Photo-a-day 2012

Hello, friends! Life is busy, as always, but I wanted to be sure to say hello, share some photos, and let you know about my most recent post over at Housewife Eclectic as part of my Wednesdays on (or off) the Web.

Item #1: Hello! Thank you all for reading :)

Item #3: Pop over to Housewife Eclectic for this week's challenge: to capture the everyday moments.

Item #4: Yes, I can count, but no, I don't care to put these in the proper numerical order...

Item #2: The photos. I've been trying to take more photos lately, inspired by the 356 (or 366, this year) photo projects I see around (like Debra's... check out her AWESOME calendar, and be sure to click on a blank day to see some nerdy goodness :). So, here are some to share:

Combine quiet time with a 2-year-old who loves Spam... the result is uncanny
(ha! I crack myself up!)

All bundled up!

After no nap, Shaun the Sheep is all it takes to put him to sleep, sitting up...
and to keep him asleep as he falls over.

This poor girl puts up with so many things being put on top of her, like a kid-sized plastic lawn chair. No injuries yet....

My sleepy cowboy :)

my first homemade tortillas! they're a little thick, but tasty :)

You know the expiration date on the pop tubes of biscuits? They need to call it an EXPLOSION date. One tube exploded in the fridge, and when I tried to open these, one exploded all over the kitchen, nearly taking my thumb with it. The other one exploded on the front porch when my husband went out to try to open it...

a very happy Valentine's day :)

Polo jammies... the newest layering trend. When you see it hit Hollywood, it started here!

"Why do they make running shoes in all these crazy colors?" he asks.
"Ooh, pretty shoes!" she says with a glint in her eyes...

Just because I am awesome

... and you all need more proof ;)

Andi from Jane of All Crafts tagged me in a post asking random questions. I, like Amy (who was also tagged), am a rule breaker, so I'm just going to answer Andi's questions. If you'd like to join in and pick up my slack to move the tagging chain along, consider yourself tagged. :)

1. If you had to eat the same thing everyday for the rest of your life what would it be?

Mashed potatoes and gravy. Or the sweet pork burrito from Costa Vida. Okay, definitely the sweet pork burrito. I could eat it every day and never get sick of it. So, Costa Vida for lunch and mashed potatoes for dinner and... homemade wheat bread and strawberry jam for breakfast. Delicious!

2. If you woke up one day and were an animal, what type would you be?
If nature was judging from my current everyday activities, I'd probably be a cat -- I love to sleep and sit around all day and I think I'm pretty superior to all other creatures. ;) Also, agile and flexible... yup, that's me...

3. If you could pick any profession other then your current one, what would it be?
I would go back to being a technical writer. It's not for everyone, but I love it and still miss it often!

4. How many states have you visited?
Umm... 6? I clearly don't get out much... I'd love to visit more, and have plans to visit Montana (hopefully soon) and Maine (to prove that it exists) someday.

5. Ever been overseas? If not where do you dream of going?
Nope. I would love to! I would truly love to go just about anywhere. Tops on my list are Germany (thanks to Tera), Italy, and England, plus Russia (where my husband spent two years as an LDS missionary). Also Prague, while we're dreaming :)

6. If you had to choose, would you rather be an awesome dancer or an amazing singer?
Tough question... I'm going to say singer so that I would fit more with my husband's amazingly talented family. Seriously, they all have great voices. Also, I would love to be able to sing beautiful songs and lullabies to my kids and actually have them still sound beautiful instead of just a little (or a lot) off-key...

7. What is your favorite beverage? (alcoholic or non)
Strawberry limeade. Add that to the list in #1 because I could drink it non-stop.

8. What would your dream home look like?
Wrap-around porch. Big, amazing craft room. Big laundry room (so that I can hide it all in there ;). Big kitchen/dining/entertaining area for all the people I want to gather there. But the actual home itself can't be that big because I don't want to clean it all ;)


Wait, scratch the craft room and add the craft barn that Debra and I dream of. It has a limeade bar (see #7) and a photo studio, among other awesome features.

9. What trait about yourself do you value most?

Hmm... that is a good question. I am going to say that I have never seen something that I didn't think I could do. Not sure what you'd call that -- maybe hubris? ;) There are things in life that I don't want to do, and there are things I know that I won't do, but I don't know that I've ever encountered anything that I thought was impossible for me to do, if I really tried and made it a priority. I've always been more afraid of not being my best (of not doing my very best) than of failing altogether. Do I sound completely self-important yet? :)


10. Have you ever tasted the rainbow? ;)
Are we talking Skittles here...? Because in that case, yes.

11. Mac or PC?
Currently, PC. But I love Macs. I'm great with either so long as it has internet access ;)

Also... I have been seriously slacking and forgot to share my last few Wednesday posts over at Housewife Eclectic. So, if you feel so inclined, pop on over.

And, since you've read this far, a gratuitous picture of my adorable baby girl -- 6 months old! How time flies.

Photo by my awesome sister-in-law, Dusty, who will very soon have a website of her own that I can link you to :)

Thanks for reading!

Kid's Sewing Kit [Land of Nod knock-off]

It was my niece's birthday back in October, and as I was thinking of what to do for her, I came across this Land of Nod kids sewing kit, featured over at Gwenny Penny. Lightbulb! (Thanks for the inspiration, Gwen!)

As cute as it was, $31 was out of my budget... not to mention that I have no idea if there is a physical Land of Nod location in my state. I've only ever browsed online for inspiration. :) (If you're interested, theirs is on sale right now for only $17.)

A trip to JoAnn's and a visit to my stash produced...

My out-of-pocket cost was around $13:

• snap n' stack organizer, $6
• scissors, $2
• embroidery floss, $2
• measuring tape, $1
• small spool of ribbon, $1
• googly eyes, $1
• needles, on-hand (I ended up including one darning needle and one sharper needle, in a simple felt needlebook)
• felt, on-hand

From my felt, I cut out some fun animal shapes for her to sew together:

The elephant was from this Taffy Talk pattern, and the other shapes were from coloring pages I found various places online.

I also cut out some felt puppets, from She Wears Flowers, and tossed in a few random scraps for her to make her own embellishments.

Just toss the supplies in the tote (or other container), snap it together, and toss a bow on top. Or, if you're like me, skip the bow and make up for it by saying "Happy Birthday!" extra enthusiastically. :)