game time

The just-built elementary school down the street from us has basketball courts. So when I was at Target last week, I picked up a basketball for the hub. And I noticed a smaller pink and purple ball, and figured Britton would like to join in with us. Have we made it to the basketball court yet? No.

But Britton spied her ball in the garage and found a different use for it. Hence, she and the hub have developed a completely new game! The hub puts Britton on his shoulders, takes her outside, and tosses the ball on the roof. As it rolls back down, Britton laughs like a hyena, and the hub has to catch the ball. She gets a good laugh, he gets a work out. Win win, I say.

the best bed ever

The hub and I are big believers that your bed should be as comfortable as humanly possible. We spend (hopefully) eight hours a night in it, so a third of our lives is spent in bed. When we went on our honeymoon to Casa Laguna in Laguna Beach, California, we had the most comfortable bed we'd ever slept in. And that's a big feat for us, since he likes the mattress firm and I'd sleep on a pile of cotton balls if given my way. So, when it came to getting a new bed that year, we did the sane thing. We called the Casa Laguna and asked them what kind of bed was in the Laguna Suite. Unfortunately for us, the mattresses are handmade in Europe. And for only $6000, it could be ours, since they do in fact sell them. Um, no. But the featherbed on top of the $6000 mattress was from America, and only cost $100. Sold.

So we bought a firmer mattress and ordered the featherbed (from Pacific Coast if you want one, and they do carry them at Costco now). And that featherbed was heaven. But, that was five whole years ago. Over those five years, the feathers got smooshed down, fluffing the featherbed didn't keep it fluffy, and eventually it looked like there was someone sleeping in the middle of the bed because each of our sides had dents. The featherbed wasn't working anymore. And I didn't want to blow money on a new mattress so we checked out the tempur-pedic mattress toppers, at the suggestion of Memaw and PawPaw.

Yes! I've only laid on it for a couple of minutes today, but that mattress topper is awesome! You know who else thinks so? The girl who spent the afternoon "climbing" the mattress topper...

quilting i bee

I have been swamped (by my own choosing!) with quilt projects lately. I tend to do all my sewing at night, after Britton is down for bed and the hub is either on the exercise bike or watching television. It is my longest stretch of free time and I really can get lost in cutting, piecing, and sewing. I usually hang out with the hub, catching up on the DVR (which will be better now since all our shows are back on) while cutting my pieces out, then a couple of nights downstairs sewing, then back upstairs with him for my quilting.

Here are my latest projects:

This quilt is for a co-worker of Memaw who is having a little girl in October. Her due date got pushed up from November, so we thought we had more time to get this done! I went with the simple nine patch to showcase the fabrics and keep sewing time to a minimum. These fabrics are from the Strawberry Fields line.



A polka dot binding is ever so cute for a little girl...



I just fell in love with this fabric, Robert Kaufman's "Three Little Bears." Oddly enough, it doesn't have three little bears in it! But it depicts every nursery rhyme I can remember, and is gender-neutral. My friend just told me she's pregnant, and they aren't finding out what they are having. And because I love this fabric so much, the quilt will go to her. It's actually progressed more than the photo - it's four nine-patch blocks with borders, and I've almost finished hand-stitching it. All it needs is some binding, and since she isn't due until April I've got plenty of time to finish it.




And finally, my Christmas quilt. I wanted a bigger project for myself, and I finally feel ready to move on beyond baby quilts. I saw this quilt and felt the design ("Charming Stars") would make a beautiful Christmas quilt.



The pattern is based off of using Moda charm packs, which are pre-cut five inch squares. I've never used these before (mainly because I can pick out my own fabric, thank you very much) but decided that if I was going to get through 16 blocks plus borders I needed to find an easy out somewhere! I've since come to love those little charm packs and have to resist buying them every time I see a beautiful new design. I decided on "Flurry" by Kate Spain for Moda.



Here it is laid out on the kitchen island! I'm actually finished piecing together the top and I've since handed it off to Memaw for hand-quilting. She is using red thread to quilt around each star, and with the backing being white you'll see the stars on the back too. I made the binding last week (green and red stripe), so I will be ready to complete it once it is returned. It will end up being about 58" x 58" square once complete, and a great size for a couch throw.



I've also completed the top for another baby girl quilt and done some binding on one of Memaw's quilts, but I can't find any pictures of those projects. So, an update for now, and I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished quilts!

big primpin

Friday afternoon, while I was making dinner, Britton pulled out the make-up kit she got for her birthday. She sat down and proceeded to "paint" her toenails with the little fake lipstick. I noticed her doing this and let's just say I was floored! She's never seen me paint my toenails, or anyone else paint their toenails that I know of, so I found it so confusing that she would know to do that. Then she put the little nail polish brushes (not being used to paint toenails, apparently) and "dipped" them in the eyeshadow, which she pretended to apply to her eyelids. Again, floored. I get up before she does, and apply my make-up before she's even awake. How does she know about this yet?



I sat down with her and pulled out all her necklaces and bracelets, because when you're getting all dolled up with fake make-up, one must not neglect her accessories.




Then she pulled out the fake hair straightener and proceeded to straighten her hair with it. And unless the ladies at daycare are doing this (and, if that's the case, what am I paying for?) then I have no idea where she got that move from. Until she announced that she was cutting her hair! She thought the straightener looked enough like scissors that they could do that. And she has had a certain fondness for scissors and knives lately, mainly due to the fact that she can't have them.



Yes, every part of my being wanted to grab that lipstick, that nail polish, that straightener out of her hands and tell her, "You have so long to be a beautiful child, a little girl who doesn't want to wear make-up and thinks boys are gross and needs her mommy and daddy and won't make them drop her off at the mall 2 blocks away and still snuggles!" But the truth here? She's not doing that. She's not growing up too fast, or getting the wrong signals from the media, or becoming the result of an ever-changing society which places value on looks and not brains. She's playing. And I can fret and make a huge deal out of nothing, or I can play with her. And playing is what we did.

more disney world

On Friday we started off the day with breakfast, and then a run to Animal Kingdom. We wanted to hit the safari early so the animals would be out. But couple the time change and Britton's refusal the night before to sleep in the crib, and we got a late start. We did make it over, but with only enough time to do the safari ride and nothing else. That's ok though, because a lot of Animal Kingdom is kids older than Britton.






Friday night we ate at Boma, which is in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Their food is fantastic, and one of our favorite Disney restaurants. Britton ate well and tried the African food, even the things she's not used to, like curry pasta salad. That night Epcot had extended hours so the hub and I snuck away until midnight. We got to ride Soarin' two times in a row with almost no wait time! If you haven't ridden it, Soarin' is the best ride at Epcot hands down. In fact, the first time I ever rode it years ago, I immediately got back into line to do it again. And that was with a 1 hour 45 minute wait!

Saturday morning we had reservations for the character breakfast at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary. I wondered how Britton would handle the giant-headed characters, but she always waved at them at the park, so I figured she was good. WRONG! She was waving at Mickey and then when he got over to the table she scrambled over Memaw to get away! We didn't force her to hang out with the other characters, not wanting to scar her for life. The hub has a phobia of people dressed up in costumes like that, so she comes by it honestly!




After breakfast we ventured back out to Magic Kingdom so Britton could get in some ride time. First stop was Dumbo, which she liked. Then she wanted the "horsies!" so we rode the carousel. Britton did not want to leave the carousel (oh, yes - I was that mom with the screaming kid) so we decided to go get in the shade and treat her to a Mickey ice cream for a snack. Let me tell you what - the heat and humidity were like nothing else. It's been so dry in Texas that we just weren't prepared to spend all our outdoor time sweating. But we managed to get into air-conditioned rides when we could (like Peter Pan), to cool off.








Saturday afternoon, during Britton's nap, Memaw and PawPaw ventured out to the hotel's lobby to look around. I had wanted to get Britton's portrait done, but we never found the time at Magic Kingdom. Well, the girl who does caricatures was in the lobby, drawing off of a picture on a cellphone. Memaw and PawPaw asked her if she had to have the subject there or if she could use a picture, and she said a cell phone image was fine. Hence, this adorable caricature of Britton!



All in all, a great vacation! See you next year, Disney!

disney world: and so it begins...

We left home Thursday morning at an awful 4:30 am. Our flight had been pushed back to 6:15 am, and we needed to get to the airport early. Luckily, Britton was a total trooper and easily awoke for our trip out to Orlando. The hub and I had spent the night before packing, and like always we vastly underestimated not only how long packing would take, but also how much crap we would be bringing with us. We brought twice as much stuff as we took on our honeymoon five years ago, and we stayed on that trip for twice as long.

We got to the airport with more than enough time to grab some breakfast at Starbucks (the only place open that God-awful early) and wait on the plane. Britton was so excited because Memaw and PawPaw had bought her a Dora suitcase, and she had it full of coloring books, stickers, and other entertaining things.






The flight was pretty uneventful - 2 hours and some change, and then we were on the way to the rental car! We drove to the supermarket to get some supplies and snacks, then headed to the Wilderness Lodge. I've never stayed there before, but my sister did and she gave it two thumbs up. Plus, the hub stayed there years ago and really enjoyed it. So, we unloaded our bags and groceries and got some much-needed lunch. Then we all headed back to the rooms (we stayed in the villas) and waited on the crib lady. See, Disney only provides pack-and-plays, which are too small for Britton. And she doesn't sleep in a bed yet. So, the hub hunted down a crib rental service in Orlando (seriously, I think you can rent just about anything that exists) and she was scheduled to deliver it right before naptime. And seeing as how Britton was already in a deficit of sleep, naptime was a must.

The hub and I took this opportunity to get our butts on over to Magic Kingdom, by far my favorite park. In fact, I've never been to Hollywood Studios because I would rather do Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Lodge has a boat that goes straight over to Magic Kingdom, and the hub and I jumped on and made our way over. I've never seen Disney World decorated for Halloween, but I instantly fell in love with the fall leaf garlands and mickey Mouse pumpkins. We made our way down Main Street and then on to the Thunder Mountain Railroad!





Of course we got there just as a parade was coming down Main Street! Love that timing - it would serve us well over the next couple of days, always arriving just minutes after the boat or bus had pulled away! We always go in the shops because you really can't blow enough of your money on Disney stuff, right? I think this $37,500 crystal replica of Cinderella's castle was a little over-budget though.




We all met up for dinner at the hotel, and let me tell you what - it was a raucous good time. Our waiter looked exactly like Geppetto from Pinocchio! And they did silly stuff, like if you asked for ketchup the waiter yelled for ketchup and the poor people who had asked prior to you borught every dang bottle in the restaurant to your table. Seriously, when we asked for ketchup, a family brought us at least 20 bottles! And when the hub made a wise-crack about needing refills on two iced teas, Geppetto (also known as Bob from Newark, NJ) brought him a giant mason jar of tea.





After dinner we all head over to Magic Kingdom for some rides and the Electric Light Parade. First thing Britton wanted was a balloon, and the hub got her this cool one with Mickey Mouse ears inside another balloon. Britton's first ride ever at Disney World was "It's a Small World" and I think while she didn't understand why the dolls were dancing around, she liked the colors and music. She loved the Electric Light Parade, which was a real treat for everyone considering it required us to be up way past Britton's bedtime. Britton waved at all the characters going by and yelled out what the other participants were (turtle, butterfly, etc.). Then it was back home for bed.









More on the rest of our trip to come!