Where Have I BEEN?!?

June 18, 2013No comments

Y’all. I’ve been gone.

From here anyways.

Obviously. I mean, my last post was in APRIL for Pete’s sake.

Yikes.

But I’ve actually been here and doing lots of fun stuff, and making fun stuff.

And I’m ready to share it all with you.

I’ve been sewing and running and First Communion party-ing, and school year ending, and library program reading and soccer mom-ing, and swimming lesson shuttle-ing….

Well, you know how it is.

Its Busy!!

And I want to tell you all about it ALL.

Until you want to tell me to BE QUIET for heaven’s sake.

{And then I’ll prolly still keep blabbing anyways. Ha!}

But before I do all of that I want to tell you about the fun Summer Day Camp series I’m joining again with my friend Alanna from The Craft Nest and some other really great ladies.

There will be fun craft projects to do with your kids every Tuesday this summer. And really fun girls showing us all how to do them! Aren’t we lucky ducks?!

I know. We SO ARE!!

Today is the first day of Camp, and Rebecca is bringing us a fun kid friendly project that you can probably make with things you already have at home. It’s a super cute Summertime Snowman! Go check it out here at Finding My Blog.

Then come back and see me tomorrow! I got some stuff I wanna show you!

MWAH Friends!!

Insta Friday 38. On Monday.

April 22, 2013No comments

Hi! Sorry this is late, I was too busy having fun with my Momma on Friday to post.

Yay for Momma visits!

Anyways, here’s the fast version of the last week:

First there was the Spring Shopping Spectacular

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Then later that night there was the Raspberry Margarita.

{Ahem.}

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Finished up Helen’s First Communion dress with blue glass buttons up the back. April 2013 146

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Made and sent my Pennsylvania bestie a belated birthday gift.

With purple and sparkles.

SO HER.

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Pretended it was spring for a few hours and left the door open with just the screen.

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But then had to close it cause it really wasn’t warm enough.

Spring, where ARE you?!?

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Yum! April 2013 152

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Enjoyed a really nice time at the Women’s Coffee {where I drank water, Ha!} at my old Bible Study.

I had to stop going because they changed the day, but I think it might work out again this fall.

I can’t wait to join them again soon!

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Did some late night sewing.

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Finished up this adorable dresser that we’re using as an end table in the Living Room.

She’s so pretty now.

I’ll show you how she looked before soon.

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Got my running in this week with my cute workout buddy, and my long run done early, early Friday so I wouldn’t waste a second of Momma time!

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Worked on Helen’s pew banner for the big day!

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Went shopping on Saturday with Momma, and these girls came home with me.

Teal. Wedge. Button.

Happy.

I also brought home two more pairs.

One of which is these:

Hot pink boat shoes. With SEQUINS.
I’m not gonna lie, I saw them from across the store, and squealed out LOUD.

For realz. My Mom could not stop laughing.

It’s like they were calling me.

I’m wearing them right now, in fact.

I needed to look super cute this morning when I went to be the Secret Reader for the Kindergarteners.

Obviously.

I mean, the five and six year olds have a keen fashion sense nowadays.

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I’m hoping to be back this week to show you some more things I’ve been working on.
I’ve been making things and decorating things and having a blast, but also trying to get it all ready for the big First Communion Par-tay, so I haven’t had a chance to share with you all.

But never fear.

I will!

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See you soon!

Insta Friday 37

April 12, 2013No comments

I have guilt.

Self-imposed guilt about my lack of blogging. Because I’d really like to be more frequent and consistent, but life always seems to get in the way.

Too bad.

This is something I’m doing for fun, anyways, so if it gets pushed down the list, so be it.

So I’m trying to get past the guilt and on to the fun.

Let’s start with some fun pictures from the past week, ok?! Yeah!

{Yup, from Instagram. Are you on it? Are you following me? Do I follow you? If not, join ’cause its really, really fun! }

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Let’s start off with the most important part of my week.

Helen’s First Communion Dress.

You guys, I’m in love with it. And so, so proud of how it is turning out. I haven’t worked with a vintage pattern before, which was a challenge, and there was some new techniques I learned too, which was cool. But all in all, I’m so happy with it, and pleased that she will wear it for such an important day.

This pose is all her, by the way. This is a candid shot.

I’ll definitely be doing a post just on the dress soon.

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My team was a on a real roller coaster this week, too!

Great games both days, but a bummer loss on Monday night.

Shoulda wore the same sweatshirt for both games.

The gray one seems luckier..

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Tomorrow I’ll be at the Holy Spirit School Spring Shopping Spectacular, so I’ve been making stuff.

Mostly headbands.

Lots and lots and lots of headbands.

Stop by! From 9-3 tomorrow at Holy Spirit School.

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The most fun I’ve had washing dishes in a long time led to new drinking glasses, and pretty new decor.

See?!? I’m using them!

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Still really enjoying my #48milesinApril challenge. Looking good to finish my goal!

By the way, without the DVR remote, NONE of this would be possible. I don’t do running outside in junkety junk weather. Which is what we’ve been having.

And naming it Winter Storm Helen still doesn’t make it any cooler.

But watching movies really helps make the time go by. And 9.3 miles takes me a LONG time.

{But it’s done! And a day early ’cause tomorrow I’m gonna be a the craft show! Remember?!}

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Finally, some fun: a coffee date,. playdoh time, rain boots, and snow.

Actually, the snow’s not that fun.

At all.

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I hope you all have a fun weekend! Stop by the Shopping Spectacular tomorrow and say HI!!

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Insta Friday 36

April 5, 2013No comments

Happy Friday Friends!

Having a fabulous day here, so I’ll be quick. Joe took yesterday and today off, so we are having fun and getting things done!

I’m loving it.

Sharing my Instagram pics again, of course.

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Easter Sunday morning cuteness.

Boys in ties and girls in Mama-made skirts make me so happy.

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So does sharing Legos and having fun with your brother or sister.

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Painted up some birdhouses. April 2013 026

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Still training for my first Half Marathon of the year. Sharing my pictures with @hausofgirls ‘s #48milesinapril challenge. It’s fun!

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Fun at the library during Spring Break.

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See, they love each other… April 2013 041

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Ummmmm. Yeah.

Weirdest and UGLIEST coffee table ever at St. Vinnie’s.

No words.

I think my eyes are bleeding.

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We went from that weirdness to this prettiness from the fabric store:

Swiss dot, gorgeous lace, and blue glass buttons for Helen’s First Communion Dress.

It’s on this weekend. Today and tomorrow….

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Wanna know how much my husband loves me?

This much:

He went to the ReStore to look for something and texted me this picture.

The true love part comes in where he calls me immediately after to ask HOW MANY I want, not if I want any.

So he bought the ones I wanted, took them out to the car, then went back in to do his own shopping.

TRUE LOVE.

He knew I would want them all, but I held back.

A little.

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I may be slightly obsessed.

But who cares?!!!

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Started our errand running out right this morning.

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Thanks for the gift card, Mimi!

Mmmmmm…

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I’m off to start cutting into that gorgeous fabric. Eeep!!

Have a great weekend!!!

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For the Birds

April 2, 2013No comments

Well, “Spring” Break is upon us.

And while it LOOKS sunny out, its deceptive.

It’s C-C-C-C-OLD outside!

But, that didn’t stop us from riding bikes outside yesterday, and rollerblading is on the list for today.

In hats, mittens, and winter jackets.

Boom.

At least its fresh air.

Anyways, I actually thought ahead and reserved books at the library and made some plans for inside activities since the weather didn’t look promising. I mean we still have snow, and it practically blizzarded on Easter! We definitely won’t be traipsing around outside as much as I’d like. {Ugh.}

I wanted to do a fun craft or art project with the kids each day if I could this week, so we started last night after supper with painting birdhouses.

One dollar each at Joann = an hour of happy, messy painting. Totally fun.

Even Ginny got into it. “No! I do it all by myself, Mama!”

She’s two. {Ahem.}

Concentrating pretty hard on this… For the Birds-4

I think they turned out pretty cute! Not sure if we’ll end up putting them outside, but they will look awfully cute in the playroom until the birds come back from the south, anyways.

What are you guys up to this week?! Any good ideas for keeping the kiddos busy during Spring Break?
Let me know what you got!

♥

Insta Friday 35

March 29, 2013No comments

Hello My Lovelies!

I’m back with another round of pictures from my cell phone and Instagram.

35 weeks in, and I’m still loving it.

I mean really loving it.

It’s like microblogging.

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So I started the weekend off right last Friday afternoon with happy mail: March 2013 399

Yep. I”m making Helen’s first communion dress, and I ordered this completely adorbs vintage 60′s pattern online to help.

Isn’t it sweet? And aren’t the girls on it dolls?

I mean.

The flippy hairdos? Adorable. The flat shoes. Cute. The poufy short skirts? Awesome.

I think I’ll have to make a petticoat to go under to give H some foof.

{Yes, that is a real word. Or not. I don’t know. Who cares?!}

Anyways, stay tuned. Its on for next week!

Oh, and what did Helen think?

This:

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Totally saving that for when she’s 15.

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Spent some quality time at St. Vinnie’s Saturday morning where we saw this amazing accordion.

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I didn’t bring him home.

He was spendy.

But I did get this fun blue suitcase for $3. Win!

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Did you know Ball is celebrating their 100th anniversary of the blue Perfect Mason?

Well they are! And so they are producing them for a limited time to commemorate it.

I bought 12. And I totally overspent, but friends,

I JUST DO NOT CARE.

They make me happy. It was worth every penny.

P.S. They are a beautiful blue, but it isn’t the same as the antique and vintage ones I collect. These are for us to USE and admire. I’m not “tainting” my vintage collection. We just LOOK at those. Ha!

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More baby stuff! These things are being stocked at Greenleaf Landscaping and Gardens, so if you want some head over to their adorable store. They open for the season April 1.

And plan on staying ’cause they have the cutest stuff there.

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Helen was so pumped the other day when we went to Target. March 2013 421

She was all ready to spend a little birthday money on a new outfit for Phoebe, when we saw Daisy.

Who was on sale for the same price as a new outfit!

Score! That’s Mama’s thrifty girl.

I mean a bestie for Phoebe compared to an outfit for Phoebe? No contest.

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Stitched up a set of fun ruffle skirts for Easter.

I really love having girls.

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I also love lime squeeze.

This scarf makes me feel springy even when its only like 32 degrees out.

And even if I had to put on a sweatshirt immediately after taking this picture.

{Boo.}

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I also stitched up some cute spring skirts for Helen and one of her classmates for their Last Supper Play.

They were the presenters, since there were more students than apostle parts, and their teacher requested that they match.

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See? I told you! He insisted. A tie for Star of the Day!

I love that kid.

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I had a lot of “help” making George’s Star of the Day Dinos on Tuesday.

And there was only ONE 2 year old vs. 4 year old dinosaur smackdown.

Apparently they both wanted the SAME {insert some dinosaur I don’t know the name of here}.

It all worked out though. George found another one.

Dino happiness was saved.

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I’ll be back to chat next week, but meanwhile I hope your Easter Sunday is full of joy and rejoicing.!

Dino Star

March 28, 2013No comments

Hi Friends!

Today is a great day.

Really it is.

For the first time in 2013, I got to take the fitness class I teach OUTSIDE.

YEEEEEESSSS!!!

And the sun is shining, and my friend is bringing me Starbucks in like a half an hour.

{Fist bump.}

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Anyways, George was the Star of the Week at preschool this week so I thought I would share what I sent along as his “treat”.

{Also, side note, he wore a tie to school for being Star of the Day. Dying of the cuteness.}

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of pencils and tattoos and stickers. And in like 3 days The Bunny will be hopping by with plenty of candy, so we didn’t need any more of THAT.

All of that meant I wasn’t sure what to do, until I was wandering the Easter ~~junk~~ trinkets aisle at the store for inspiration, where I saw these adorable little dinosaurs.

Perfectly sized for little hands and age appropriate. And cute.

And cheap, so if the moms are annoyed when they step on them later {and swear} they can have no remorse ~~when~~ if they throw them away.

That, my friends, to me is a WIN.

Of course I can’t help but craft SOMETHING with them!

So I had my Silhouette cut out some cute dinosaurs, printed out some labels and glued ‘em all together.

Then I punched two holes and tied the little dinos on with baker’s twine.

Done.

Cute and easy.

High. Five.

These would be cute Valentine’s too, I think.

By the way, what the heck is with all the new dinosaurs? When I was a kid there was like 5. Now I feel like a complete idiot when the kids are talking to me about the Pteranadon family from Dinosaur Train.

Seriously.

Whatever. I’m past the dino identifying pop quiz stage anyways. And even if I have to help one of the kids study for THEIR pop quiz, I get to hold the answers. HA!

See you tomorrow for Insta Friday!

♥

Insta Friday 34

March 22, 2013Comments: 2

Hi Friends! Just popping in quick for an Insta Friday post.

You know. Cause it’s Friday.

And clearly my blogging consistency has stunk lately, but I figure that at the VERY LEAST I can put up my Instagram pics, for Pete’s sake!

And by the way, I’ve been working on a lot of things to show you, I just have to edit some pictures and do some write ups. Hopefully this weekend….

So last weekend was my Fifth Annual Crafty weekend. It was so so fun, as usual. There was a lot of girly movies and junk food. And knitting and sewing.

My sweet sister in law was in charge of the Grasshopper drinks. Ummmm…

YUM!!!

There may or may not have been a big shot of whipped cream put directly into the blender…. March 2013 220

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And of course before the big girls’ weekend I needed to get my hair “did”.

{Cough. There is nothing natural about this blonde. Cough. I don’t care, I love my stripe.}

Why do I love sitting at the salon and reading trash like OK! Magazine so much?

I’m all up on my celebrity gossip now, ya’ll.

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Some results from all that sewing were these pillows and the cushion for the girls’ room window seat.

All using those fabulous vintage linens I told you about.

I’m not gonna lie, I LOVE how this turned out.

Seems like the girls do too!

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Monday night I found myself making these: March 2013 239

Yes, those are invitations for Helen’s First Communion brunch.

No, I don’t like it either.

Seriously. STOP GETTING OLDER.

♥ March 2013 307 Speaking of getting older, this girl could play catch all day long.

For reals.

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First day of spring.

{Which is also my little sister’s birthday! Happy Birthday K!}

Mother Nature needs a time out. This is not the headgear and wardrobe choice I was hoping for. It was 16 degrees out on the first day of spring.

Not cool.

{Ok, so it was cool, cold actually, but not COOL, if you know what I mean.}

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Friends, I have a massive list right now. Massive.

But pretty fun.

Last night I embroidered 26 things. TWENTY SIX.

Today I need to sew them, as well as embroider 9 more.

So as soon as I put the littles down for nap/rest I’m on it.

Prolly with some fun girly movie {preferably a musical, since Joe hates those} on in the background.

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All right my lovelies! I hope that you have a great weekend. I’m ready to check some stuff off of my list and get back to the blogging thing really soon. {I miss you!}

Mwah!

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Insta Friday 33

March 15, 2013No comments

Yay! It’s a Sunny, Spring Friday in March!

Oh wait. It’s not.

It’s a gloomy snowy, WINTER Friday in March.

Awesome.

Listen up Mother Nature.

Next Wednesday is the first day of spring. You have until then to get your act together. We are not amused. Five days. You can have five more days of this and then that’s it. Or it’s gonna be a time out for you, young lady.

Ahem.

It’s possible that I am a TEENSY bit tired of this weather. I enjoy winter.

I really do.

Just only in WINTERTIME. When it’s springtime I’m ready for spring time. {Clearly.}

{But let’s be honest, we all know that if Easter is in March, that in Wisconsin the Egg Hunt at Great Grandma’s house will be conducted in snowpants. For sure. Sigh.}

Anyways winter or spring or whatever this is, it’s still FRIDAY, so here’s what we got into this week:

Finally, finally, finally got the ~~bus~~ Yukon washed Friday morning. It was so dirty.

Then it rained all weekend and it’s totally filthy again.

Fail.

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Friday afternoon I cheated on doing work and read trash.

Under my favorite blankie.

It was heavenly.

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After school Helen and I worked on the shadowbox for her room. The two of us went to see Mary Poppins the Musical {IT WAS AMAZING} last year for her birthday and we kept some neat things from that night to put in it.

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And if you read last week’s Insta Friday you know what I did Friday night. Sushi and Second City.

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We ran some errands as a family Saturday morning and decided to take the kids out for lunch as a treat.

March 2013 183 Mmmmmm. Custard.

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I love this girl.

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Backpack on.

“I go to school, Mama! I ride the bus!”

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Chatting on the phone with one of my besties in PA and multitasking. March 2013 199 Spring nails will help me feel more spring like, right?

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Signed up for a second try at the Lakestride Half Marathon. It was so much fun last year I just couldn’t resist!

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Home town homies, I wanna see you!

Preferably Saturday night, with a yummy beverage in our hands. {Fist bump.}

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Tried to run some errands Wednesday morning.

This is where the Ginny monster’s seat should be. March 2013 203

Oops.

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Fun times this morning included a trip to Starbucks then to pick up a new friend and her sweet baby for some girl {plus George} time. March 2013 209

Little Sister got to hold a real baby for the first time.

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Isn’t sweet Amelie a lover? She got kissed a lot today.

It was a real hardship having her over.

Not.

Well, actually, it did make me think “Five wouldn’t be too hard. I could do this.”

Except for the part where two of the kids were at school.

Oh. Huh.

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Well my friends, tonight is the beginning of my Fifth Annual Craft Weekend.

I know.

It’s ridiculous how much garbage I’m gonna eat, and how many girly movies I’m gonna watch, and how late I’m gonna stay up.

Bliss.

Have a great weekend my friends!

MWAH!!!

♥’

Insta Friday 32

March 8, 2013No comments

FRIDAY!! The best night of the week will soon be here!

And I’m gonna stuff my face full of sushi and laugh my bumper off at The Second City. So this will be an especially awesome best night of the week. Yeeeeessss!

HIGH. FIVE!!

This whole week was pretty great, too, so that’s saying something.

{Jump on Instagram with me and share. It’s so much fun, and its fast and easy.}

Okey Dokey. Here’s what I got this week:

The kids had a half day, so we started last Friday afternoon out with a little embroidery….

And trying a little treat I saw on my ~~BFF~~ Pinterest. Crescents, peanut butter, chocolate chips. Success! March 2013 087

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Also, I got my new computer on Friday.

This is a big deal.

I’ve been saving my pennies for a few YEARS for her, and she’s awesome.

{Possibly a little too awesome because I have a little learning to do.}

I have been wanting to keep my crafty and blogging stuff separate from our family stuff, but it’s getting tough with just one laptop. So now my new girl and I can bond and be organized. She still needs a name though..

I’m leaning towards Violet, since she’s a Vaio.

What do you think?

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Also added some words to the walls,

and worked on some final projects for the girls’ room! It’s getting so close. Just some sewing left to do now…

Miles of piping later… March 2013 103 Sneak peek at some of the owls we’ve been collecting over the last 3 years.

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Helen has been working hard on her First Communion homework.

Wait. What?

She’s not old enough to make her first communion!

She IS.

STOP IT!! Please?

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New shoelaces for sister and happy mail for me. Its surely the little things that make me happy. March 2013 114

♥ March 2013 123

Y’all, I gotta tell you something.

I’m afraid of heights.

There I said it.

It’s true. And so on Tuesday when I climbed that ladder, and climbed on that ledge OFF OF THE LADDER, and dusted my mannequin and 1912 sewing machine,