I had a flashback when I was creating this doll to 20+ years ago when my mom made my sister and I faux Cabbage Patch Kids. She refused to give into the frivolous trend saying she could make us one just like it. I insisted on having the first one but soon realized the second one was much better and tried to persuade my sister out of hers (the story of my youth). Anyway, they were both much larger than the real dolls, with scrunched up faces and out of control yarn hair.

This was my first attempt at a Black Apple doll featured a couple years ago on Martha Stewart. Very easy and fun to make. My biggest mistake (no pun intended) was over-enlarging the pattern and creating an enourmous version of what was to be a little shelf doll. And I thought I was being ambitious by cutting out the other two dolls as well, both over-sized.

Johnson's No More Tears

For the second night in a row, Leighton has had a tear-free bath experience. For almost 5 months she has hated getting wet, sink or tub. So needless to say she hasn't been bathed all that often. But now I'm proud to introduce the cleaner, sweeter smelling Leighton.

Somewhere over the ...pt 2

The pinata was a great success. It was fortified enough give each kid several good whacks and to the delight of all, candy eventually rained down.

These were also great crowd pleasers. They were my first attempt at cupcakes form scratch, and took a good hour to make, but they turned out pretty good.

mmmmmmmmmm good

We officially have a 5th mouth to feed now as Leighton has entered the world of solid food.

Baby Taylor

Brett brought home two Baby Taylor guitars this weekend (thanks Craig's list!) and Brooklyn got her first guitar lesson. She's ready for guitar because she's already really good at piano (she says).

I did it!

I did it!!! I slept in my crib last night!!!! And for the first time in 5 months mom and dad slept alone (for a couple hours at least- until Ellie joined them needing her nightly snuggle fix).

Somewhere over the.....

You can go from this...

to this...
to this...

to this!

Ellie is turning three this week and wanted a pinata at her party. Now she has been prepping for her "Buzz Lifeyear"(as she calls it) party for nearly a year now. We decided to do a family party and I couldn't justify a pinata for only three kids. Nor could I find a Toy Story pinata, which is bazaar considering the recent Toy Story hype. So our solution was to bring a pinata and cupcakes to a potluck we are going to with several families from church. Now you would think my proximity to the Mexican border would put me in a fine place to find an amazing cheap pinata. But unless I actually wanted to cross the border, I would have to give an arm and a leg at Pinata World for something that would soon be smashed to pieces. So I decided we would attempt to make one of our own. After inspecting the pinatas at Target (what kid wants a bull, burro, or star pinata?) I was ready to go. And would you believe the whole thing cost me under a dollar? Now the real test will be when it gets hit. Hopefully it won't bust on the first try- but hey, if the kids get candy, that's really all that maters right?

TV

The other day I was reading a stat in Parenting magazine that said kids between the ages of 2 and 5 watch more TV than any other age group, 32 hours a week. I was blown away by this amount, and when I did the math I realized this is about 4 1/2 hours a day. Consider this: if a kid is awake for roughly 14 hours a day and spends 4 hours a day watching TV, in a single week they have watched a total of 2 entire waking days of television. I can easily see how this could happen though. TV is easy, no set up, or clean up, just push a button and there you go. There is minimal fighting when the TV is on and it holds the attention of a typically short-attention-span toddler longer than just about any other activity. And TV allows me to sleep past 6 am, nurse the baby, cook dinner, shower, and sometimes (but rarely) nap. But all this to say, I am now making a concious effort to limit the abmount of TV/videos the girls are watching. Easier on me...no, better for them...yes.

Newest Projects

These are my latest inspirations for projects for Leighton's room. Hopefully I can get to them soon....

Girls night in

The other night several of my girlfriends and I got together to chat, eat yummy dessert, and attempt to fit in some sort of craftiness (every girl's dream night night?). We ate Granny's Chocolate Cobbler (thanks Pioneer Woman) which was super yummy and supposedly very easy, and made camera strap covers, also super easy and fun. Brett was a trooper to cancel his plans to stay home with the girls and let me go, as well as to let me "girlify" the camera (he thought it would turn out looking like the camera strap was wearing pink panties- come on now did he really think I'd coose pink?)

Leave it to Brooklyn...

I was driving in the van the other day when Brooklyn yelled from the back, "Mom I think Ellie wiped a booger on the window." I started reprimanding Ellie before I had even turned around to survey the damage. I don't know if Brooklyn has ever really seen boogers that size, but what she actually saw was a silver dollar sized bird turd on the outside of the glass.

On another occasion...
Me: Ellie, don't put the marker in you mouth, its yucky.
Brooklyn: Yeah Ellie, it will make your mouth blue, and your tinkle blue and you poo poo blue too.

Puzzled

Brooklyn has inherited her father's knack for puzzles. I'm prettty sure he was doing 100 piece puzzles as a toddler. This was Brooklyn's first solo attempt on a hundred piecer. "And I didn't even peek at the box mom!"

#3

I always hear about third child neglect- mostly from my younger brother and Brett's youngest sister (both #3s). They had less trips to get portraits at Olan Mills, less written in their baby books, less brand new toys and clothes, etc. etc. I can see now how this could happen. It is a challenge to give attention to a perfectly content baby when there are two older, louder siblings demanding your attention. Instead of mommy and me class, tummy time and Goodnight Moon, she gets rides in the car seat driving to ballet class, lots of time in her bouncy seat, and plenty of developmentally inappropriate princess stories. That being said, I am trying to make an effort each day to spend time playing with just Leighton. She is an adorable and precious baby and I want to give her all the love and attention she deserves. And hopefully she'll be an understanding youngest sister instead of a bitter #3.

Foot Fetish

Ellie has had a thing for feet since she was really little. She used to lay on the floor of the kitchen while I was doing the dishes or cooking and put one hand under the arch of my foot be sucking her thumb with the other (lucky for her there is plenty of space under my foot since I have about the highest arches known to man). Now she has moved onto a less mobile target...Leighton. She pulls off her socks and cuddles away.

Trip to the "Seum

This week we took just the "big girls" on a special date to the Science Museum. They had no idea what a museum was, but we pumped it up on the way there, and ended up having to drag them out in the end. They loved it and can't wait to go back. I have to admit it is much more fun to go with your husband and adorable, well behaved daughters than 30 obnoxious 6th graders.

Even Cinderella...

highlights

mani

pedi

flower girl for hire

Ellie was adorable as the flower girl this weekend. Please note the dress if you are ever in need of a flower girl dress- brand new on Ebay available in all sizes with tons of different color sashes for $20 including shipping and it came in like 2 days.
My favorite moment of the evening was when the couple just got to the front and were holding hands with a romantic song playing and Ellie yells out, "Why are they not dancing?" Because to Ellie, if there is music, there must be dancing. Which was why she created her own personal dance floor during the communion song and found herself in the middle of a dance off circle at the reception with her rocker face on, shaking her bootie and waving her glow sticks. Gotta love that girl.


PS- nose scabs barely noticeable, could have easily passed for big freckles!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day 1976

The fundamental mission of motherhood now
is the same as it always was:
to nurture, protect, and instruct children,
to create a home environment
that enables them to learn and grow
to help them develop a heart for God and His purposes
and to send them out into the world
prepared to live both fully and meaningfully.

accident prone

Ellie is making her big debut as a flower girl this weekend. We were concerned about the return of the green snot for a few days, but thankfully that's gone. I was concerned when she tripped at the park and hit her lip yesterday, but it was minor and never bled. But right before bed she managed to to this to her face. Don't think that will clear up before tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day to me

Mother's day isn't here yet, but I've already got my gift. It was a dream day that started with a bagel/schmear and diet coke (the best way to start a day in my book), and was filled with with old friends, an amazing craft show, California sunshine, shopping, and good food. I also picked up this little ditty to show what a proud momma I am.

Have you tried...

M&Ms are good. Everybody loves an M&M right? My favorite is plain mixed in a bag of microwave popcorn- the way the heat from the popcorn melts the candy inside tastes amazing. Brooklyn eats all the popcorn first and saves the M&Ms for last, Ellie eats all the M&Ms and doesn't touch the popcorn. I like a ratio of 2-3 kernels per M.
So anyway I discovered a new M, pretzel M&Ms. Basically a little pretzel ball covered with the typical chocolatey goodness in a candy shell. The good thing about these is they've only got 150 calories per bag. So less guilt when you snatch a bag waiting in the check out line at Target.

Dressed for the Day

The older my girls get, the less control I have over what they wear. On one hand it is helpful to have them dress themselves in the morning (if you consider 10:30 morning!) but on the other hand the outfits they choose to wear aren't always up to par. And they have become very sensitive to the way clothes feel. 3/4 sleeves feel weird, jeans are to stiff, cuffed sleeves too tight, etc. If it was up to them they would wear knit shorts and t-shirts every single day. I try not to make this a battle and let them express themselves when we are staying home for the day (which happens a lot these days). Lucky for me, uniforms are a comin'.

Out of the mouth of babes

Ellie is sick again. And she has a real problem when she can't eat what she wants. Last night at dinner we all had pizza and all she could have was saltines and water. She was furious at us. So after 24 hours with no barfing I finally let her eat. She picked a corn dog and blueberries. That should be fun to clean up if it doesn't stay down.
"I won't throw up Mommy," she said.
"Ellie its not you, its your body that throws up," Brooklyn responded. So wise.

Earlier today Brooklyn asked Ellie if she could pray for her. Ellie said no. Brooklyn grabbed her little hands and prayed anyway.
"I didn't want you to pray Brooklyn," Ellie said.
"Its too late Ellie. I already did and God is going to do it. Sorry," was her response. Again, wise beyond her years.

Going Blonde

I had never made blondies before, but seeing the most delicious looking one at Panera Bread inspired me to search out a recipe. Basically blondies are the counterpart to brownies, a thick, chewy cookie/bar. You can make them with butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, or semi sweet chocolate chips (in my opinion the best choice by far, there is no comparison to chocolate in my book). The recipe I used is here (although I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9X13 pan and added more chocolate chips). Try it, you will love.

A Room a Day #7

This is where I prrobably spend the majority of my day. French press coffee first thing in the morning to late night sugar binges. Not the largest of kitchens but with a little creativity I fit in all the necessities (please not there is only one full sized drawer and one full sized cabinet). Most of the time the fridge is plastered with artwork and the kids' table is usually in the middle of the floor hovering over a bed of crumbs from the many daily snacks.