baby food is so 8 months old, mom

One day Barrett woke up and decided he didn't want to eat baby food anymore.  Unfortunately for us, we didn't believe him.  For a couple of weeks, we tried making an airplane out of the spoon, manically miming eating his food, exaggerating loud "YUM!" sounds, and not-so-surprisingly, nothing convinced Barrett he was wrong about baby food.  No longer a fan.  He wanted what we were all eating, not that I'm cooking gourmet meals every night, but yeah, I can see how mashed potatoes look tastier than pureed squash.

That beautiful face above is considered clean.  Barrett might want to eat real food, but the process of actually getting it to his mouth leaves much to be desired.  Sure, practice makes perfect, and this kid is practicing a lot.  But after every meal, I pick him up, carry him to the sink, and shake him off as best I can.  Then I remove all his clothes and throw them in the washer because everything is a lost cause at that point.  And no, a bib doesn't help!

He's tried rice, bread, scrambled eggs, kiwi, avocados, sweet potatoes, pears, mashed potatoes, chicken, noodles, fish, and peas and carrots.  Much like his mother during her college years (and years after), he loves the white carbs.  

PIA auction quilts

I made a decision last year to put my quilting to good use and make at least two quilts a year for donation.  One group I support is Public Interest Advocates (PIA) from the WVU College of Law.  You can read more about them and the quilt I made last year here.  For their auction this year, I decided that instead of another WVU quilt, I'd make two baby quilts.  What better than pinks/reds and blues/greens?

I stuck with my trusty five inch patchwork, full of scraps, left over charm squares, and hoarded fabric I couldn't bear to cut into before but needed for these quilts.  

Ladies first...

Fleece star backing.  Snuggly.

And for the boys...

Little kids jumping in puddles, my favorite blue crabs, polka dots, pearl bracelets...

Both were stitched 1/4 inch on either side of the seams, and you can see the quilting well on the boy quilt.

Britton saw these quilts freshly washed, folded, and waiting on a chair to be packaged up for the mail.  And she wanted to get into them badly!  So I got her to hold them for me while I took the pictures.  My favorite quilt holder!

waterlogued

Poor kids these days.  They will never know the joy of a telephone plugged into the wall. Dialing *69.  Finally getting caller ID.  Finally getting a cordless phone.  Jamming that phone line with dial up internet.  So you could download a song from Napster, as long as the connection held out for the two hours it took.

They will never know phones that only made phone calls.  Texting?  Nope.  Email?  No.  The idea that you can listen to music on your phone was unheard of not so long ago.  But the biggest advance, to me, is the camera.  It won't take the place of a good SLR, but as far as convenient, it's ridiculously so.

And then there's the apps, like this one - Waterlogued.  It turns your photos into watercolor paintings.  Incredible.  And quite addictive!

 

 

memaw's birthday christmas quilt

At Christmas this year, Memaw mentioned to me that she wants a Christmas quilt next year.  Not one to let a good quilt project sit idle (nor one to let JoAnn's 70% off Christmas fabric sale go untouched), I got on it for Memaw's birthday present.  Originally, I wanted to do different sized triangles, but I couldn't get the templates I made to work.  The triangles wouldn't come out consistently, and it was going to be a fight to get them lined up correctly.  So I scrapped that idea and went with my tried and true isosceles triangles, which turned out much better!

Reindeer with angels, candy canes with snowflakes, jingle bells with holly, little snowmen, Christmas trees - yes, Christmas threw up all over this quilt and I love it.

I knew I'd need about four yards for the backing, and this "snowmen plays in Candyland with gingerbread men" fabric was the only fabric that had four yards available!  Of course, as is the case when you can't get more fabric, it wasn't enough.  Since JoAnns was sold out of this fabric by then, I had to create a strip across the middle of leftover triangles.

I quilted in straight lines on either side of each triangle, which resulted in a cool pattern on the back.

Red and white candy cane stripe binding!  There's one of the jolly snowmen, surrounded by cookies and peppermints.

I gave the quilt to Memaw last weekend on her birthday and she loved it!  She said she'll keep it out year-round, because it is ridiculously snuggly and soft and just begs you to cuddle up in it.  I love how it turned out, and even better - I've now got TONS of Christmas fabric scraps.  On to the next quilt!

another snowed-in weekend

Are you sick of snow yet?  I haven't seen the grass in over a month.  And since it hasn't been above freezing, temperature-wise, since at least Christmas, the snow never melts.  As I write this, we are getting 3-6 more inches on top of the more than a foot on the ground.  I know, I know.  Remind me about this whining rant in August when I'm on a tirade about the sweltering heat.  Britton informed me this morning that she is not sick of the snow because, in her words, "the snow is pretty."  I cannot say that I feel the same anymore.

So, this weekend, we celebrated Memaw's birthday with a visit from Memaw and PawPaw and a "Memaw's favorites" meal of lemon garlic roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, linguine, salad, and lemon cake.  Memaw took Britton out sledding during Barrett's nap, and Britton loved it!  Saturday afternoon was the first time we could go outside, because it was sunny, not freezing cold, and the snow had stopped.

The hubs and PawPaw went to pick up the hubs' new RZR.  I don't know who's more excited - the hubs or Britton?  It looks like a fancy golf cart with big tires to me, but the hubs assures me it's so much more than that.  

This weekend was a three day weekend for us.  Nope, I didn't get Presidents Day off of work, but our daycare did close for the day for "in-service teacher training."  That sound you heard was my mother and sister (both teachers) coughing loudly and uttering a word into their fists.  But I digress…So no daycare, no work.  A dentist appointment this morning for Britton (everything looks great) and a lot of hanging out.

And cherry red nails with glitter!  

As the day wore on, Britton lost most of her clothes, until finally I found her in the bathroom, putting three of my Valentine's Day tulips in her hair.  

It was a great weekend, celebrating Memaw's birthday and being together, but please Snow Gods, I need out of this house tomorrow!  

happy valentine's day!

Britton got all fancy in her Easter dress and went straight for her Valentine's Day basket.  She got some candy, bracelets, craft supplies, and of course a headband with hearts...

See that blue one?  It says, "Let's read."  What is that about?

I heard on the radio that "Disney on Ice" was heading to Pittsburgh in March, and hopped online to find tickets.  Since I bought them the day before Valentine's Day, I figured it might as well be a Valentine's Day present.  Though this will in no way dictate the present budget for future Valentine's Days!

This poor boy.  Sick on his first Valentine's Day.  Red cheeks, runny nose, low fever, but he's still smiling.

The hubs surprised Britton and I with gifts.  He ordered her chocolate covered strawberries, and me some red tulips and blue irises!  

And Barrett got stickers for his helmet.  Seems these helmet decals are quite the racket, and there are tons and tons of options.  I went with the one that made me laugh (also up for consideration was "You should see the other guy") and Britton helped me get the stickers on the helmet.

As Britton sang in school today (and signed), "All you need is love!"

master bathroom redo

The hubs and I had been putting off doing anything with the master bathroom until we could gut the entire room and start over.  Thus, it became the absolute last room for us to decorate.  For the last year and a half it has been bland as bland can be - light tan walls, white vanity and countertop and floors, and simply a utilitarian room.  

But as we were finalizing what changes to make - new floor, new vanity, new shower insert and doors, pulling the mirror off the wall, new lighting, the works really, we found we weren't really excited about another remodel.  And when you're talking about thousands of dollars, you better be excited about it!  So instead of a remodel, we went with a facelift.

Boring tan and white before picture:

The stenciling around the top of the window was our favorite part of the bathroom.  It screams "1988," even more than the four-inch white tiles or ridiculously short vanity with formica countertops.  

And the after!  Details - paint is "Rainwashed" by Sherwin-Williams (the most amazing blue/green/grey color ever) and the accent colors are navy and sage green.  Here's bathing Britton giving a tour of the newly decorated bathroom!

We did replace the toilet months ago, and Mr. Bob is coming back to replace the shower insert and shower doors.  Other than those changes, I consider this bathroom finished!

Crab watercolors, printed from the internet, and matted in navy mats with wood frames.  I got the navy towels from Target, but already had the green and monogrammed towels.

I loved some ticking balloon curtains from Country Curtains, but they were $65 each, and with the size of our window (over 50" x 56") we would have needed two of them.  Luckily I happened to find some ticking fabric at JoAnns that was on sale, and for $28 of fabric (I needed 4 yards at $7/yard) and $2 of double shirring, I made my own balloon curtain!

Since we aren't replacing the vanity, I decided to spruce it up with clear glass knobs.  I thought about painting the vanity, and even checked out a few hundred online tutorials on how to do it, but in the end I decided against it.  There's no easy fix if the paint doesn't stick to the melamine/laminate cabinets, so I'm erring on the side of caution and leaving it alone.

More artwork stolen from the internet, and a starfish stolen from Barrett's room.  I haven't arranged my various [never-been-used] candles and hand towels yet.

There it is!  A few small changes, beautiful new color, and the house is finished (well, except for that shower insert and doors, but we're considering it finished).  "To do" is DONE.

class valentine cards

My Valentine's Day cards for the kids' classes was inspired by the Tootsie Roll lollipop.  I was in Wal-Mart, looking for those boxes of Valentine cards with lollipops or stickers or whathaveyou, and I couldn't find them anywhere.  I checked the Valentine aisle, then school supplies, even greeting cards, and they just weren't there.  So I grabbed some Tootsie Roll pops, knowing Britton could bring them to school (being peanut-free and all).

And I remembered a 3-D Valentine card I'd seen on the internet and decided a google search was in order.  There it was - adorable photo, plus construction paper background, plus lollipop, plus exacto-knife precision.  I added a foam sticker heart with the recipient's name, and a little message along the bottom.

And because I couldn't pick just one picture of Britton, I picked my three favorites:

Barrett didn't want to be left out!  Since the babies in his room aren't into candy (or even solid food) yet, I made his cards for his teachers:

                                         

Admittedly, I did end up finding those regular Valentine's Day cards, while I was waiting at the CVS for my pictures to be developed.  But in the end, I'm glad I didn't bail on these because they weren't that much work, and they ended up more adorable than I imagined.