good hour. Instead we simply dumped everything we had with us onto the bed and sat up talking until 3:00. I think that there were more than two chocolate runs to the vending machines. :-D

I had allot of fun cooking when we got home...it was so good to have "real" food after two weeks away! The very first day I made macaroni and cheese...it tasted SO good! This was a few nights later...I had made Sommer's House Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Anthony LOVED it! This is his first time using a spoon!!

We had SO MUCH FUN tie dying!! We each made several shirts, plus several onesies for Anthony and a few t-shirts for Jenny. When we were done we still had tons of die left, so I grabbed some white fabric and we went to work! I know in a picture it sort of just looks like a crazy hodge-podge of color, but in person, (and especially to us!) there is lots of special meaning in every part. This piece really ties together allot of our talks, feelings, thoughts and dreams. I *think* the plan is to cut it in half (it's a double layer) and make two very special quilts with it. But we haven't quite decided yet!

the other half...

Then the last night she was here (the real last night, lol) we were doing some heavy duty knitting and movie watching. We were such bums that day! We slept through the morning Masses, and ended up staying in our pajamas until we had to get ready for 5:00pm Mass. As soon as we got home we were back in our pj's and knitting again! Anthony came to nurse for a while and wound up snuggled up under my shawl while we....kept knitting. :) Oh, and that's one of my newly tie dyed shirts! Like the last night at the hotel, we had many better things to do than be tidy... *ahem*

the coffee table...

the sofa between us...

a very small bit of the results! I'm working on this pattern...the only hold up is that I'm making it up as I go! We saw these really delightful fingerless gloves at our local yarn shop, but the book the pattern was in was $20.00, and was filled with really, truly dreadful patterns. So I took a look at the stitch pattern for the spiral and well...we'll see where I get! I'm really hoping to make up a working pattern. It will probably take a few gloves to get it right, but I'm taking notes so we'll see!

Then the rest of these are just recent pictures that I had to share. :)

Anthony <3

My Jenny-loo <3

Her wonderful braids... <3

This is a little quiet spot I made for Joe on his desk. There are lots of electronics and all sorts of visual busy-ness so I wanted to make a calm, peaceful sort of spot for him. :) The flash makes everything really jump out, but in the actual lighting in our room all the colors are darker and softer and it really is a nice grouping of things.

Summer Adventures

2009-08-09T11:12:00.007-04:00

My goodness, is it really a week into August already?? July was wonderful, but happened way to fast. So fast that I have only a few pictures to show for it. :)

On the 2nd, we left for Washington state for my mother-in-law's family reunion. They have a lovely spot on the "beach", in the middle of no-where about an h

our outside of Seattle. It's sooo pretty! We got to spend lots of time visiting and playing, and Jenny even got to go on her very first boat ride!

photo taken by my sil Bitty

She sat in the very front and ate her cheese the whole time. :) They went very fast...or at least that's how it looked to the Mama standing on the shore watching! ;) She also got to go on lots of airplanes... by the time the trip was all said and done, we had been on

6 in 9 days. She learned that when we were next in line at the securtity checkpoints (which

were actually super-super easy, even with two kids, two car seats, an umbrella stroller and all of our shoes and toiletries) she would get out of the stroller and hand

me her shoes. :) She was amazing! Anthony was too, but it will be really nice when he can hold a hand and walk!!

on the airplane :)

After Washington, we flew down to CA to pick up my very bestest friend Anne. We spend two short nights in Mt. Shasta with her family and then we were on our way again! We spent a few days in Hayward, CA, and while there got to meet my childhood friend

Christen's sweet family. We were just in time to meet Matthew, their newest! I got to hold him at just three days hold...he is such a cutie! Unfortunately...I forgot my camera. :( While we stayed in Hayward, we had the use of Christen's car (thank you!!). This let us brave the traffic and construction (gulp) and navigate our way down to my friend Sommer's house. We had so much fun! Her youngest, Rowan is the rolly-polliest tiny baby I've ever seen. Much like holding a drooling marshmellow. :) It was so much fun to finally meet her children too. Jenny and Anthony had a blast playing with them! It was good for them to get some realy kid play time after all those hours in airports/airplanes/hotels. The funniest thing is that the picture of us makes me look like a giant for the very first time in my life. At 5'2" I'm not the tallest of people, so when I got home and looked at how much taller this picture makes me look it really made me laugh. :)

Anne and I had a wonderful visit while she was here in VA...including the time in CA, we had almost three entire weeks together! Ofcourse, it wasn't nearly enough, but it was so, so good for both of us! We did so many fun things....knitting, shopping, tie dying, talking, tea drinking, talking, movie watching, (did I say talking?), sewing and on and on. I also finally got to take her to the Blackfriar playhouse to see a play (The Merry Wives of Windsor) which was really a blast! My first adventure with a parking garage. :-D We got quite a few aprons cut out, but unfortunatly only got one each sewn, so over the next few weeks/months I will be sewing them up and mailing her to her in care packages at college. :) So prepare for many, many, many apron pictures! I even got to have Anne here when I celebrated my 22nd birthday. :) My mama made me the very best coconut cake and they made the yummiest dinner for me! The decorations were, as always very, very pink. :) When I was little I would always want pink baloons, pink streamers, pink plates and napkins...with a pink cake and frosting. lol I have no clue why...it's just what I do on my birthday! They even had roses like the ones I remember!

More pictures to come in a seperate post...blogger is giving me fits with this one.

As for the next few weeks, we will be in a bit of a flurry around here as we get the upstairs room painted and ready for my sil Bitty to move into. I'm so excited to have her here! She's going to school at our local Community College, and will be living with us for the next 12-18 months! I'm hoping to obtain the use of her fantasticly amazing camera from time to time. ;)

Long Time, No Blog!

2009-07-28T11:22:00.001-04:00

Wow, so I'm way behind. :) My laptop is having some technical dificulties, so I'm currently sharing Joe's....however I can't figure out how to upload my pictures until he gets home. :( All of this rambling to say that I will be back by the end of the week to share my month of July with all of you! August will bring with it a nice new "back to school" schedule, and with that, regular computer time with plans for lots of blogging. This week therefor is somewhat crazy. :) Anyway, check back later this week!

Love,

Tilly

"Belly fat, Mama?"

2009-06-04T19:36:00.004-04:00

:-D "Um, no Honey...ballet flats." Thank you Jenny!
Here's another snippet of the day...
Jenny and Charlotte had sat Zoey (who was doing something naughty-ish) down and then proceeded to give her their best shape up, or ship out talk. Evidently they DO listen when we talk! ahem.... It involved a variety of voice tones, encouragement, and some very sound scolding...Lots of, "Okay, Honey?" lol Then when they were done Jenny skipped past me and said, "Don't worry, Mommy-- We saved the day!" :-D SO funny!

I'm off for an at home date-night with subs from our favorite pizza/sub place and "So You Think You Can Dance"...perhaps not the most exciting...but wonderfully fun!

A Change of Pace

2009-06-03T11:03:00.002-04:00

Go check out my new homemaking blog, While The Water Boils ! It's still a work in progress, but I hope to have it up and running soon! I will be continuing this blog, keeping it as a family journal of sourts, with the kid updates and daily life part.

It's Time Again!

2009-05-17T13:31:00.004-04:00

Flowers for Joe's sister Sarah (her 14th birthday was Wednesday!)

Every so often a sewing board I'm on hosts something called a Week in Feminine Dress (known as WIFD, pronounced "wifdee" lol). I usually participate, but don't always share pictures. I'm going to try again this time though! So, here I am for day one... the top is a new one from Down Est Basics (love them!!), and the skirt is one I've had for 4 years. I need to try to make another before I wear this one out! It is reversable, so you'll probably see it's other side later in the week. As for the rest of the outfit, I got the earrings and the nursing necklace from Etsy, and my sunglasses are my current stand by hair style (head bands are to tight). This is my first try with the timer option on my camera...I think we shall be friends. It did sort of over do-it on the flash though...

This is a better view of the skirt colors...it's made up of three tiers on each side, if that makes sense. :)

The flowers were such a lovely orange! Which happens to be my very favorite color for roses.This was my effort to dress up a simple bunch of spray roses from Wal*Mart. I cut down the plastic sleeve you slide them in (to hold in the water drops), then wrapped them in a soft shade of gold tissue paper with a robbins egg blue bow.

The extra challenge this time, for us girls who already wear skirts everyday, is to make sure that we are also being feminine. It is so easy to just grab whatever skirt is near the top, with a big comfy t-shirt and slip and slide our way into frumpiness. Not good. So, I am trying to pay attention and to be just a bit more feminine...still practical of course, but if women used to do it in hoop skirts, then I can surely manage to put some earrings in. ;)

P.S.) For those wondering, these are in the little box! Perfect for "14", don't you think? The blue is about the size of a dime/penny and they're about 2" long. So Sarah. :)

Still here...

2009-05-01T22:57:00.003-04:00

Thank you all for your nice comments! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, we've had a round of rather high fevers here, and this Mama's hands were busy with other things. I've got the little babe asleep on my lap, so can't really type...don't give up on me though, I'll be back soon, with lots of pictures!
Love,

Tilly

I leave you with "Sir Laundry of Basket"

Wordless Wednesday - New Curtains, New Dress :-)

2009-04-22T22:38:00.003-04:00

Finally!

2009-04-21T22:01:00.002-04:00

I only have a moment tonight...I promise you will get a real post with pictures tomorrow! The "finally" is in regards to sewing time! I finally got some!! I made the big valence for my living room windows (only the two small ones left!) and whipped up a t-shirt dress for Jenny to wear on her big play date tomorrow. Whipped up is really the perfect phrase too, because it took about 15 minutes! :) I'll get pictures and share them tomorrow.
Goodnight!
~Mackenzie

Blueberry Pancakes

2009-04-20T22:50:00.002-04:00

Today was a fairly slow day here. My little Anthony has an awful cold that has made nursing almost impossible, and sleep?-Well we're on the medicine sleep routine, the one where you wake up every 4 hours an 20 minutes to a grumbly baby who feels like he's about a million degrees. Yeah....not much sleep. Heather and her girls came over for the day though, and that was lots of fun. We got to flop on the sofa and talk patterns and baby names while the littles played. We even had a fancy dinner of blueberry pancakes. :)

I didn't get much done in the way of sewing, but I did get almost everything prewashed, and most of Jenny's t-shirt dresses cut and ready to go. Tomorrow our cats go in for their surgeries, so Joe is working from home so that he can bring them in in the morning. There is no way I can get 4 cats and 2 children anywhere by 7:30am! Him being home will mean that Anthony can nap on his shoulder...which means I will get sewing time!

Sick Baby needs me, so that's all for today!

Oh $.99 pattern sale, how I've missed you!

2009-04-19T17:48:00.004-04:00

What a lovely Sunday we've been having! It started with Joe getting home from his camping trip almost four hours earlier than expected, which was perfect since I had a sick little boy who woke up crying for his "Ba-Ba" (which translates to Da-Da). What a relief to the rather sleep deprived Mama!! We had a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and blueberry pancakes...

While I do prefer regular bacon, I am amazed everytime I make this by how much less fat there is in the pan when I'm done. (Almost none!)

Thank goodness tylenol works so well those times that I give in and give it to them!! Since he was still a bit feverish and coughing so much we did decide to stay home from church though...I hope he will be better by next weekend though...this is two weeks in a row now. :( (NOTE: if you look carefully, past Anthony's head on the left you can see something shiny silver...well it is the shell of my duct tape dress form!! I'll post pictures when I get it finished!)

After breakfast I remembered I had promised to take Jenny to the big JoAnn's sale that's starting this weekend. (For those interested, it goes all week!) So she and I got all dressed up for a mommy-daughter day and headed out. Our first errand was to drop off some camping stuff at my parents' house, and after a bit of persuasion, my mom (and thanks to a bizarre insident with ketchup, Eliza) joined us for the trip. :)

They have all of their red tag clearance fabrics marked 50% off, so I got each of the kids some yummy thermal knit fabric for pj's this fall/winter. Regularly $9.99/yd, I got this for $2.50/yd!!This is the fabric (I already had it) for my living room curtains. I got the lace today with my 40% off coupon to go along the bottom of the valences. I used such strong, masculine colors in that room, that I think this touch of femininity will be a nice ballance!As you know, Jenny just turned three, and in honor of the occasion, her great-great aunt sent her some birthday money. I had promised her that she could pick something "fancy" out the next time we went to JoAnn's, and she was so excited to get to do her own (ever so slightly guided) choosing! This gorgeous batik and pom-pom trim will be for her very own library tote bag! She chose the trim while I was picking out lace, and then said she needed fabric with bugs on it. :) This was the prettiest one we could find! :)Then she saw this red buggy print and said, "Oooh, put that one behind me Mommy!", and from her seat in the front of the cart, that meant add it to the basket! This pattern was on my list anyway ($.99 for McCalls patterns!!), but I think that these bugs will become a top like the white one on the cartoon girl. I think she has just enough money left over to get a bright blue for the pants to complete the outfit! Quite the birthday gift, isn't it? She had so much fun, and really knew exactly what she wanted! :)I have been in desperate need of clothing lately, so I'm so excited that I found two patterns for myself. I got this denim for this twirly skirt pattern, view B...the longer of the two cartoonish ones. This fabric was really hard to photograph. The color is pretty close, but you can't really tell that it is the loveliest embroidered gauze. The pattern looks like it will be wonderful fun, and it takes ALLOT of fabric. I just love long, full, twirly skirts! I'm making the one that is completely shown in the picture, with the blonde girl in the white tank top. Now I just have to preshrink everything!!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Hopefully I'll be posting progress on my sewing by the end of the week!

First Taste of Summer...

2009-04-18T19:42:00.003-04:00

Today we had our first summer day. I know we're no where near summer just yet, but it was about 80* out today, and we did summery things. Like painting nails the brightest pink in Mommy's bag...

After ice cream we went down to the playground at our church. Tony really loves the swing, he was in there the entire time!

Cute girls!

Jenny did so well on the slide, over and over and over!!Miss Zoey has such cute little caterpillar hair!It was so warm, we drank allot! Charlotte was a bit irked that we wouldn't let her pour her own. :)After about an hour of swinging Tony passed right out... thanks to Jenny's hat to block the sun!After a fun evening and dinner time at Joe's mom's house we got all of that sunscreen washed off, fresh and clean jammies on and a very lovely big girl braid. :)I hope you have a great weekend!

Happiness Is...

2009-04-17T23:56:00.004-04:00

Two of My Best Boys
Anthony and my big brother Zac at Easter brunch

Feel free to join in and post a picture (or two or three!) at your blog of what happiness looks like to you! Just let me know in the comments!

Flowers, Chocolates, Promises You Don't Intend To Keep...

2009-04-16T10:58:00.004-04:00

One of the best quotes from "Beauty and The Beast", which is my very favorite Disney movie. It seems to apply to the thoughts scurrying around in my head right now. You see, my last post was my 300th post. Wow. That seems like a good time to re-vamp my blogging (three posts in three days!! Is that a record for me?) and a giveaway seems to be in order. This is where the "promises I don't intend to keep" comes in. Regular readers of my blog might remember that I've tried giveaways before, but never quite followed through. Sure there's always some good excuse about daily life taking over, but it's not very fair to you, my lovely readers, now is it? So...this time it will be a bit different. At some point, after I find the time to plan and pull it together, I will be hosting a giveaway, in honor of my 300th post, Spring time, and in thanks to all of you lovely readers. I *hope* to be able to post details and pictures by the end of the month. So, if you have any faith left in my ability to actually complete a giveaway on this blog, please keep your eyes out over the next few weeks. (Note: commenting on this post does not sign you up for the upcoming giveaway, details about signing up will be posted at a later date.)

On to other things...

I thought I might share a bit of my current Sewing List with you, so that you can have some idea of things you will be seeing in the near future. Joe has promised me sewing time on Saturday morning, so I'm hoping to sneak in little bits of cutting and pinning today and tomorrow so that my actual sit down and sew time will be maximized. :) So, without further ado...

4 or 5 t-shirt dresses for Jenny-she needs these badly with the warmer weather, combined with our on-going effort to reduce/eliminate the wearing of pants by us ladies
4 to 6 skirts for me
4 to 6 blouses for me
4 or 5 pairs of play pants for Anthony
3 church shirts, and 2 church pants for Anthony
curtains for the living room (I'd love to do a quick and easy throw "quilt" too, with the rest of the fabric!)
curtains for Anthony's room
Ducky's birthday gift :-D
and then when I recover from that, I am very, very badly in need of a few aprons. I have on that mostly covers my top, but only one apron makes it very hard to stay clean...which leads to not really putting effort into getting dressed, and that leads to a notable decrease in productivity...and that is very bad! So, aprons are a "must have" item on my list!! Thankfully I think I have almost all of the fabric I will be needing, and most of the notions. Ducky has offered me the use of her fancy machine for all of the button holes, so that most-dreaded step should go quickly and neatly. I really just need to get busy! :)

Yesterday was a reasonably productive day...I had two good bursts. :) I made up a batch of oh-so-yummy granola. It's more like muesli actually, but we have always called granola. I will be posting the recipe soon! Then I got to go over to my Mama's house for a play date...and the kids had fun too. ;) When we got home I had a sudden attack of "MUST CLEAN", and proceeded to gut my desk. It has been my "go put it...." place for months and I just snapped! It was wonderful. I tossed things willy nilly, filling an entire trash bag with out of date mail, magazines, catalogs, junk bits etc. Glorious! I now am faced with finding homes for and delivering all of the odd things that had been so carefully "tucked" and "stuck" on my desk...or else Tony will eat them. And while it would make things easier to toss, I don't think that's the best option. :) Speaking of the little man, he's asking ever so loudly to nurse, so I must wrap this up.

Ciao!
~Tilly

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-15T08:45:00.003-04:00

When Will The Easter Candy Be Gone???

2009-04-14T10:47:00.004-04:00

Hello! I hope you all had a nice month! My plans went well over all...and the time away from blogging (without the I should be blogging! guilt) was a really good time to refocus a bit and get a better feel for when and how I will be blogging now that I'm back. But the biggest changes were having so much time to think about how I need to change our daily stuff so that I can get things done...because I am not currently getting anything done and that must change!! I've decided I want a clean, simple, inviting and (creatively!) inspiring home. It's going to take a while, but I think that now that I have a vision I'll be able to start taking the right steps. The first step is going to be a schedule. I'll post a copy when I get it finished. My biggest problem is keeping Anthony busy while I get things done. He either wants to be held and carried or he is getting into EVERYTHING. My goal is to create a space where it is safe and child proofed enough for him to just "go play", but keeping him busy while I get that set up is the catch. :) Here is one thing I think will be fun though, and I thought I'd share it, incase some of you other homemakers might be interested. Monica (The Homespun Heart) and Rebecca (That's What It's All About) are starting a series called "Restoring Order". They will take turns hosting at their blogs, setting a room, space or area at the beginning of the week that they will be restoring order in, and then they will have before and after pictures and a "Mr. Linky" at the end of the week for all those "playing" to share. I think that it might be a fun motivation and help me get started! This week is the boy's/children's room which is really perfect for me right now. Jenny's room is pretty consistently clean and tidy, but Anthony's room has been the "holding room" for all of my clothing sorting projects for the entire family, + all of our baby clothes. Yikes!! No wonder he wont sleep in there! So I'm hoping to get in there and finish sorting, move the bins to the garage and then (finally!) finish decorating that space. I'll even take before pictures for you! :-S

Easter was a busy, but fun day for us, with brunches at both families' homes, a little living room based egg hunt, and my sweet Jenny turned 3 !!!! And my goodness is three different than two already! The biggest change being the getting up at night. ahem. She woke me up yesterday be starring at me! SO CREEPY! She has never gotten up before. The occasional run to the bookshelf in her room to get a book or two, but never actually leaving her room. I had Joe put a gate up at the end of the hallway so that she can only come to our room. And she did! Last night she came in at 3:30 and declared she had had a bad dream and wanted to cuddle. Somehow we all squished into our queen sized bed (Anthony sleeps with us) for about half an hour before Joe brought her back to her own bed. Then after Joe left for work, Jenny came back in at about 5:30 and climbed onto his side. The amazing part was she actually went back to sleep! Jenny doesn't sleep anywhere but her bed...ever! And that's twice in the same night she crawled into our bed and slept! We have begun pricing bigger beds. :)

There is lots of laundry to be processed and items to be sewn (LOTS of those!), babies to be cleaned and fed, and oh yes, a house in need of cleaning and organizing. :) I will leave you with this lovely picture...check back for more as I find time to get them uploaded...I have beach pictures, birthday party pictures and just general daily pictures to share!This is my only current method of containing him AND keeping him happy! :)

The House by the Sea

2009-03-22T14:38:00.002-04:00

That's where I am! :) We drove down late Friday, after Joe finished with work, and it is soooo good to be here! It is of course, still pretty cold; but that just means that there are fewer people. ;) My family was down here for all of last week, and we get to join them this week. My dad was nice enough to get the house for us all, so it just works out perfectly. This morning after Mass we stopped by the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. Joe had never actually seen a lighthouse in person, and of course it was Anthony's first time as well. Jenny came down with me right after her 1st birthday, but I don't think she remembers :) I've climbed it about a half dozen times over the years, but it is still closed for the off season. One of these years I'll get my little family down here at a time when we can climb it. It is allot of stairs, (the creepy circular kind, with the open backs) but it is very worth it when you make it to the top and out onto the observation deck. :) We will be making a trip out to Roanoke Island to visit the aquarium, and to see Bodie Island, but other than that we are mostly just taking a quiet week. I've been loafing around, reading Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. It's slow going with all of the babies, but I'm really liking it...I think once I get a bit furthur into it I'll really really like it. It's funny, my dad had suggested the series to me, since I like historical fiction, and most books having to do with ships. Since I knew I would have reading time down here, I went to the library to check it out before the trip. Hmmm, all of the other books, no Master And Commander... okay no problem. So I went back early on Friday to check one more time and it still wasn't there. I asked the librarian and they confirmed that their copy was checked out, so I gave up, got some Janette Oke books (yay!) and went home to finish packing. When we got down here, I told my dad that I had looked at the Library to bring the book down, and he started laughing and told me that HE was the one who had checked it out...to bring to the beach for me! :-D Great minds think alike I guess! heehee

I don't really have much else to say...I'm afraid that I have been overtaken with a very tired and lazy sort of vacation friendly outlook, so that's all for now! Pictures will be added when we get home, since I forgot my camera's transfer cable. :)

Love to all,

Tilly

**Oh, and the spell check isn't working, so I'm sorry!**

A Stay Healthy Tip

2009-03-15T10:42:00.002-04:00

I thought that in light of the fact that we're not the only sick family out there, I would share one of my mom's stay healthy tricks. Listerine mouth wash is the trick behind this one. (We like vanilla mint.) Just fill a cup about 2", and stick your tooth brushes in (head down) over night. Make sure you rinse it well to get rid of the nasty taste, but otherwise you're good to go! It might not kill everything, but it does really help cut down on the germs left on your toothbrush, so your odds of re-infecting yourself are allot smaller!

Tony, the nude model....

2009-03-14T18:18:00.006-04:00

hee hee, how cute is that smile?? (over exposed due to bad lighting in my bedroom)
Okay, onto the post...

*WHEW* What a sick 4 weeks we have had!! And I mean totally blah, too, not just the sniffles. We started off with a nice round of the flu (the respiratory sort), followed immediately (and sometimes simultaneously) by what may have been the worst cold ever, and most recently topped with a 12-24 hour stomach bug...although that has only hit the babies thus far. Let's just say that I am *SO READY* for the beach next week!!

It hasn't been all bad though, earlier today my Boy got me THIS lovely blue vacuum...I feel positively giddy. :) After being without one for a good month, well...I'm sure all of you housewives can understand my delight. :) And how perfect that it was on sale when we got there! I have already cleaned two rooms. :)

So, you might be asking yourself, what has been going on here, during my computer/TV free time? Well...first off, I have been knitting LOTS. Sadly my camera isn't working at the moment, other wise I would show you. But I'm working on a gift for my friend Sommer's upcoming arrival, as well as a darling little Easter vest for Tony. (On a side note, for any of my readers are on Ravelry ~and if you knit or crochet and aren't on ravelry, you really must sign up!~ then please feel free to add me as a friend, or at least look me up... my username is MackenzieH) As far as around the house goes, I decorated my hall way a bit. It still really needs paint, as does that mirror there, but that's okay. :) I like collecting cheap-y mirrors, that have those really ugly plastic, fouax gold/bronze frames. I spray paint the frames a nice glossy white, and *poof*, they instantly go from really REALLY ugly to really REALLY pretty. :) (I wonder if white spray paint has this effect on other things...perhaps if I just spray painted that extra post-baby belly....?? lol) The really great thing about these though, is how very, very cheap they are. I find that people will often just give them to you if you ask (Mommy, when you re-do the bathroom can I have that hideous mirror? etc.) And spray paint is of course very cheap...and lasts for more than one mirror. The heart baskets/wreathes are from my Mama, the tea set was for my 13th birthday, the little silver image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is from Joe's mom, and the sweet little candle and holder are from my good friend Sommer. The sewing machine itself is from my aunt...so really it is sort of a wall of my favorite things. :) I often find myself standing and starring. :)

Tony has been doing allot of riding around on my back...(to keep him from climbing and/or terrorizing his sister) which has led to lots of this...

Oh the joys of play silks!! I was a bit hesitant at first...I mean, what would they actually *do* with them?? By Joe's mom got some for Jenny at Christmas time and they have been in nearly daily use since. The sling is by far the most popular use for now! Although, there are other uses...

Costumes for example! She loves to have me tie them into a dress for her...and she loves how the feel against her skin. ;) So funny to turn to a "Mommy, help me!" to find a diaper clad face and a fist or two full of silk. :) What does one do when decked out so fancifully??Play tamborine of course!! She loves playing music with her daddy...mostly Irish/pirate-y stuff. She knows so many songs now!! And we're really amazed at how steady her beat is on that thing. :) Oh, and Tony likes to sing...but we're slightly less impressed with that...for now! :)This is the other "like Mama" thing she does...grocery shopping! If you look, you can see her baby Julio (the "J" is said like an "H"), her ever important mail, some "good books" in the cart. She's holding her notebook and pencil (I wonder where she got that one! lol) and the purse contains her cell phone, wallet and keys. :) I have to say it's rather flattering. :)

Well, I'm off to care for my sick little man, please pray that we are all over and done with all of these germs!!!

Ciao!

2009-02-24T15:46:00.002-05:00

Well, this should be a bigger, better post...with some of the pictures I had planned, etc. But I don't think I'll get the time to do that today, so here it is, just as it is. :) I wanted to give you all a quick update on the goings-on of our family, and ask for your prayers that they go smoothly. :) On Thursday, Joe was in an accident. Not a super major one, just a few seat belt bruises, thank God, but sadly, our car is beyond the point of repair. :( In the midst of sorting all of this out, we also realized that for some deep, secret, and perhaps non existent reason, our insurance company discontinued our car insurance in about...June! YIKES! So, this week is a busy one, with lots of car borrowing so he can get to work and such, and this weekend will most likely involve a trip to carmax. Please pray that we can find a good car that meets our needs at a nice low price! I'll try to show you a picture of our poor car... the whole "nose" part looks much like an accordion... But, like I said, Joe is fine, so that's all that matters!

Also, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and for those who practice it, the first day of Lent. This year, as a family, we are giving up TV and computers (and electronic games, but that's really just Joe's)...so I might be able to hop on on Sundays, if time permits, but other wise...I hope you have a lovely March (we get a week of vacation!!), and I will see you again after Easter! I will miss you all, please pray for me, since I know the first week or two will be really hard!! You will all be in my prayers too. :)
Until then,
Tilly

Favorites - Jenny

2009-02-19T14:52:00.009-05:00

As hard to swallow as it may be, my sweet baby girl will be three very soon. BUT I'm not thinking about that yet (to hard to swallow, lol). Instead of thinking about the inevitable birthday, I thought I'd show you all a few pictures! Sort of the highlights of her little life right now. Well, the ones I have my camera handy for anyway. :) Let's start with her little room...

Come right in! Her curtains are hand-me-downs from my cousin, made by my aunt. I hadn't done it for in this picture, but they are almost always tied back with purple ribbons. :)

Here is her sweet little bed, made by my Opah. The closet is on the right, but since it has only the smallest bit of trim paint on it (dark brown) I didn't think it was worth a picture. That's Julio (J is said as an H) there in the bed...don't ask, I didn't name him. Over the bed is her name made out of flower petels from our wedding...isn't that cool? It was a great baby gift!

This is her little reading spot. The rocking chair was mine forever ago, the books rotate and are occasionaly lined up neatly, but not as often as they're just stacked by sweet little hands. The gorilla sings "Wild Thing"...It is Tony's favorite toy. :) (It figures, huh? The one toy we have that makes noise...oh well)
This is her (Waldorf isnpired) nature table. This is our first, so I'm sure they'll get better, but this has been fun for now. The white cloth is for snow, and the rest is pretty self explanitory. The Nome is a bit random, but he is so cute, and we've gotten to talk about how wool is a warm thing we wear in the winter thanks to his soft fuzzy self. :) Today when we were getting the mail we saw new green blades of grass sticking up so we snagged a few for the table...I'm already planning her spring version! :)This is a happy spot. The dresser was Heathers, and has been given a few coats of "Tu-tu" pink, it is big, but will hold our girls' clothing forever, so we will grow into it. On top is the lamp I decorated for her while I was still waiting to meet her, the tea set we gave her for her first birthday, some treasure boxes from her Daddy and a Monarc Butterfly from her Nana. The mirror has been over my dresser since my 10th (or 11th?) birthday, the Crusifix was also mine, and the icon is of St. Genevieve. It will of course be fun to add things as we add girls, but it is fun for now to share my childhood things with my first daughter.This is the other artwork in there...I love Love LOVE it. The colors match perfectly, even though that wasn't planned (by me!)...it's just such a sweet picture!
A few of her favorite things right now...her new dolly bed (a child sized pack'n'play from WalMart) and her two babies. She says that they're in their pj's, not naked (for what it's worth). :) This scottie jumper is my favorite thing to put her in right now, and we are both loving her "elf boots", made from recycled sweaters! (And how about that day-after-pig-tails hair??)She wanted a picture of Julio and Casey... :)These are some of the pants I've made her recently. Each kiddo got three pairs, these ladybugs are the favorite though. :) Another favorite thing are her fuzzy lined pink crocs. Her daddy shared his Christmas money and treated her to new shoes....quite the lovable fellow. :)She has an amazing ability to cover not only her paper....

but also herself in (washable!!) marker in about 1/3 of the time it takes me to make dinner. :) (and yes, that's crayon on the wall behind her...I confess to loving it there)This was the answer to "How did you color your nose??" heehee

Right now the other favorite things are cashews, smoothies, and these hair clips. We have several sets, and I confess that I occasionaly clip one in for an around the house day. :) I love that Etsy seller right now...I can't get enough of her hair clips...and most of the other things she makes are on my wish list...I did get those Peter Pan push pins though!

So...that's my girlie right now. We're about to start picking out fabric for her summer clothes. I got t-shirts for t-shirt dresses again this year. WalMart has wonderfully bright, happy colors in the Garanimals line, with little bloomer type pants to match! We will be sharring when we get those made up. And you can look forward to the anual birthday photo shoot for more Jenny-loo goodness! I leave you with my very favorite picture...

Double Pointed Needles, and Seed Stitch

2009-02-09T17:25:00.003-05:00

Well, I finally did it! I knit a hat!! Like a real, in the round hat! :) Mr. Tony was the lucky recipient of this one... Isn't it just the greatest little boy hat?

The flash always makes him blink :)

Pattern: Stripey Stocking Cap
Location: Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Berroco "comfort"
Time: Started 2/2/09, finished 2/5/09 (!!)

Next on the needles is a hat for my Jenny-loo. This is from the same book, but is the "Marshmallow Bonnet", being made up in Knit Pick's CotLin yarn (I believe) "Desert Turquoise". I'll have to check though. I just started it during nap time today, so I'm hoping it will go quickly too! It's just worked on two needles, so it is a bit faster, since there is a bit less juggling. :)

Recent Pictures--Catching up! 2

2009-02-06T14:00:00.002-05:00

Virginia is not a snowy place. One day I will live in a snowy place, but in the mean time, my children will have to work with what the get. :) So... After our first snow, Jenny went out after Joe got home from work, and in the few moments left of light, they built her first snowman. It could be argued that it was more of an ice man, but she was happy with it, so we didn't mess with it. :) She put on her snowsuit and boots for about 5 minutes outside. Lots of bundle-ing, not allot of snow!

What was left after the snowman got tracked in on her gloves. :)

Then the other day, we got more snow...what excitement! What shouting! The snowsuit went back on right after lunch, because *gasp* the snow was already melting!

She explained to me how you have to start with a tiny ball and then Daddy pushes it around and makes it bigger. (I wonder where she learned to delegate like that??) ;)And then TA-DA mommy walks outside at just the right moment with a scarf, sunglasses, raisens, and a carrot nose! Jenny ate raisons, Joe put the mouth on, and I got the extreme honor of placing the scarf around the rather hard to find neck. :) SUCCESS! This is Jenny's very first taller-than-her snowman. Here's to many more!!

ps) I'm nearly at 300 posts (yay!), and I'm thinking of doing a giveaway...and, my sister-in-law Heather (known more commonly as Ducky) is nearing her 100th post, and is also thinking of a giveaway.... so head over there for a peak at what's going on there, and keep your eyes opened here for details! Oh, and be sure to scroll down on Heather's blog...she has been sharring some of her b-e-a-u-tiful quilting over the past few months!

Recent Pictures--Catching up! 1

2009-02-04T12:22:00.003-05:00

What do two little girls do...

When the baby sister is asleep....

The baby brother is busy...

And the Mommy (or Aunt Tilly) has just gotten the special, tiny teaset from *her* Omah? (*note The tea pot is not part of the set...since the mommies were joining in, we needed more tea!) The very first big girl tea party was a big hit...now whenever Charlotte comes over Jenny asks for a tea party!The first of many cups of tea to be shared by these two girlies...
"Teapot is on, the cups are waiting,
Favorite chairs anticipating,
No matter what I have to do,
My friend, there's always time for you."
Unknown

Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

2009-02-03T18:35:00.003-05:00

Tonight I was feeling a bit creative, so I thought I'd try something new...this is what I came up with. It's definitely a new favorite!

Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

Cut 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts into aprox. 4 pieces each. Start browning in a medium skillet with a little bit of olive oil. In a small sauce pan, mix (about) 4 tablespoons each of mustard and honey. Heat until just starting to boil, and well blended. Turn your chicken pieces over, and then spoon half of the honey mustard mix over them. Cook the rest of the sauce another minute or two, then remove from heat. While the chicken finishes cooking, lightly cook about three handfuls of fresh green beans. (Costco has a great bag of these in their giant fridge) I just covered them in water, added a pinch or two of salt and about a half Tblsp. of butter, covered and brought to almost a boil--you still want them to be crisp, just warm throughout. Make a big bed of mixed greens on your dinner plates, then place the green beans on top of that. Next comes the chicken pieces. Then I added about a half cup of cherry tomatoes (cut in half), and between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of blueberries (yes, blueberries!). Over all of this, drizzle the rest of the honeymustard sauce. Viola! This would be a great lunch on it's own since it makes such a big salad...but I think if you want it to be a full dinner then you might want to add some sort of additional "filler"on the side...maybe potatoes cut in wedges, mixed with your favorite spices and then cooked with a bit of olive oil? Let me know if you try it, and what you think!!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-02-02T22:21:00.002-05:00

(To see more Daybooks, go HERE)
FOR TODAY February 2, 2009...
Outside my window... SNOW!!
I am thinking... Whether or not I need my usual evening snack tonight... my nursling burns so many calories for me while I sleep, I think I'd better...
I am thankful for... what my guy does so that I can stay home with our babies
From the learning rooms... Winter = Snow, Snow = Snowmen! :)
From the kitchen... New menu plans, lots of healthy and a surprising amount of tasty!
I am wearing... pj's
I am creating... a red and blue stocking hat for the Handsome Boy
I am going... to bed soon
I am reading... "Love Comes Softly" my favorite light read...
I am hoping... for lots of snow!
I am hearing... "Ma-ma, Ma-ma, Ma-ma, Ma, Ma, Ma-ma...." :-D I love it when Tony practices his words!
Around the house... I'm implementing a new cleaning schedule that I've come up with and have high hopes for...so a very neat and tidy foyer, and lots of laundry cleaned!
One of my favorite things... Flannel sheets for a snowy night!
A few plans for the rest of the week: Keep working on sticking to the menus and cleaning schedules!! Get ready for Joe's birthday, and go to a LOTR marathon at my mom's :)
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
I think this is at least as reasonable as my weather man!! ;)

I Kid You Not...

2009-01-29T13:37:00.003-05:00

Joseph: "Sorry I almost lit the house on fire."

Always turn your stove off. And never let your husband use your favorite pan. Ever.

*note: all is well, please note the word "almost"...there was no harm done, except to my pan....and the general pleasing aroma my house normally has...

Something to do while your baby naps on your lap...

2009-01-28T19:17:00.000-05:00

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISTP)

Your personality type is reserved, methodical, spirited, and intense.

Only about 6% of all people have your personality, including 3% of all women and 8% of all men

You are Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

Just For Fun...

2009-01-28T14:45:00.002-05:00

Use the first letter of your name to find a word for each of the following:

Your Name - Mackenzie
Four letter word - Mine
Boy name - Max
Girl name - Maureen
Occupation - Mason
Color - Maroon
Beverage - Milkshake!
Something found in a bathroom - Mirror
A Place - Milan
Reason for being late - Makeup
Food - Macaroni
Something you shout - Move!

I tag...anyone who wants to play!

I Stand Corrected!

2009-01-28T10:23:00.002-05:00

Sheesh...I guess that sleep thing is more important than I thought!
synonyms = words meaning the same thing (example: left and port)
homophones = words that sound the same (examples: there, their, & they're)
Thanks Zac...and Abeka Grammar!! =)

Late, but still cute!

2009-01-27T17:35:00.005-05:00

This is my baby sister Zelie with the dolly I made her for Christmas...isn't she a doll? The goal was that the doll would look something like her. :)

and just because I'm already steelin' pictures from my sister....

I call it (or I would, if it were my picture to name, lol) "The Brother Totem Pole" Spell check isn't complaining, but if that isn't the right kind of "pole" then...well, if you read my blog you've probably noticed that synonyms aren't my thing. lol Anyway, these are my handsome brothers, around Christmas....(from top to bottom) there is Zac, Max and Zane...quite the handsome group! :)

Thanks Eli, for letting me snag your pictures!

Today's Daybook

2009-01-26T14:55:00.004-05:00

The Simple W oman's Daybook

FOR TODAY ~Monday, January 26, 2009...
Outside my window...teeny tiny bits of snow
I am thinking... hmmm what's for dinner?
I am thankful for... a sister with babies the same age for play days!
From the learning rooms...colors, not eating phones, and "Intro to the Spoon, 101"
From the kitchen...lots of coffee for mamas :)
I am wearing... long, full blue skirt, light blue and cream top
I am creating... lots of started knitting projects ;)
I am going... nowhere today!
I am reading... a few lovely blogs
I am hoping... for snow tonight, so Joe can stay home tomorrow!
I am hearing... lots of babies playing!
Around the house... lots of sorting, lots of kitties...
One of my favorite things... these (for Jenny in the blue) and these (for Tony in the cocoa heather) slippers on my babies' toes
A few plans for the rest of the week: A sister's 9th birthday party, and, errands and shopping with another sister, and a date with Joe!

Here is picture thought I am sharing... Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the Daybook? Peggy has started another group where we can share! Check it out here!

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T10:02:00.002-05:00

A big day! I just wanted to say that whether he's your man or not, he's about to become our President...so stop what you're doing, pull up one of the many means of listening/watching and enjoy the big moment. This isn't a political blog, so I think that's enough. :) We're all decked out in our Red White and Blue over here...I'm DVRing the whole day to watch with Joe tonight, but I'll be turning it on for the actual moment. I've watched every inauguration I've been alive for (the first one I remember is Clinton's first), so I don't want to miss this one! My plan is to contain Jenny with her high chair for an early lunch...we'll see how it works!

I hope you all have a blessed day,
Mackenzie

This post should have some wonderfully artsy photos....

2009-01-19T21:12:00.003-05:00

but it doesn't. :( And to make it worse, I'm typing with one hand... but I wanted to share what I'm doing while not taking artsy pictures for interesting posts...

cleaning
organizing
filling bags with stuff for goodwill
lovin' on my teething baby
catching up on laundry
(finally) unpacking and organizing my sewing room
knitting my first sock!!!
planning my projects for the next few months, knitting, sewing etc.
having "good days" full of reading with my sweet girl
integrating 4 kitties into our home!
enjoying my hair
having tea with my hubby
sleeping like a baby on my flannel sheet covered feather bed :-D

Three favorite sights from my day:
Joe wearing Tony on his back...Tony's favorite place to nap!
Our first countable snow of the winter...to bad it already melted!
Jenny running around in her "Daddy dressed me-s" of grey floral tights and navy blue t-shirt ;) tomorrow will be "the return of the pig tails"!

I Need Your Thoughts!!

2009-01-14T14:07:00.002-05:00

Help! I need you ladies to please share your opinions on THIS sweater...is it cute or just a bit to...hmmm... well...you see my problem. :) I was thinking in something more tweedy, less salt and pepper-y. And with some fantastic vintage belt buckle on the sash? Thoughts? It...it just looks so cozy... :)

Happiness Is...

2009-01-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

A new shorter-than-ever haircut! Perfect for wearing a baby on your back!!
(self portrait, not my strong point, I'll try to snag someone to get a better hair picture!)

Goals for 2009

2009-01-12T18:17:00.003-05:00

I'm not much of one for resolutions...I think because they are made to be broken, and everyone knows this. Resolutions or goals in general I'm all for, but making them just for new years often just leads to them being broken as soon as the shine wears off the new year. That being said, I do think that the end of the year is a great time to evaluate your past year, and plan your new one. Not that they ever go as planned, but it does give us something to do after the gift making high wears off. ;) My goals last year were fairly simple, and I achieved most of them...
Move ~check!
Birth a baby ~check!
Move into new house (different from moving, as anyone who's done it can tell you...) ~great progress has been made here...especially *ahem* this year...
Improve my knitting enough to knit socks ~knitting socks just seemed like the most complicated thing I could think of...all of those tiny needles...I didn't know much about knitting when I made this goal, but I have improved enough to start my first pair of socks (for Anthony) as soon as my yarn order from Knit Picks gets here! soooooo ~check!

Not a huge list, but it has kept me very, very busy. :)

SO

Now that my "baby" has betrayed me and is crawling around, pulling himself onto his chubby little feet and climbing onto anything he can wiggle his fat belly over...I have little excuse to sit on my sofa and cuddle him all day. I do still drop everything when he wants to nurse, but even that has (thankfully!!) slowed down a bit. But just a bit. :) I'm rambling... *ahem*....a train of thought....Jenny wants a train set...Target maybe? Nova? AH! Focus!! But, I haven't had more than 3.5 hours of sleep a night in three weeks!! No? Okay, focusing.

This year, my goals are again, simple.

~Declutter my home. A place for everything, and everything in it's place. I never quite got this one, until now. I think that this will be my quote for the year. :)

~ Continue knitting!! I'm addicted. It's that simple. When I'm not knitting, I think about knitting, my hands are just itching to pick up my needles...I have a mental "to knit" list running, that I've just added a stack of small rainbow striped sweaters too...(Thanks Ducky!!--really!) My goals for this year as far as techniques (last year's being able to knit socks); knit my first pair of socks, knit my first lace item (no matter how simple!), knit an assortment of wrist warmers for Eliza, and knit something with cables (the wrist warmers would count, if they have cables). I think it's very doable...I'll just have to be careful which projects I start! The nice thing about the knitting is that you can only have so many projects going...and I've found that if I keep them in plain site then I work on them whenever I have a spare second! I'll have to share some of my recent/ current projects soon!!

~Resume cloth diapering. 'nuff said

~Meal planning! I plan to use Once A Month Cooking...with a bit of an organic twist

That's pretty much it. Allot of my "little things" are just out of necessity or fall under one of these categories. :) Sooo what are you doing this year?

btw.... While we were getting dressed this morning, Jenny said, "I love my 4:00 (yes, she said four o'clock) toes." ahem Anyone with information that would help me to interpret this statement can feel free to leave a comment below. :)

GGGRRRRRrrrrr

2009-01-08T21:52:00.003-05:00

Just in case you haven't heard by now, please go look at this link.

In addition to putting most WAHM out of business, this also means that used children's clothing will be illegal to sell after February 10th...virtually all of the moms I know rely on this as a way to cloth their littles and not have to work a second job. I'm going to keep this short, since this is a topic that really gets me ranting, and I don't want to do that here. So. Please consider signing this... This is soooo poorly thought out. :(

I found a link with the actual law, if anyone wants to see it. I don't have time right now to read it, but I plan to have my far-better-slept Hubby give it a look over.

Happiness Is...

2009-01-01T22:13:00.005-05:00

So...I've been thinking about a new series of posts...I have a hard time with the ones that are to be posted on a certain days, so I thought I'd make up my own that I can post whenever the mood hits. :) Please feel free to join me on your own blog... just put a link to my post in yours and add a comment so I can go see! The rules are simple...just share at least one picture that truly makes you happy. :)

See? I told you he was pulling up now! Please excuse the torn apart room background....I'm wreaking havoc on our home....lots of stuff to donate, lots of trash and lots more order!! :) Oh, and yes, that is the sad, empty shell of my bassinet, all ready to be packed away. It has since moved into the garage, where it will patiently await our third edition.

I've really been wanting to use the sling more with Anthony. I've already "worn" him more than I did Jenny, but he's been getting to big to carry in the front or in the hip carry. I ordered a mei-tai that will be great for it, but I couldn't wait. :) The new sling will spread the weight out better, and hold him snugger which will be great! But how cute is this? :-D Oh, and if you wonder about the cord he's got, that's my schnazy new nursing necklace. We really love it! I can't recomend them enough...it goes on my list of "very useful breastfeeding accessories" (boppy, nursing bras, nursing necklace lol) *~Link to Etsy store that I got it HERE~*After walking around for about 30 minutes he threw a big fit (hates going to sleep for me right now)-durring which he could NOT throw himself out of the sling (lol, he sure tested it though!), and then passed right out. :) :-D

This is my new Favorite shirt of his...I'm very proud of the fact that he was exclusivly breastfed (and still is mainly-the odd animal cracker hardly counts!) until he was 6+ months old. People always ask me what he eats and act shocked that I nurse him...so this is a bit of harmless breastfeeding pride. :) (Available from THIS very "crunchy" Etsy shop)

And this is what's on the kneedles these days...something to work on durring quiet moments...

"EATING TAPE"

2008-12-30T19:58:00.002-05:00

Yes, I had to say that today. :) My "baby"....sigh...my "baby" pulled himself up to standing today. THREE TIMES. ...sigh...

A Bit of Thinking...

2008-12-29T20:56:00.002-05:00

I am an avid reader of SouleMama's blog. Yesterday, while reading her "About & FAQ" section, (wondering what camera she uses), I read something that really stuck with me...

"But for me - this blog space has always been about trying to find and focus on the joys - the everyday beauty and moments of bliss that we have together as a family. It's my hope that it can serve as a reminder and an encouragement to me - and perhaps to you, too - to savor the tiny moments."

Lovely, isn't it? It has me thinking...

CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-26T21:34:00.008-05:00

hmmmm.... so, I'm about to update my template, and in so doing...well, I lost my links. So, I guess they needed an update anyway, but I hadn't planned on redoing ALL of them. :-S Anyway... here are pictures! Pay close attention to the background and you can see a bit of my painted living room! :) More pictures to come soon of that...Joe's making shelves for the little ones' toys, and once those go in we can get all neat and organized!

Here's what I did for Joe... I don't paint often, but I'm thinking I might have to more often...I don't know that I'm particularly good at it, but it sure was fun! If anyone cares, I will elaborate on how I did the shaded sky and grass... but other wise I'll spare you. ;)
The two doves represent us...

and then the toadstools represent, well, the toadstools. ;) I will add more of them as needed. :-D And the heart "carved" into the tree has a J+M in the center, but it's hard to see that from the glare...

Jenny found her stocking sitting carefully in this lovely little stroller. It's not a "forever toy", but she will love it while it lasts!

my adorably fat Little Man's first Christmas!!! He was very annoyed that we kept taking the paper away from him...

He has since become more interested in the tumbler...but at the time he didn't even notice it! Silly baby...doesn't know a Nova toy when he sees one! lolplaying with Christmas goodies! Anthony got a little wooden spoon in his stocking (to go with his new dishes!) And you've already met the stroller. So....how about that paint color? And my wreath! :)

um, fairly self explanatory :) My grandmother makes these...my mom's collection fills an entire book shelf! :) (and that's my fireplace...doesn't the color look like melted chocolate? It's called bon-bon lol)

My mother-in-law asked for a tea cozy for Christmas...something sort of ivy related to go with her teapot. I was more than happy to oblige! I just "wung it", and really like how it turned out. I did line it, but I didn't put anything between the layers. I think it will keep the tea plenty hot, but I think next time I might add a layer of flannel, just for the "feel" of it.

a close up of the trim...I put two pieces of lace back-to-back, and then put the skinny trim down the middle. You can see it better if you click on the picture (all pictures are clickable btw)

*ahem* meet "Bea"... I'm not sure that the name will stick, but that's what I was calling her while I was making her. :) I pulled my (2yro.) sister Zelie's name in our family gift swap...so she got this lovey. They look very much alike I think...which is why I went with Bea....as Jenny calls her "Zelie-Bea". Isn't she darling? I used one of the Magic Cabin waldorf doll kits.

Her dress is actually more like a robe...but it was very late, and I was to tired to read the instructions for making the dress...so I took the pieces and just made a garment. All those years of sewing came in handy! I did promise to make her more (lovelier) outfits.

My (7yro.) bil Thomas's pj pants...

My bil (7yro yep-twins) Mathew's pj's

My bil (6-actually his birthday was on the 20th, but I didn't get them done in time...) John's pj's

I put little ribbon loops in the back so that they can tell front from back. :)

Mama and her babies! (This also counts as a picture of my new dress on me and my new hair color!) Please also make note of Anthony's SHOES! Yes, I finally found a pair that fits his cubes, er I mean feet. He's 7 months old tomorrow and they are SIZE 5!! Jenny didn't wear 5's until this summer! :-O

only the cutest two Christmas babies ever! He's so big (and she's so tiny) that they almost could be twins, huh? lol sigh....I'm so blessed!We girlies just love Miss Jenny's dress...I found it at Once Upon a Child....it's red velvet...she kept running her hands on the skirt all through Mass!Daddy and the littles... :) Okay, I tried not to mention the obvious, but how ridiculously cute is Anthony's Christmas outfit?! I love the sweater vest. :)

That's all for now...I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas season! Joe is home until the Monday after New Years, and we're planning a huge de-clutter and organizing!
Much love,
*~Tilly~*

Jenny-Loo!! (a video!)

2008-12-23T23:59:00.006-05:00

Making cookies at Nana's

My beautiful girl

Making decorations...

Smiling at Daddy :)

This is my new favorite outfit on her...fleece! And her pig tails make me smile every time I see her. :-D

My lovey...

Singing her ABC's...very softly at first. :)

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

2008-12-23T23:24:00.002-05:00

Jenny has a new job. Pushing "play" on the cd player whenever Michael Buble's Christmas cd stops. :) We've been playing it over and over all day...Jenny's started singing, "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!". She has also learned a new "rule" if you will.... namely, never, never, never touch the house alarm control. You see, we conveniently have one for our key chain...well....long story short, it takes the nice police men 5 minutes to get from whereever they are (around here it probably has to do with doughnuts) to my house. Another 1.5 minutes to NOT express amusement that I'm in my pj's at 6:00, and to confirm that all was well, get my name and phone number etc... and then another 2 minutes to walk around my house to make sure. On the one hand...very reasuring that they can be here this fast...but at the same time....well let's just say I was mortified. My house is well....not exactly ship shape, and we all have colds. Sigh...oh well. At least it was a "false alarm".

In other news, I am close to being done with Christmas gifts. We've kept things simple this year, and pretty much all of it is homemade. I got Joe's gift done today! I haven't even taken pictures yet, just incase he uses the camera. ;) So, naturally I wont say what it is here either...but it turned out SO GOOD! Well enough to even use poor gramar. ;-) And I will share the same hint that I shared with him (because Tony needed me before I could finish cleaning up!)--Acrylic paint. I have four more things to sew, but they're all cut out and ready to go....an hour or two tomorrow at most.

We're going to Mass tomorrow night...is the plan. But the babies and I have a nasty cold, so there is a chance that either Joe or I will take Jenny to the 5:00pm, and then the other one will get the treat of going to the Midnight Mass. Which is my favorite, but I imagine that Tony will need me. I can't wait to get the babies all spiffed up for pictures! Then on Christmas we go to my familys' for brunch, and after naps onto the Haydus' for dinner. Fun! I'm off to share some pictures...'cause I feel like it and haven't in a while. :) Merry Christmas everyone!

Tony's First Orange

2008-12-13T22:13:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get anything put up here this week, but my camera has been acting up and it's taken hubby a little while to find a way for me to transfer my pictures (and video) onto my laptop. But all's well that ends well, and I've added my first video! Just nobody tell my Omah that she's on there...she'd kill me! Or worse...not let me in her loom room!! :-O Anywho, here's Mr. Handsome enjoying his snack time (in his cousin's highchair! lol) How funny is that tongue? He sucked all of the juice out of it...we were left with an orange peel and some pulp! :-)

Happy Gaudete Sunday!
~Tilly
ps) Living room, tree and project pictures will be forth coming now that I have a way to get them off of my camera!! Oh, and tomorrow I'm getting my Christmas gift from my hubby...he's taking me into D.C. to see the Trans-siberian Orchestra's Christmas show! We went when I was pregnant with Jenny, when they were at Madison Square Garden (!!!) and loved it, so when I mentioned it a few months ago, he tracked down tickets for this year...we're leaving both babies, so I'm both incredibly excited, and incredibly nervous!

Promises of Things to Come!

2008-12-06T21:25:00.002-05:00

I forgot to bring my transfer cable with me, so I'm not able to share with you just yet...BUT here's a teaser of what's to come!

With a little luck, I'll post my first video...of Anthony eating an orange slice!
Projects to share:
Anthony's quilt top
2 Christmas table runners
6 stained glass ornaments
a very nearly finished sweater for Jenny!

so...I'll get those up this week once I'm home...and to give you all something to look at while I busily finish painting and decorate for Christmas...oh yeah....and there are those Christmas gifts to make.... .....

A Meme!

2008-12-05T19:18:00.003-05:00

Miss Clare from "I Have Loved The Rain" has tagged me for a meme!

The Rules
1. Copy the questions and then answer them (post it on your blog remember).
2. Tag 4 people and let them know you have tagged them.
3. Let the person [who tagged you] know that you have done a post for the tag.

What are your nicknames?
Pretty much everyone calls me Tilly, although my grandmother (who actually started "Tilly") calls me Mumpy-when I was about 2 I would jump on the beg and say "Mump, mump, mump...."
What TV game show or reality show would you like to be on?
Um...Does "What Not To Wear" count? I love that show!!!

What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
Oh that's tough! I haven't bought very many, but I think the first one I bought would be The Godfather as a Christmas gift to Joe...

What is your favourite scent?
Um, currently I think that is the cologne I got for Joe...It's Nautica's Voyage I believe...no, that is NOT what I paid for it!! :-O I do really want to find a scent that for me though...I just haven't gotten there...and I'm really picky. Oh, and the one I found for my sister smells lovely too. ;-)

If you had one million dollars to spend only on yourself, what would you spend it on?
Hmmm, I'd start with a nice embroidery machine, and some (okay lots) of Moda and Freshcut fabrics....ooooh, and a smocking/pleating machine. And a brand spankin' new minivan lol...then I'd take the carpet out of my bedroom/bathroom and put down hardwood and tile.

What is one place you've visited, can't forget and want to go back to?
oh, that would be Europe...I've only been to a little bit of Bavaria (Germany), but now that I've had a taste I want to see more!!

Do you trust easily?
Not exactly... I'm always willing to give people a chance, but trust is something that needs to be earned.

Do you generally think before your act, or act before you think?
I think I do a mix honestly...

Is there anything that had made you unhappy these days?
Yes...how long it is taking me to paint the living room...

What is your favourite fruit?
I love a nice ripe orange, but I also love berries and kiwis

What websites do you visit daily?
Hmm... the S&S forum, though I haven't been posting as actively lately. I have the blogs I read every day.

What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
NCIS I love that show!

What's the last song that got stuck in you head?
Some dreadful kids show song...thankfully I can't remember it :)

What is your favourite thing to wear?
I have a very favorite thing in the "unmentionables" catagory...so I shant mention it...

Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
Yes...esp.with m&m's :)

What items couldn't you be without during the day?
My earings... my holes close up quickly and thy've already been peirced 3 times!!

What should you be doing right now?
I'm on vacation at my grandparents' right now...so I guess out in the Loom Room working on my stained glass ornaments...rough, huh?? :-)

I tag ...
Ducky at Just Ducky
Lauren at With Humility, Thankfulness and Rejoicing
Eli at Je Ne Sais Quoi
Sommer at A View From The Mountain

Cool Giveaway...

2008-11-25T15:17:00.002-05:00

Go over to Kandy Kisses to check out a really cool "Black Friday" giveaway!

One more thing...

2008-11-24T20:09:00.002-05:00

Before I go, I have to have you all go over to my sister-in-law Heather's blog and look at the beautiful quilt she's making Miss Zoey. And how cute is the art smock??? Nice job Ducky dear. :)

Ciao!!

2008-11-24T16:12:00.002-05:00

Well, despite the fact that I feel like fall has just begun, Thanksgiving is just a few days away!! :) I'm not sure if I will be able to post or not while I'm gone, so I wanted to just jump in to let you know where I am. :) I will be staying down at the farm for a week of wonderful loom-rooming goodness!! :-D I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Love,
Tilly

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-20T20:51:00.002-05:00

Snagging From Other Places...

2008-11-19T21:37:00.004-05:00

Okay, so it might be lame, but I've found lots of neat things that I want to show you lovely readers....first I *SO* want this for Jenny...
It's a magnetic advent calendar...how cute is that! I found it here at The Catholic Shop's website. I'm thinking it will be on the perfect level for Jenny...getting to choose which piece we put up each day...I'm hoping to get it this weekend so that it will be here by the time we get home from our time with my grandparent's.

Next, I have to draw your attention to a few blogs. First and foremost...I am in awe of Miss Sarah Jane over at Romantic History, who made her own dress form. No, not the funny lookin' ducked tape kind, but, well, go look for yourself. Her sewing is all beautiful, so perhaps you can take a minute and look over her other sewing. I can't wait to try this!!

Lily over at the wonderful, Block-a-day blog is doing a giveaway...I probably should have brought this up before, but it didn't occur to me until today. So, go over answer her question and get a chance to win...or don't, and my chances will be better...either way. ;-)

Yarn, Snow and Babies

2008-11-18T22:03:00.002-05:00

Remember the sweater I mentioned in this post? Well, while I have been slacking on making any progress (read, haven't touched it in a month...I need to hurry up or he'll out grow it!), I did manage to finish the back panel...or is it the front? I'll have to check...it doesn't matter though, since they're pretty much identical until I join them and do the collar. :) It's sooooo soft. I'm stupid proud of it. :-D Weird picture I know, but it's the best one I got at the time...

And I've been completely silent about another knitting project of mine...last month my mom and I made a trip to the yarn shop...she had never been. ... .... they have yarn with real sterling silver in it. It's beautiful. I've lost track...oh yes, projects. ;-) Well, as you can see from the (below) picture, you can see that we pretty much cleaned out the sale bins. I scored this yummy yarn out of the 75% and 50% off bins. Well, except for that one skein of soft pink yarn...that I shelled out full price for. (gulp) It's French yarn...what was I supposed to do? Put it back on the shelf? See? You would have done it too. :) Anyway, I saw the orangey/watermellon and green yarns in the sale basket and the just screamed "Jenny" too me. So, following my mom's advice, I got them all. Better safe than sorry...and I got $9.00 yarn for about $2.00 each! And that's the pattern I'm using, tucked in the back. Technically it's a boy's sweater, but in such fun colors you can't really tell. The pattern is worked neck-down so I started off the neck band in the pinkyorange color. Then the "yoke" part is in the green, and the pinkyorange starts up again right below the arm holes. I have a few more inches of the body and then the sleeves and it will be done! She measures around for the 18-24mos. and since I wanted her to wear it right away, that's what I made. I'm starting to have my doubts though, and am wondering how long it will fit her. :) At least I'll have plenty of yarn to make her another as soon as she out grows this one! I'll try to get pictures soon, but my camera is having a fit...so I'm afraid you'll have to use your imagination this time.

In other news, Anthony is very nearly crawling, but that is a technicality...he get where ever he wants to go. And he very nearly has his first tooth cut. My days are a wee bit crazy, lol. Oh, and I hurt my foot stepping over a gate. Well, actually it was when I kicked the paint can, while stepping over the gate...big bruise, big ouch...I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow. OH! And we got our first taste of snow today! Nothing stuck (but it sure was cold enough!!), but it did blow and swirl around for quite a while. I love snow. :) Sorry this has been so rushed...I'm noticing that the condensed version of me is well...unique. If I were reading this, I would assume that the person writing was downing masive amounts of caffiene. I wish! :) Anthony has chased my key board across the bed now, so I have to go...or fall off. Ciao!

Nordic Bo Peep and Long Lost Sheep Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-18T11:20:00.000-05:00

Nordic Bo Peep and Long Lost Sheep Costume GIVEAWAY!!!!

Oh my word this is cute! Even if you're not interested in winning it, you should go look at it! :) I wish I had free time...

The Simple Woman's Daybook

2008-11-17T14:45:00.004-05:00

Peggy over at the Simple Woman has invited us to join in her Daybook...

FOR TODAY November 17, 2008...
Outside my window...a big pile of kitties :)
I am thinking... which kitties stay, which have to go, who comes in, who stays out side...
I am thankful for...a sweet sister-in-law and her babies
From the learning rooms...ABC's, dressing, and cheerfulness
From the kitchen...baked oatmeal for breakfast
I am wearing... *caught* comfy clothes :)
I am creating... yo-yo garland for Christmas!
I am going...no where today!
I am reading... one of the "Caroline Years" books
I am hoping... we're done with mice!
I am hearing... nothing! it's nap time. :)
Around the house... we're trying to get everything cleaned and prepared for Advent, since I'll be gone the week after Thanksgiving.
One of my favorite things... Nova Naturals' catalog!
A few plans for the rest of the week: keep cleaning, finish painting the living room this weekend, and do lots of sewing!
Here is picture thought I am sharing... what Jenny's asking Santa for...

Quilt giveaway!!!

2008-11-14T11:09:00.003-05:00

Oooh! These quilts are so pretty! Thanks to Heather for pointing me over to the Old Red Barn's quilt giveaway! Click here to see the quilts and learn how to enter!

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-11-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

Commissioned Watercolor Portrait GIVEAWAY!!!!

NEW DRESSES!!!

2008-11-08T23:19:00.003-05:00

Okay ladies, I need someone who understands, so I'm here to share with you! I got *2* new dresses today! I was homeschooled = no home coming (I just learned there was a parade for said thing this year lol), no prom, no graduation party, etc. etc. etc. We had a homeschool graduation that served as a yearly formal party for highschoolers and parents. Which, don't get me wrong, it was very fun (I got to dance with my sweetheart), but in short, my life didn't add up to lots of the normal fancy dress buying. I didn't even buy my wedding dress, lol. So, buying two today. That's a big deal! And doing it as a mommy with diapers to buy etc.etc.etc., well, it's something like I imagine a full day in a spa to be! I am having trouble getting links to the pictures on Penney's website, so I'll just link to the pages...remember that at a towering 5'2" these dresses are about 4-6" longer than on the models. :) Oooh, and the best part? They were even more on sale than they are on the website!! (that, plus birthday money = 2 new dresses)

My new fancy, wear it anywhere a black dress can be worn dress...(modest even!)

My new, mostly for at-home-dates, but might work with black tights like on the model for a very fancy evening out, dress. (I tried it on just because, hey, why not?-and let's just say that for once something looks even better on a curvy girl than on a model!) (Remember that this girl's thigh is about as long as my leg, so this dress comes to my knees...shorter than I normaly go, but still very wearable...esp. for at home dinners)

And you can't nurse in either of them!! :-D So....what do you think? I think I can't wait for our big date night next Saturday!

A Wee Bit Early...

2008-11-07T19:45:00.004-05:00

And the winner is..... Deborah from A Different Drum!!

Deborah said...

Yay! You're back! I love the new look! So pretty!
I absolutely love the colours of fall. That the green leaves in the summertime become such an amazing array of colours in the fall always causes me to marvel.
My favorite fall chore? Changing all the beds to the flannel sheets and then bringing out the blankets and heavy comforters. Mmmm! Makes me want to crawl right in and have a nap.

I hope you enjoy your goodies! I think they're begging to be enjoyed with your flannel sheets! :) Please e-mail me with your address, and I'll get it mailed right out!

This was so much fun, and thanks to all who participated! I hope to do more giveaways soon!

The Next Step...

2008-11-05T22:46:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I've been so absent from here the past month(s). I'm taking the next two days to work out the details of my computer/blogging time (as it fits in around babies and hubby's new work schedule etc.), and will be back in the swing of things on Saturday with the giveaway results and the official re-starting of this blog! I'm looking forward to sharing more of my crafting and homemaking parts of my life, while still keeping the journal-ing feel. I have some more work to do with my links and some other details, but in the mean time, pop over to the Sew Craft Blog and either just enjoy looking at all the crafty-goodness, or, if you've got a crafty blog, sign up! You can find most of the members of group 1 listed on the left. Until Saturday!!
~Tilly~

ps) the other reason I'm taking a few days off, is that my poor sweet baby boy has a dreadful cold and is completely pathetic...he's lost his little voice and everything! A baby crying with almost no sound is heartbreaking. :(

'Nuff Said....

2008-11-04T21:54:00.003-05:00

Just A Reminder...

2008-11-02T13:17:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to remind everyone about this fall give away I'm doing as a "re-opening" of my blog...I had planned to do it this weekend, but due to the insanity that 5 mice (gross) bring, I'm doing it next weekend instead. So...any of you ladies who want to sign up and didn't, feel free to now! Just leave a comment here, or at the original post telling me what your favorite thing about fall, and your favorite fall chore is. :)

New schedules

2008-10-30T18:20:00.004-04:00

My almost 10yro (gasp) sister is being a "Mother's Helper" for the first time today...for ME!! :-D Normally she will be here on Thursdays during nap time, but things were a bit different today. I've gotten a load of laundry folded, another load washed (now in the dryer!) and a box unpacked...and she's here for another hour! :) Normally Jenny will be asleep and Laney will just have Handsomeboy or helper jobs. Once I get the house cleaned up, I'll be able to sew for *TWO HOURS*!!! Can you imagine?? I certainly can't! Very big and exciting stuff we're talking about here...at least for a mommy of a 2.5 and a 5mos.!! :) Now we just have to get her over her fear of spit up....

Oh, and say a prayer for Joe if you will...he's starting step one of a new job that will let him be at home much-much more than now...but in the meantime that means longer hours....so on second thought say a prayer for us too! :-S

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-10-27T20:29:00.000-04:00

GROSGRAIN MINI STORE OPENING NOVEMBER 6!!!!! AND BIG PREVIEW GIVEAWAY!!!!

WIFD Day 2 & 3 & 4-ish

2008-10-23T22:13:00.005-04:00

Okay...playing catch up here... :-)

Jenny in her "LauranPa" dress :) (Monday)

Wait! That's no skirt! No... it's a disasembled half of my mother's kitchen... those used to be sideways and mounted on a wall :)

Right there! It was a grand total of *7* screws to take out all of those cabinets! And the best part?...We did it ALL (moving fridge etc.) in skirts! Mine is fleece, from Land's End several years ago, t-shirt from WalMart. Not the best pictures, buy hey, we were busy!That's my Mama :) Her outfit is Land's End from head to toe.And this is what I've been upto lately in the sewing department...this is the first of four nightgowns. I'm making two each for my Jenny and my (also 2yrso) sister Zelie. The others are pleated instead of gathered in the intrest of saving time. There's one more like this, and the other two are light green flannel for the sleeves and skirt, with the butterfly/flower flannel for the bodice. She loves it...I have to convince her take it off each morning!

don't mind me...

2008-10-21T19:12:00.002-04:00

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

A Week In Feminine Dress Day 1 (WIFD)

2008-10-19T11:14:00.003-04:00

Every few months the ladies over on the Sense and Sensibility forum do something called a week in feminine dress. The idea is that we dress in a feminine way (usually this means skirts) for a week and post pictures of ourselves to encourage other ladies to try to do the same. It was started on the Ladies Against Feminism website as a way to prove that you can do all of your day to day things in skirts. I personally have yet to find something I can't do...you just have to use the right skirt for the job. ;-) So in addition to posting my pictures on the forum, I thought I'd post them here and invite you ladies to do the same. It's a fun reason to get a little bit dressed up! On a side note, Jenny just brought me that big green bulb syringe that the hospital gives you when you have a baby...it was being shoved up her nose while she squeezed it to both hands...all while dressed femininely of course! lol

Crawling Back

2008-10-16T13:29:00.003-04:00

That's how I feel anyway...big promises about regular posting...lots of "pictures to come"...and then I go on vacation and don't even say a word. Not a word. Not a picture. Nothing. I wouldn't blame you if you all just found other blogs to read. This being said, I ask that you bare with me a bit longer as my blog under goes an extensive fall cleaning. With a bit of luck there will be some big news when I start back up!

In the mean time ladies, if you simply leave a comment listing your favorite thing about fall and your favorite fall cleaning chore, you will be entered into a "re-opening" give away!! I hope you enjoy the surprise!

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-13T19:17:00.000-04:00

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-28T15:06:00.000-04:00

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Cheaper Chocolate :-D

2008-09-28T15:02:00.001-04:00

I just thought I'd share a cool savings...on chocolate chips. :) Costco sells Nestle chocolate chips for $1.99/lb. (I think the bag is 4.5lbs fwiw). WalMart sells Nestle choc. chips for almost $3.30/lb. (it's a bit less than that for the standard 12oz. bag). That's over $1.00/lb. of savings!!

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-26T09:45:00.000-04:00

Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

insert witty post title here...

2008-09-23T19:57:00.003-04:00

Well I tried to post some pictures of the kids rooms, but none of them really turned out right. I'll try to take better ones tomorrow. Today was one of those insane/crazy/fun days. We went over to visit with Heather and her girls today, so that was fun. Heather and I are making all three little girls matching jumpers out of a fantastic floral cord. fabric I got at WalMart for $1.00 last fall (!!!). It has the most cheerful floral pattern all over it...I think they'll be really cute! We got Zoey's and Charlotte's cut out, so I'm hoping to get Jenny's cut out in front of the TV tonight...I hate that step, so distraction is usually my best bet. ;-)

In other news, the Puppy rolled over both ways yesterday!! That's two firsts in one day! Dreadful child, isn't he? Doesn't he know that we mothers can only handle one milestone a day????

Tomorrow should be a good day. Heather and the girls are coming in the morning, I think we'll be starting work on some flannel nightgowns for the girls...it takes a while to trace the patterns with four little people running around. :) Then during naptime I'm hoping to get lots done. I have tons of projects planned/in need of planning and I'm hoping to take care of at least a few of those.
Well, I've typed this all with one hand because Anthony is busily nusing to sleep, so that's all for now...keep your eye out for pictures of the new barette I ordered from Christen's Beaded Creations!

Better Late Than Never!...right?

2008-09-23T19:35:00.006-04:00

The long awaited Heather Bailey fabrics!! :-)

Evidently she picked up on my excitement. :-D (btw, that's Anthony's new room!)

The suspense!!

Ooooooh

The ribbon is from her scrap booking section, but I thought I might be able to use it for trim...but either way it's a yard of each!

Jellybean fabric!!!

I just loooove this one (Dittybud pink/green)How fun is this bag pattern? It has a magnetic closer, and it's reversible. :)And she even threw in this cute little flower pin pattern. So sweet!!

All of these fabrics are from her Freshcut line, but I'm just dying to get some of her Pop Garden fabrics too... how to choose??? To me it's so worth it to not go to every JoAnn's sale to be able to save up for delicious fabrics like these. :) Oh, and how cute is this ring stacker pattern?? Thanks for sharing in the excitement!

Not The Weekend I Had Planned!!

2008-09-21T22:11:00.003-04:00

SO...after I finished my post on Friday night I went to bed. Then about 45 (sleepless-not used to Joe being gone!) minutes later Anthony woke up. Screaming. Jump ahead from 1:30ish to 3:30...we've given up on sleeping for a good 2 hours at this point, and have started bouncing a very crabby (20lb. baby). Around 5:00 I started walking with him, just a routine back and forth in our bedroom to get him to sleep...all the time I was thinking teeth. At 6:00 he was due for his dose of tylenol, so I give it to him, and start pacing...at 6:01 he (finally?) threw up. On me. At the risk of being to graphic, sour breastmilk and baby tylenol puke is disgusting. So I called my Mommy. What else?? Like a super hero she was there in about 8 minutes and held the now peacefully sleeping little sicky so I could shower. The day turned into a shockingly busy one, at least for not having gotten any sleep. :) The next town down was having a festival so I took the babies down and met up with Heather and her family for hot dogs and a parade. Jenny LOVED the parade, since it was mostly horses and tractors...and when the float went by with all of the county's MISS and Jr. Miss, etc. she was thrilled by the Princesses. ;) So cute!! My mom and I wound up driving up to were the Boy Scouts were camping and asked Joseph to pretty please come home. My sweet fella packed up his tent and came home to baby duty. I don't remember falling asleep, but I do remember my hair being brushed...pretty fantastic hubby, eh? I slept like a brick, despite Anthony making up for his lack of nursing the night and day before...Some days exclusivly nursing such a big baby is kinda hard!

Today I've been busy cleaning our bedroom. It was really. Really. Terible. Lots of sizes of baby boy clothes, lots of maternity clothes, plus my clothes, plus my out of season clothes, plus...well you get the idea. Pracitcally every piece of clothing we own, plus stupid things like bags the hospital gave us when I had him, misdelivered laundry (how did that get there??) etc. etc. etc. So, I still have the clothes to sort and pack up, but they're at least moved into our ajoining (and HUGE, trust me it makes more sense than it sounds like it does) bathroom to work on them there. The bedroom isn't 100% done, but I'd say at least 95%. :) I even was able to set up a nice little sitting area. :) I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow. Off for now!

My Boy <3

2008-09-19T22:10:00.005-04:00

Anthony is going to be 4 months next Saturday, so I thought I would do a post all about my puppy. :) They say babies should double their birth weight between 4 and 6 months, and he's almost there! Double his birth weight is about 20-21lbs. -and he's 20!! And he's 4.25" longer already...infact he's moving into 12 month sized clothing!! It's really funny because I get so used to carrying him around with me, and having tired arms/back, and then I pass him to someone else and after about 2 minutes they're like, "okay, you can have him back now...he's totally cute, but my back just can't." :-P He is currently loving the exersaucer and can spin around *almost* whenever he wants too. Jenny's really great about handing him his toys when he drops them....which is still allot since he hasn't quite mastered the trick of grabbing something and getting it into his mouth. Speaking of his mouth, he is busy cutting his first two teeth! I think the corner of the first one may have come through today, but it's hard to get a good look. I probably should pare down the pictures, but...well...could you pick which ones to take off???

This is my *favorite* shirt! So soft!

He has my chubby cheeks, but he's starting to look like his Daddy more and more! (yay!)

"Mother? Mother why is the light flashing at me over and over?...Mother?"

Mother!

I love watching him figure each part out...he loves spinning these rings!
lookin' like his Daddy...

I started on his sweater!! It's my first real knitting project...I'm 37 rows in, and so far so good! The yarn is incredible to work with, and thanks to my mom letting me use her wood/bamboo needles I'm able to knit as long as the babies will let me! :) I've even mastered the seed stitch! It's one of my favorites, and it actually looks like it's supposed to! I'm about to start on the "almost double seed stitch", and I'm actually more excited than intimidated! :-D But this is about him, not me and my knitting obsession...but since it's a sweater for him, I think I can get away with posting some progress pictures. ;)

Ta-da!! How cute is that?? I'm so rediculosly excited about the fact that it's "working"!!!

A close up of the stitches...pretty huh? :-D

He is currently loving the exersaucer and can spin around *almost* whenever he wants too. Jenny's really great about handing him his toys when he drops them....which is still allot since he hasn't quite mastered the trick of grabbing something and getting it into his mouth. Speaking of his mouth, he is busy cutting his first two teeth! I think the corner of the first one may have come through today, but it's hard to get a good look.

Soooo asleep! And see how big he is??

Stairs and Shoes...

2008-09-19T00:06:00.002-04:00

Last Thursday my poor Jenny fell down the last two steps at Heather's house and caught herself with...her nose. :( Seeing her fall and lat flat on her face, with only a lightly bruised forehead and skinned nose to show for it, was enough to make anyone believe in guardian angels! I was expecting split lips, loose teethe...the works as they say. And while this has been more than enough to teach her to hold my hand, I'm so relieved this is all that happened!

And she has discovered my shoes. :-P

It's already so much better...amazing how fast this age heals!!

I think the leggings make the outfit... ;)

Proof that high heels make your rear stick out, lol she was "cooking" :)

Finally!!

2008-09-16T22:22:00.004-04:00

The old one...stained and yucky...

I used the ironing board for a pattern...

Here it is! And I finally got my new iron...not sure I'm in love with it, but as long as it does the job, that's all that matters. It's GE, so it should be decent...

So cute!!

I got this fabric right after we got married and it's been sitting in my stash waiting for just such an occasion. :) Isn't it perfect?

My New Ring!!

2008-09-16T21:26:00.005-04:00

And other pictures from our trip to the Renaissance Faire! (click for bigger picture)

Isn't it pretty?? The stone is amber...but it's actually a green shade. I really like it. :)

How about that chubby baby?? :)By the end of the day he was just exhausted...and to heavy for me to carry in the sling! lolJenny picked out a mermaid to be painted on her arm...when the girl finished painting it she sprinkled glitter over it... it was a huge hit!! :)CHUBBY CHEEKS!!!These guys are so cool!Can you believe this???

Joey got both of his girls rings :) Jenny's is a little claddagh ring

Heehee, fun hair!!

She wanted to pet the baby dragons :) She did!!

This is how we started the day...
And this is how we ended it. :-P Can you say tired?? :)

Merchandise Monday... on Tuesday! :-P

2008-09-16T11:16:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it's Tuesday...but in the spirit of getting back on track, I'm gong to go ahead and do this. :) Today's items are...Barrettes!

Christen's Beaded Creations

One of my oldest and dearest friends has started an Etsy shop to sell her beautiful beaded barrettes. I've been wearing these since I was....oh, say 10? (I was wearing this one in the baptisim pictures) They're beautifully made, and *ahem* survive the washer and dryer just fine. ;-) I'm waiting for Joe to have a minute to explain the "pay pal" concept to me, and then I'm going to get this one. Isn't it pretty?! They last forever, look good in, are wonderfully feminine, *and* support a SAHM. What's not to love, right?

So, go have a peek and be sure to remember them for gifts!! If you'd like to know more about the girl you're buying from, check out her blog...it's in my side bar, but here it is again.

A Special Day!

2008-09-15T11:31:00.003-04:00

Despite the size of the gown, his hands almost didn't fit through the cuffs!!

Zac and Heather were his Godparents...they're Miss Jenny's too! Our church is doing someremodeling, and he is the first baptism pictures with the new stained glass!

I Love this one! :) It's in front of a beautiful antique confessional they just put in. (Christen-that's one of your cream w/ roses barrettes!)

My brother carried him around for me...my heels weren't designed to carry a 20lb. baby in!lol I think Anthony likes flying. :)

Cutenesses!

Take 2

2008-09-14T21:36:00.002-04:00

Oh dear, it looks like it's happened again. I put off posting pictures and then forget completely. So tomorrow will be a big picture-taking day and I'll get them up a.s.a.p. Pictures of baby rooms, sewing stuff, yarn stuff, etc. And, if I can get my sweet sisters to e-mail me pictures, there will be pictures of my sweet baby's baptism! Saturday was the big day, with him wearing a special (BIG lol) gown that my mom made for my sister. It has a stunning panel down the front that she made by piecing together various pieces of eyelet fabric. *So pretty*! So, just as soon as I can get my hands on my camera, there will be pictures!!

Make Believe Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

Make Believe Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Okay, you can expect me to share these links often...her things are just so cute I'd love to win o

Sleepytime Bear Nightgown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-10T15:00:00.000-04:00

Sleepytime Bear Nightgown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

This is just way too cute, thanks to Ducky for sharing!

Sorry, no pictures yet...

2008-09-05T21:39:00.002-04:00

Okay, so today did not go as planned, thus no pictures for you all. I'm very sorry, but it just was not to be. So I figured I'd share something else... Remember when I mentioned getting this book?
Wait, let me back up a bit...I have a goal. I want to have all of my Christmas gifts done by Thanksgiving. I've done it in the past, but last year was crazy and I wound up finishing gifts into the wee hours of Christmas morning. Not this year!! So... it's time to get started!! I'm starting with my little Mr. Handsome. He's getting the most adorable little crocheted stuffed lamb from that book, and this teddy bear. Which means I needed yarn! Finally! An excuse to order from KnitPicks!! So...the other day this lovely box showed up at my door with my yarn order. I'm in love. I'm using their "Swish" superwash merino wool, in DK weight for the lamb (in white and nutmeg), and in the worsted weight for the bear (in copper).Started the lamb today and it's soooo soft!! Since he's just a baby I'll be sharing pictures once there's something to see!

I was also a bit adventurous and got this pretty sweater pattern for Anthony...and the yarn for it. Except I'm swapping the navy and oatmeal colors, so it will be navy with stripes...I think it will look better on him. My mom's going to be helping me with my knitting this fall/winter, so I thought I could probably tackle it. I know all of the basic stitches, it's just putting them together! lol And the yarn for it (the "comfy" yarn listed with the pattern) is the *softest* thing, next to Anthony's skin, ever. Period. lol well maybe not exactly, but it is SOFT.

So that's enough rambling babbling for one night. :) See you when we get home!

Insert Squeal Here

2008-09-04T21:59:00.002-04:00

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

My Heather Bailey order got here. :D :D

Pictures to come tomorrow!!

I just wanted to pop in quickly to share a bit of where I've been...

I spent Labor day/weekend painting furiously... and now that that the drop cloths have been rolled back up and the brushes are drying, my babies have pretty rooms!! Friday morning Anthony managed to scoot OFF OF MY BED! I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that signature sound of a child falling out of bed...and nothing is more freaky than looking where you left a (supposedly immobile) baby and not seeing him. He pushed with his muscle-y little legs and pulled with his chin/arms (lol) and... *FLIP* ... ... ... of course he's fine, and I've vowed to never let him nap on my bed again (he was in the center!!)...but it made me realize that he needs a safe place to go for his naps....he's even about to OUT GROW (length wise!!) his bassinet! I guess that's what happens when your three month old is the size of a seven month old! So... he now has a beautiful blue room with dark brown trim, and Jenny has a lovely light jade-ish room with a new pink dresser. Well, the dresser is new to us anyway (thank you Heather), and I added a coat of Martha Stewart's "Tutu" pink to it. All of the colors are M.S. actualy...Jenny's walls are "Vintage Map", Anthony's are "Beach Bike Blue", and the trim that will be throughout the whole house is "Bonbon" brown. I really love how it turned out and I'm going to get pictures tomorrow (I tried tonight, but it was to dark).

This weekend will be a special one...we have plans to go up to the Ren. Faire and have some fun family time. And to make it extra special, I'm getting a new ring! Joseph had a *beautiful* ring set made for me when he proposed, but two babies later my ring size has gone up 2 entire numbers...from a 7/7-1/2 to a solid 9. So we're going to pick out a special new ring! I'm doing my nails in honor of the occasion, so there will be pictures! :-D Can you tell how excited I am?? I haven't been able to wear my ring since I was pregnant with Jenny, practically since our wedding three years ago! So yeah, I'm super excited!

I've got to run and snuggle in with my sweet, chubby baby. I'll be on over the next few days with lots of pictures!
Blessings,
Tilly

Delicious!!

2008-09-02T19:58:00.005-04:00

I have *so* much to post about...I've had a really busy weekend! However, I just wanted to share a really yummy dish...vegetarian to boot! I don't have a formal recipe here, so here's what I did.

Slice up one large (I had/thus used 4 about the size of my fist) eggplant, and lightly saute both sides in olive oil. Grease a corning wear dish and lay the eggplant in. Cover with grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. The next layer is sliced tomatoes, then repeat the cheese layer...then it's a layer of sliced onion, repeat cheese layer and add some basil (fresh is yummy!). Bake at 350* for about 30 minutes. I served it over spinach fettuccine (lightly tossed with melted butter...but just very lightly to keep it from sticking together!)

I hope you like it! Delicious!!

Woops!

2008-08-28T19:43:00.003-04:00

It looks like I've been neglecting my blog again... I'll try to get back on more often! I know how disappointing it is to visit a blog and see the same thing for weeks...a few days is one thing, but it's always like "where did she go??" when it's the same week after week.

Life has been busy around here, I've been working on "FlyLady" along with Heather, and it's been loads more fun knowing she's working on her house/routines/family too! It's so easy to feel like the only one with a heap of laundry, or who hasn't dusted in...*ahem* a while... ;) Her (Flylady's) "do it for 15 minutes" approach has really helped change how I think about things. I've realized how quickly I can get most jobs done when I just *do them*. I think that since I tend to let a job sit there for days or weeks it seems like a big job, since the "knowing" about it has dragged on for so long...but actually doing it only takes a few minutes! So I'm starting to just do it (!) instead of letting it pile up and take up my oh-so-precious brain space.

One example of this is that I've started walking. Heather got me hooked on reading a blog (I'll find the link again and post it later) of a mom of 6 who has lost about 70lbs. in the last year. On her own, without shelling out for a gym membership, or buying into fad diets...and all with little kids! Her mentality was also to "just *do* it!", so...I am! I brought my stroller over to Heather's yesterday and we loaded up all the babies (Anthony rides in the sling until I can save up for a twin stroller) and took a mile-ish walk. That's an up-hill/down-hill walk, pushing about 50-60lbs. and carrying another 20! It's not exactly easy, but it will ultimately be worth it. :) Today I waited for the heavy rain to stop, and took the babies out, even though it was still drizzling. I snuggled Jenny in with a blanket to keep her dry (it was warm out, but breezy), and tucked a blanket over Anthony...if I tuck it under the sling straps it stays up great! And off I went. The route I've chosen is fairly flat, but that lets me go a bit further. It was a total of 1.4mi.!!-in 35-40 minutes! Which means that I'm making acceptable time, even with pushing the stroller. :-D YAY!! My legs are sore for the first time in a year, but that's a good sign...it means that somewhere in there there's muscle! lol I have two baby's worth of weight to loose, and I'd like to do it before the next baby comes along...so I figure I can count on having one year. I'm hoping for a pound a week. Maybe some weeks will be better, some will be slower. I don't have a firm "goal" number in mind, more of a general physical condition...and I have a long ways to go! But my plan is to change one habit each month...this month is adding walking. Next month will be a permanent no-fast food and adding in water. I will decide on Octobers when I see where I am in September. :) My plan is to go walking every day, whether it's just me and the kids, or with someone. I got some funny looks today, what with wearing a baby (under a blanket!) and pushing a stroller in the rain, but I'm willing to deal with that. :) My goals are pretty basic...next summer I want to be able to walk to the park (about a mile each way), run around and play with my babies, and walk home. So...wish me luck! :)

Oh, and how cool is this sling cover?? I think I'm going to try to make one...sort of an upgrade from the receiving blanket!

Ooooh ~From Target

2008-08-18T23:24:00.002-04:00