The Best for Last

So the last grad gift has been delivered!

This one has been my most favorite,
the most thought out,
the most personalized.
It's for my favorite grad!

I always call her my babysitter, even though she's only babysat for us once. The thing is, we don't ever use a babysitter because no one is good enough to entrust my children to.
Except for Kimi! I absolutely trust her. She's definitely #1 on my list for when my mom is out of town. Well, forget #1, she's the only one. So even though we didn't utilize her more, it is the highest compliment I can give to still call her our babysitter.

My kids adore her!
And if they grow up to be like her,
I will be thrilled.

Unfortunately (for us), she is going far, far away for school,
so her gift had to be small enough to pack.

It's a two-sided pillowcase!

The first side is our state university, her forever favorite:

The other side is for the actual university she's attending:

(Did I mention it's all the way across the country?)

The embroidery ended up being easier than I thought. Maybe I'm the last one invited to the party on this one, but I ended up copying the design onto some tracing paper I had from stamping (because I'm too cheap to buy vellum and the tracing paper works just as well), pinning the paper to the fabric, and then stitching right through it!

I used three strands of embroidery thread. The paper pulled off super easy when I was all done and the end result was so much better than if I had attempted it freehand!

Congrats Kimi!
We're so proud of you!

Two's First Dance Recital

Two finally had her dance recital! She's been in a ballet/tap class for 3-4yrs olds and having lots of fun. She's been so excited to have the recital, even though I'm not sure she really knew what was involved but she did GREAT!

Two and a friend, at the rehearsal:

Two with One before the recital:

All the dancers on the stage at the end of the show:

(I totally wasn't supposed to take this picture!)

Three found time for a refreshing nap:

After the recital, showing off her loot!

She told me the ribbon said "'Two', you did a good job!"
:o)

Tutorial: Wear it on your lapel, wear it in your hair!

Back on this post I teased you
about a cute flower pin that
I managed to turn into a hair accessory
for Two.


The big reveal is finally here!


Here are your supplies:
* Alligator clip
* 3/8" ribbon, enough to line your clip
* Electrical wire cover




Line the inside of your clip as usual. While the hot glue is cooling, put another big glob of glue on top of the clip and place your electrical wire tube perpendicular to the clip:



Finish lining your clip as usual:



Here is the Messy Flower grad gift I made all set to be worn as a pin:

(How much am I wishing I had used white thread?! Don't ask!)


And here it is "pinned" through the adapted alligator clip:


Pretty neat trick, don't you think?!

Doctor's Visits, Birthdays, and Recitals, Oh My!

This little guy has started wheezing. Poor guy. That alone accounted for three doctors visits in the last week. And $50 in medication that we only used for one day because it didn't work. Yeah, that felt good. Not really, but it was totally worth it because we ended up with a medicine that HAS worked. He gets it through this little dinosaur nebulizer.


He also had his Kidney Function Test (read: iv, catheter, and radio active dye) and the news was great! I had cancelled all plans for the evening so I could wait for a call from the doctor, but guess what?! He called about 10 minutes after we got home! Three's kidneys still don't drain normally of course, or fast enough, or even equally...but, they drain good enough, fast enough, and equally enough, to buy Three a little bit more time with no surgery! Wahoooooooooooo!!!! We'll go back again in three months.


Two had her dance recital rehearsal. Isn't she so cute? Here she is on the right with one of her dance friends:


It's my birthday!!! I was more excited about this one than the past few years because this year I turned THIRTY!!! Read that again....yes, I said excited! You see, I would really love to turn 90 and in order to do that, 30 is an absolute must! :o) What I really wanted was a good picture of me and my favorite little people. About 50 attempts and three locations later, this was the best one:


I'm thirty!!! :o)

Kinder Graduation!

One looked mighty fine on graduation day!

He was taller on graduation day,
he was smarter on graduation day,
and his tie was sewed on so it wouldn't get lost!
He thought that was so funny!

We also got brave and attempted
a picture of just the kids....

It worked out great so
I think One must have been
stronger on graduation day too!

This is the super fun tree just outside of the kinder classroom. I have let the kids climb on it all year and only just found out last week that they're not supposed to! Oops!

After graduation, we headed to McD's for ice cream (and apparently some chicken nuggets too since Gran was there to say "Yes, of course!"). Playing afterwards was a must. I love this picture! They decided to do this all by themselves! I love that they really are (for the most part) best friends!

How lucky am I?!?

In Nine Months...

A lot can happen!
Look at this little fellow
who has spent the last 9 months
getting cuter every day!

Happy Nine Month Birthday!

Two's Last Day!

Look who had her last day of speech!

She took her last bus ride to school, had a party where they watched Dora, ate the bug crackers she picked out, and "didn't do any homework!" What fun! She even got a certificate of completion! I almost cried. I'm so incredibly proud. She's worked very hard.

Grad Gift #2

How cute is this?
This fabric covered journal is for a grad that likes
pink and circles.
Could this fabric be any more perfect?

I thought a fat quarter would be plenty of fabric,
but actually it was cutting it pretty close.
I would have liked to have covered both flaps entirely,
but I guess now she has a pocket to slide some stuff into.

Materials:
*fat quarter $1.50
(A regular 1/4 yard would work better and might be cheaper.)
*composition notebook $1.15
*interfacing $0.25

How old am I?

Well, I'm not in my teens, so I don't actually have any friends who would probably want to take pictures of our feet together but...

I do have a beautiful little girl!
A girl who loves to have her nails painted,
especially when I paint her toenails the same color as mine.

I guess this is just one of about a kajillion reasons
why I love having a little girl!

Messy Flower

I fell in love with the Messy Flower's on Julie's page.
I bought one to support Cora's Playground.
Then I made one for Two's hair.

This one is a grad gift for a grad from our church.
She's heading to Mizzou for Journalism.
I was aiming for something neutral enough she could wear it on TV,
but still sylish enough that she'd want to wear it.

What do you think?

ps. It doubles as a pin or hair accessory too!
Perfect because at church I always comment on how cute her hair is!
(We almost always end up behind her family.)

Not even close to a tutorial, but CUTE Flower!

Grace Violet is one of my new favorite blogs.
She lives in OKC, the same town I grew up in.
I don't know why you need to know that, but I got really excited over it and it totally makes me feel connected to her.
Anyway, check her out, she's always got something fun going on!


When I saw her flower pins, I knew I had to give them a try.
Here are my flowers from The Dollar Store that I ripped apart and played mix 'n match with the layers until I found combos I liked.

And here's the finished product!

(See? Not even close to a tutorial. Go here for the real thing.)
Making the button was so fun!
Two absolutely loved it. I think she could have made buttons all morning long!

Here's the reason I was even able to make something today...
Three next to me in a high chair, cheerios, and a sister willing to distract:

I chose to put a pin on the back:

But look, now it's in Two's hair!

How? I did something so cool!
I'll tell you in the next few days. :o)

We got tons of great compliments on it today.
Go make one (or two or ten) of your own!
(And send me a picture of it when you do!)