Me? A Mom?

This and that.

2012-02-11T06:38:00.000-06:00

Just a handful of sewing things from the past few months... Not nearly enough sewing happening over here right now for my liking.

Itty Bitty

2012-02-05T22:46:00.000-06:00

Did you see these adorable magnets on flickr?

Well, our St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild leadership did and decided we needed an itty bitty quilt block magnet swap. The rules are simple: make a quilt block 1.5 inches or smaller and turn it into a magnet.

I got a crazy hair to shrink the free Circle of Geese pattern Beth offers on her site.

Believe it or not, it wasn't too hard to paper piece on this scale. Once I completed the block piece, I cut a piece of batting and some fabric for the backing. I stitched the fabric together on three sides with right sides facing and "birthed" it out the unstitched side. I then slipped a magnet in and hand stitched the fourth side.

Wouldn't it be adorable to make a set of four that when put together make the full circle of geese?

Mind, Body, Soul

2012-02-02T06:22:00.004-06:00

When 2012 rolled around, I told myself this would be the year of mind, body, and soul. In other words, I would work on becoming more mentally balanced (sane), more fit, and work on my relationship with God.

I'm not doing so well on the mind part right now. Work has become all consuming of late. And by all-consuming, I mean lots of hours. Seventy, eighty hour weeks which means not a lot of time with my girls, virtually no time with my husband, and very little sleep. It has me feeling a bit unstable mentally and, naturally, exhausted. But this too shall pass.

Body-wise, Jillian Michaels continues to kick my ass for 20 minutes every morning -- which is actually helping with my exhaustion. Twelve days in and I've already lost five pounds. I'm not dieting, but I did stop drinking soda after I realized it was my "gateway" food to really bad food choices. Plus, it doesn't hurt that I now have Jillianisms in my head every time I think about making a not-so-great food choice. You want to workout for 20 minutes and take a break? It doesn't work that way. Jillian's isms themselves are probably worth the price of the DVD alone. You feel that pain? That's fear leaving the body.

My soul is probably in the best shape of the three. Since I last talked about my spiritual journey, I've found a really great church that I love attending. It's youthful and full of energy. I find myself looking forward to Sundays now.

But enough navel gazing. How about some pictures of the girls? They are growing and changing at lightening speed. Sometimes I come home from work and swear they have grown taller since I had last seen them that morning.

Recent growth spurt = too short of clothes all around

Lila, who just turned five, is reading and making inventions and basically blowing our minds on a daily basis.

Violet, who recently turned two, is a total wild woman. And though you can't really tell in this picture, her hair has suddenly exploded into curls -- mostly in the back but also a few random ones on the top of her head. It's precious. So is she. She's talking more and more every day which makes her 20 lb, 31 inch tall stature that more cute.

Rosalie continues to be impossible to capture on film smiling and standing still. This picture above is one of the better shots of late. She has been missing me a lot lately and has found herself in our bed most nights. When Ted seems upset about it, I try to remind him that some day these girls will be embarrassed by us and probably won't even want to sit next to us, much less cuddle in bed with us. So I'm soaking it all up while I can.

Jillian Michaels is out to get me

2012-01-21T06:36:00.000-06:00

It's been almost a year since I went back to work and lots of things have changed in our life, including my waist size. Nothing drastic but enough to make me feel bad about my appearance. A little too much jiggle-jiggle and poochy pooch if you know what I mean.

Last week I met up with a friend who has been doing Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred DVD and she looked fantastic. Of course, I was completely inspired and ran out to buy the DVD. The workouts are only 20 minutes long. I figure if I can't find 20 minutes a day to do something for myself, I have bigger problems than a little waist fat.

This morning was my maiden voyage with Jillian. Is it a bad sign if I'm out of breath two minutes into the warm up? The comments from the peanut gallery didn't help. "Mom, you're looking really tired."

Despite the mess of panting and edge-of-death that was me on my basement floor this morning, I finished the 20 minute workout. Now I sit her nauseous from what I can only imagine is my body being in total and utter shock. But I feel so good. Really, I do. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

Wise beyond her years

2012-01-16T18:20:00.000-06:00

Rosalie: Mom, I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up.

Me: That's what I wanted to be when I was your age too!

Rosalie: Really? What do you do now?

Me: Public Relations

Rosalie: Oh, so you're a mommy.

Don't shoot the messenger

2012-01-12T03:49:00.000-06:00

Tonight as I was attempting to get the girls to bed...

Rosalie (said very seriously): "Mom, I have some very bad news for you."

Me: "What's that, Ro?"

Rosalie: "I'm not sleepy."

Crossroads

2012-01-02T00:24:00.002-06:00

Life has continued on in my neck of the woods even though I haven't taken the time to capture it here. Lila graduated to a twin-size bed and, in the process, got her own room while Rosalie got a new roommate. Rosalie has a boyfriend (Sonny). Violet turned two and is a short-sentence talking wild woman. I'm working more, sewing less, and sleeping not so great. But I'm trying to live in the moment and that's primarily why I haven't been here.

I'm also wrestling with a tug I've been having in my heart to return to my faith. Wresting because it's in direct conflict with how my husband and I had originally agreed to raise our children. Now we stand looking at life from different points of view and it is very difficult to say the least. I don't know what will happen but I can't ignore the once quiet voice in my head that has grown into a roar. I'm on a journey.

So it feels very much like I'm at a crossroads. With this blog. With my faith. With my life in general. Here's to choosing the right path.

image found via pinterest

5:17 a.m. with Lila

2011-12-24T08:11:00.005-06:00

"Mom! Wake up! Santa's coming tonight!!!!"

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Our wild flowers

2011-12-07T08:04:00.000-06:00

A few months ago, it occurred to me that we had no family pictures of the five of us. None. And I'm not talking professional photo. I mean we had no photos of all of us together. Shame.

So we pulled together a quick photo session with JJ and she pulled off the seemingly impossible job of capturing everyone. I can't show you all the great photos because I have to be respectful of my husband's desire not to be all over the internet, but we got some beautiful shots. Here are just a few of the many I love.

I love that all three of our girls have different hair color and different eye color, yet they clearly are sisters.

Violet was quite the ham but she did eventually melt down.

Two minutes

2011-11-17T05:50:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I dropped my car seats and the back popped off exposing the button battery inside. Button batteries are those flat batteries that look like buttons or coins. To kids, they are pretty and shiny. And, unfortunately, if swallowed, the consequences are far greater than a choking hazard.

When a battery like this gets stuck in a child’s throat, the saliva triggers an electrical current which causes a chemical reaction that can severely burn the esophagus in as little as two hours. If that's not scary enough, symptoms your child may exhibit after swallowing a button battery -- coughing, drooling, discomfort -- could be mistakenly attributed to a cold or teething.

You probably don't even realize how many of these button batteries are in your house. I didn't. They are often found in remotes, key fobs, and calculators as well as singing greeting cards and those kid books that make sounds.

If you have small kiddos like me, you know how quickly they can move. I mean, just the other night as I was getting everyone in their pajamas following a bath, I turned to find Violet -- fully clothed -- back in the bath tub pouring a bucket of water over her head. How did she get in the tub without my knowledge? I had been right there.

That's why it's so important to secure anything with a button battery in it. Put up those keys and remotes. Don't take the chance. They could be deadly.

I urge you to invest the two minutes it takes to watch this video. This was produced by colleagues at my agency and I'm proud to say my company is part of the effort to get the word out about this issue. (And, yes, that is Rosalie and Violet in the video.) I also encourage you to visit the campaign site, The Battery Controlled, for more information. The injury rates from these batteries are on the rise. Let's change that.

Can you relate?

2011-11-15T23:47:00.002-06:00

"I'm so busy, I don't know who to disappoint first." That's what I told a friend today in a rare moment of clarity about how I have been feeling.

Lately, most of my sentences begin with "I'm sorry I..." and "No, I haven't read that yet..." and "When did you say you needed that again?". Once upon a time, I was organized. Truly.

After four years at home with our girls, learning how to balance work into what was an already very full life has been challenging to say the least. I feel divided up into these little slivers -- work Cara, wife Cara, mommy Cara, quilter Cara, blogger Cara, friend Cara -- and unable to keep up despite all my best efforts. I swear, there are only so many hours in the day and I'm already awake for too many of them. Someone or something is always being neglected or forgotten it seems. I can't bear the looks of disappointment (real or self-imposed via my Catholic-guilt wired brain).

So it took about nine months of being back to work to reach this point. How long does it take to balance out again? Someone please tell me soon.

Before you carve the turkey

2011-11-13T23:26:00.001-06:00

I almost didn't post these pictures because -- hello -- Halloween was weeks ago and doing so only further illustrates and documents my complete and utter inability to keep up with things in my life lately.

I'm trying to learn how to cut myself some slack but it's slow going.

This year Rosalie was a witch, Lila was Tinkerbell, and Violet was Violet. My rule? They don't get a costume until they have some understanding of what's going on.

Encouraged by the Garment Sewing 101 class I took at the Sewing Summit, I made the girls their costumes. Rosalie's was more of a cheat because when I couldn't find a witch pattern in her size range at the JoAnn's $1 pattern sale, I improvised and basically cut a hole in the center of two yards of fabric, stitched up the sides and belted it. It looked pretty good unless she moved her arms any higher than 45 degrees.

But she loved it and that's all that matters.

Rosalie was very fixated on her hat. She couldn't seem to understand it would stay on her head if she let go of it.

Lila's costume was a real challenge. Not only did it call for casings along the back for elastic, but it was a bubble skirt with tulle "petals" all around the waist. I honestly don't know how I managed it given how poor the illustrations and directions were -- or maybe it was my inexperience? Either way, it fit! (Wings from Target -- can't take credit for those.)

Lila originally wanted me to make her some Tinkerbell hair. Her idea? I could glue yellow yarn to a helmet. We opted for a ponytail instead.

Tinkerbell insisted on some tights that evening due to the chilly weather. The white tights I picked out would not do. Rosalie is saying here "see my big and scary eyes...watch out for a big surprise...Boo!"

Impromptu singing

2011-10-24T06:39:00.000-05:00

I love the age Rosalie is at. I know everyone always talks about age three being hair pulling and patience trying, but Rosalie has been an absolute doll. It's just her nature. She's sweet and kind and thoughtful. Oh, and she loves to make up songs. Last night when we were driving home from visiting a relative, you could hear her in the back seat singing "I love my family. I love my family." Man, I love that kid.

Our Three Pumpkins

2011-10-22T16:42:00.000-05:00

Lila (4 yrs), Violet (22 months), Rosalie (3 yrs)

Randoms

2011-10-19T22:29:00.000-05:00

Rosalie has developed an alter ego named "Rose the Dog." When she's Rose, she calls everyone else "customer." It's all very odd and yet amusing, except when Rose the Dog is face down in her dinner plate.

I found a bag of popcorn in our shower this week.

I left a voicemail for a client this week and said "bye bye" at the end of my message as if I were saying goodbye to our toddler. Talk about a rookie working mom mistake.

Our winter blanket for our bed spent all spring and summer folded on the floor next to the bed, making it a total poster child for Inability to Get Ahead. Striving for just keeping up these days but most of the time, I'm settling for being realistic.

Modern God's Eye Revealed

2011-10-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

Remember this Modern God's Eye pattern I came up with for my Habitat quilt challenge? It made me chuckle how many people complimented me on what a great back it was. Um, yeah, it's the front but whatever.

Two months later...

Okay so the wind wasn't entirely cooperating while we photographed the quilt, but do you see my two little helpers?

Hello, Autumn

2011-10-13T08:37:00.000-05:00

100 hours

2011-10-10T11:59:00.003-05:00

As I type this I'm lounging on a settee looking out at the mountains in Salt Lake City. For a Midwestern girl like me, it's pretty spectacular.

I've learned a lot this trip.

After years of sleep training (me, not the kids), it's nearly impossible to sleep past 7 a.m.
Any sort of healthy eating is put on hold. Instead of the fresh fruit that comes with this, can I have some bacon?
Your spouse will suddenly see his chance and make a case for getting ~~the family~~ himself an iPad. And you'll be glad. FaceTime is an amazing invention.
Being surrounded by incredibly crafty and talented people is simultaneously inspiring and intimidating, but mostly inspiring.
Forgetting to pack shoes can work for you if you happen to wear the right pair to the airport. These suckers were a dream and I could dress them up or down.
Eat where the locals eat. Even if it looks like it there could be a raid from the Department of Health at any moment. Bonus points if it has a name like Pie Hole.
No one cares if, in your haste to get to the Sewing Summit, you only shaved one armpit and forgot your razor.
You will pay $4.99 for a bag of candy corn.
Being surrounded by people who love fabric as much as you do makes it very hard to show restraint during a shop hop.

If you aren't laughing so hard that you go into silent laughter mode, you aren't letting loose enough. (I didn't have this problem.)
The homeless people in Salt Lake City are very entertaining. I'll never hear the song "We Built This City" or think about leprechauns the same way again.
A Kindle is much more enjoyable if you fill it with chick lit instead of business books.

If you make a run for the light rail train, you might feel like you're in the Bourne Identity. Or just a dork.
Having three kids in Utah is like having one kid in the Midwest.
When your husband calls and asks what you are doing, don't tell him you're managing your Google Reader subscriptions. He won't understand how awesome it is to do something like that without kids underfoot or schedules to adhere to.
Sometimes things are only a good idea in theory. Like trying to ride a bike sculpture.

Apparently, I'm a very tall person online. If I had a dollar for everyone who said they thought I'd be taller in real life. :)
It doesn't matter if you're in school or at the Sewing Summit -- skipping class feels very Ferris Bueller to me.
Trips like these are good for the soul. I will find a way to do this trip (or something similar) again.

Thanks for the memories, my dear Sewing Summit friends!

i spy Rapunzel...

Where I'm at

2011-10-05T08:36:00.000-05:00

I'm over on Bec's blog today with a tutorial for the circle of geese block. Come visit me!

I've also been busy getting ready for the Sewing Summit. I pack my bags and fly out tomorrow! This will be the first kid-free fun trip I've taken since having kids. It's way overdue and I'm absolutely giddy with anticipation.

This is why we can't have nice things

2011-09-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

And before I know it, they'll be in highschool

2011-09-25T07:41:00.003-05:00

Rosalie started preschool this month. And Lila returned -- she strutted the halls at orientation like a high school sophomore.

It's surreal watching them eagerly run off to their classrooms without even so much as a look back. They both seem to be maturing so quickly lately and I just want to stop the clock for a little bit and take them in as they are.

Right now.

In this moment.

Eager. Full of wonder. Enthralled with the simplest joys.

Dear Rosalie: when did you turn from a toddler to a kid?

It took about a dozen shots to get her to stand still for long enough.

Ted walking Rosalie to school on her first day.

As the schedule works out, the girls are attending class on alternate days -- Lila goes Monday, Wednesday, Friday while Rosalie goes Tuesday and Thursday. They were so excited to see each other after being apart that first day. Aw, sisters.

We're lucky that Rosalie has taken to preschool with the same gusto as Lila did her first year. It helps that Rosalie has the same teacher and classroom as Lila did last year. Rosalie's favorite part is the art but she also seems quite fond of the boys in her class. She never talks about any of the girls! Uh oh...

Untitled due to lack of creative energy

2011-09-24T21:29:00.002-05:00

There was a time not too long ago when I would willingly forego sleep to get something done that I loved, like sewing or blogging. Losing a few hours of sleep didn't bother me much because I got a jolt of energy from completing something that was important to me.

Lately there's been an internal battle between the desire to rest and the desire to create. I wish I could report that rest has prevailed as this blog has sat quiet for two weeks but we've actually been quite busy. First, we had our annual pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Festival in Morton, Illinois (more on that later). Then, everyone got sick and Violet landed in the hospital for two days until her asthma was back under control. Asthma sucks.

Violet kept taking off her pulse ox and saying "all done!"

She finally succumbed to sleep. I was not as lucky.

The next few weeks are going to be a whirlwind between the press of my day job, spending time with my family and preparing to head to the Sewing Summit (more on that later too).

In the meantime, check out these cute art ideas that use your child's handprints and footprints for when you get upset that you can't stop time and keep them little just a little bit longer...


via pinterest.com

via pinterest.com

via Carly <3 Seth

Officially defeated

2011-09-11T22:37:00.001-05:00

I've officially been back to work for seven months now and while I love my job, the adrenaline has definitely worn off and I'm finding myself more and more tired. The things I would normally do at night are continually put on the back burner. If I just get one good night of sleep, I'll have more energy to do that tomorrow night. Story of my life. Never happens.

Not only am I not blogging or sewing at the clip that keeps me the happiest, but I'm forgetting to pay bills or attend birthday parties. And, let's talk about the house. Good grief. The state of our house continues to slide in the wrong direction which just depresses me. Some days I feel like it truly is only liveable because we have a wonderful nanny who straightens and cleans when the girls are napping.

What saddens me most is that I am failing at keeping up on my journal (this blog) of how the girls are growing and changing. The funny things they say. The adorable moments. The not-so-adorable moments. The moments that make me want to take a Xanax and go back to bed, like this one of Violet who scaled the counter while I had my back turned at the stove for a moment.

I've been feeling defeated lately but I'm not throwing in the towel. I just need to figure out how to balance it all without being completely sleep deprived or crazy. Tips (and magical restful sleep) appreciated.

A quickie

2011-09-05T17:49:00.002-05:00

If you are ever wanting to gift a quilt but are pressed for time, I find these selvedge to selvedge strip quilts to be so fast to churn out. Bonus that they're a great way to show off both small and large prints.Just cut strips of fabric from the width of the fabric and sew them together. I put this together in a day in between taking care of the kids and having family time. Yep. It really is that fast.

I recently heard a tip about piecing the strips onto the batting and binding in an all-at-once method -- that would make it super fast to finish, wouldn't it? I started to try it out this time around but couldn't quite figure out how to keep the back and batting nice and smooth. Tips on that, anyone?

You can find me here today

2011-09-01T09:29:00.001-05:00

::crickets::

I know I've been a bit quiet. Our girls seem to be changing by the minute and I'm just trying to soak it up and not be on the computer so much.

In the meantime, I'm being featured today over on Stitching by Starlight. Check it out! (Plus, there's a giveaway!)

On this day in 2010

2011-08-15T08:47:00.002-05:00

My Facebook status this time last year:

Like many toddlers who have come before her, Rosalie's attempt to say "fork" sound exactly like the f word as I realized at lunch today when she said "fork. me."

Don't ever say, "It can only get better, right?"

2011-08-14T23:05:00.001-05:00

DISCLAIMER: If you're my dad or another male reader of this blog, you probably should just stop reading right now. I'm about to talk about Lady Stuff. As in stuff that happens down there.

So........

First, some background. I had this awful oral surgery the week before last that had me really cranky because they took skin from the roof of my mouth and grafted it to my gum line at the bottom front of my teeth. Yes, I was sedated. Heavily.

Well, I also started my period last week, which usually isn't such a big deal unless I guess you are taking copious amounts of Ibuprofen to numb mouth pain. At least that's the conclusion I arrived at after two calls to my OB, one call to Walgreens pharmacy, a call to my dermatologist (ruling out an adverse effect of a skin-related medicine), and a talk with my periodontist.

See, I was sitting there at work -- ironically about three hours after I posted this -- when I had this feeling that something was not right. I went to the bathroom to change my previously hoarded lady products and passed a blood clot larger than anything that came out of my body during those days following childbirth. So I promptly freaked out ~~a little~~ a lot and put a new tampon back in.

Thirty minutes later I had the same feeling. Went to the restroom and it was like there had been a war in my panties. And, yes, I was greeted with another huge clot. People, I had to throw my underwear away. (Sorry for all the italics -- it's my only way of saying things really loud and slowly with my eyes wide open in writing.)

So I returned to my desk commando wondering what the eff I was going to do. Naturally, I was in a light tan skirt. Of all days I didn't wear black...

I placed a bunch of calls, first to my OB office who didn't seem concerned that I was throwing off huge clots, feeling weak and dizzy. But, hey, you should switch to pads.

I actually had a scheduled follow-up appointment with my periodontist that afternoon so I packed up early with the intent to go home and unearth my postpartum mega-pads from the floor of our linen closet. Oh, and put some underwear on.

At this point, I was running to the bathroom every 30 minutes. There was no way I would make it home without an issue. So when I got to my car, I hiked my skirt up around my waist and stuck a huge wad of McDonald's napkins between my legs. Then I grabbed a burp cloth -- the only "thing" in the minivan that I had to cover my underwear-less, napkin-stuffed Lady Area. God help me if I get pulled over. I texted the nanny that I was coming home to change my clothes and that it was a long story.

By the time I got home, I was a sight. I stood up and there was blood everywhere. In the car. On my clothes. Running down my legs. It was insane. So I crammed the burp cloth between my legs and waddled up to the front door. Thankfully our nanny is awesome and wasn't freaked out by what certainly was the most ridiculous sight she'd ever seen, or if she was, she did a great job of hiding it. I should have been completely humiliated but I think I lost all ability following obscene displays of my genitals and public urination.

Ahem. So I got changed and drove to the periodontist to have my surgery site checked. As he was looking in my mouth, he winced. In my book, that's equivalent to having surgery and hearing the doctor say whoops. Turns out the skin graft did not take so I have to have the surgery done again two months from now.

The good news, if there's any to be had, is that I almost immediately stopped bleeding after that appointment -- probably because all the blood rushed to my head at the thought of having that damn surgery again. I kid. Who knows why but it stopped and I'm not going to question it. Let's just say I'm not going to be taking anything with anti-coagulant properties next time around.

For those of you who managed to read this really disgusting story, here's a picture from a recent block party. I turned around to find the girls doing this. A real proud moment, eh? Which kids are mine? Oh, the ones over there by the beer.

Now before Anonymous gets all lippy on me, let me just say that the cans were not open. Also, Violet started it. That lush.

Is it Saturday yet?

2011-08-11T06:23:00.001-05:00

It's been a doozy of a week:

Dealing with a n internet connection that keeps coming and going unpredictably at home -- usually when I need to get work done, of course.
Got stuck in an elevator at work.
Battling a computer virus on my work laptop that our IT group can't "find." When I showed them what was happening for me they said, "Oh, it's happening in Firefox? Yeah, we don't support that browser."
Having a poor recovery from last week's oral surgery. Lots of bleeding. Lots of pain. I'm really over it and ready for everything to heal.
Spaced on paying preschool tuition. whoops
I thought today was a morning that I was supposed to flip schedules with Ted and go into work early and leave early. So I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and got my day started only to realize it's tomorrow that I have to change my schedule.

So ready for the weekend. Hope your week is going better!

Quilt guilt

2011-08-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

I know the Grandmas (and perhaps others) are none too pleased at the shift in the content of this blog. Maybe you miss all the talk about my boobs or all the alcohol-related activities I did with the kids, or what about when Lila was waking up at 4 a.m. each morning? That was fun, wasn't it? Oh I kid.

Truth be told, I ~~often~~ always feel guilty when I pick writing about my hobby over writing about the kids. But hold tight. Posts are coming. I just need to get my mommy-writing mojo back.

In the meantime, indulge me as I share another quilt finish.

Remember this stack of fabric? It's been through a lot.

It was the beginning of a quilt I started in February that I wanted to hang in my office at work. I cut out 304 pieces of fabric for a pattern before realizing a math error. I bemoaned about that here if you care to relive the pain with me.

I then experimented with my miscut fabric scraps and ended up with this wall hanging before finally committing to making a quilt 100% inspired by this one. I mean, let's face it, it's basically a duplicate. Sorry, Susan. I guess I just loved yours too much.

So now six months later -- yes, six months back to work, can you believe it? -- I can finally say that I have this quilt finished and hanging in my office.

Ta da.

It's on the wall directly across from my desk. At the risk of sounding completely narcissistic, I love looking at it.

I originally started to stipple it. I got about a third of the way done before I realized I wanted a more modern quilting effect. So I unpicked all the quilting and started over. It was worth it. I am really pleased with the random straight (and not so straight) quilting lines.

And keeping with the trend of doing everything more than once, I decided to take out all the basting pins and used 505 basting spray instead. Can I just say that I'm completely hooked on this stuff? It's not smelly, it's easy to use, and it works so much better than safety pins (for me at least).

Would I ever do this wonky strip patter again? No. Never. It was a pain in the butt to keep wonky yet controllable enough to stay somewhat square (know what I mean?). But I sure am glad I stuck with it.

Does a sewing machine qualify as heavy machinery?

2011-08-06T21:32:00.001-05:00

At our last St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting,we were given six fat eights of Jay McCarroll's Habitat line and challenged to make a quilt using those fat eights and any solids we wanted. I sat looking at that pile of fabric for a long time before deciding to just cut it into strips of varying widths -- I wanted to minimize some of the boldness of the patterns. I then picked six solids from my stash and cut those into strips of varying widths.

If you are familiar with Ashley's string quilt tutorial or my Urban Lattice quilt tutorial, this next part will be very familiar. I essentially took a 12 inch piece of scrapbook paper and drew a line down the middle. I stitched a big piece of Kona white on one side and then stitched my strings of fabric on the other side - mixing up solids and patterns. Trimmed down, you end up with 12.5" unfinished blocks (12" when sewn).

From my fabric strips of solids and prints, I was able to make 14 blocks. I probably could have squeezed out 15, but I was going for an even number.

Then -- and I don't recommend this part -- I went and had a skin graft done in my mouth which resulted in a nice prescription of Vicodin. Ka-POW! That stuff really gets the creative juices flowing. Last night I woke up at 3 a.m. and sketched out a bunch of quilt ideas.

I also came up with three new quilt patterns for my Habitat quilt that each use 14 of these semi-string blocks: Modern God's Eye, The Big Zig, and Modern Tracks.

These quilt patterns obviously rely on lots of white space. Modern God's Eye and The Big Zig are both 72" x 84" finished. Modern Tracks is 60" x 72" finished. Obviously, these would be really easy to size down if you wanted. It might be the Vicodin talking, but I think these patterns are pretty simple to figure out if you have my description on how to make one block and then the picture of the finished quilt? If not, I can do a more detailed tutorial in a few weeks when I'm feeling better.

In the meantime, I need your help deciding which of these patterns to use for my Habitat challenge quilt. Will you help me decide? Check out the poll on the right sidebar.Oh, and consider joining my new flickr group where you can post pictures of the things you've made based on my patterns and tutorials!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some resting to do. May even more inspiration strike tonight!!

Two for the baby book

2011-08-02T20:29:00.001-05:00

I've been a bit sleep deprived lately so I've been parenting on the fly more than usual. Take, for example, the other night when I was struggling to get the girls to bed so I made up a story about a Sleep Fairy that visits little girls after they've fallen asleep and sprinkles pixie dust on them to make sure they have sweet dreams. I then said that you'd know that you had a Sleep Fairy visit you if your hair was messed up in the morning. Rosalie bursts into tears and manages to say between sobs "I don't want the Sleep Fairy to mess up my hair!" Good job, Mom. Give her visions of a strange mystical flying thing messing with her in the middle of the night.

Then there was tonight. Lila was getting out of the bathtub and slipped, falling in a way that left her straddling the tub. Ouch. There was lots of screaming and crying. My vulva! My vulva!! (Yes, that's what we call it in our house, to my husband's embarrassment, though to be fair I think any reference to that part of the body would embarrass him.)

I go to take a look and it's indeed bleeding. This, of course, freaks Lila out. I want a band-aid! Back and forth we go about how you can't really put a band-aid down there. More screaming. More tears. So I did what any tired mother looking to calm her daughter down would do: I got out a special vulva band-aid. You know, a pantyliner. The best part is I didn't even have to lie when she asked me what it was. It's a band-aid that you put in your underwear when you're bleeding down there.

So, yes, our four year old is sleeping with a pantyliner in her "underwears" as she likes to call them. Better remember to explain this to the nanny in the morning.

Blushing

2011-07-31T08:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome to those who are visiting from Stash Manicure! I'm honored to have my Dreamsicle string quilt featured on the blog banner for the next three months along with some other very talent ladies. Head over to read the story behind my quilt as well as the others. There are some fabulous quilts featured.

If you are a new quilter or want to start quilting, be sure to check out what's happening over at Stash Manicure. They're having a whole campaign geared around the new quilter. Pssst, there will be lots of prizes, including a sewing machine!

The Birdy quilt

2011-07-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

I just love taking a quilt out of the dryer and admiring the crinkly goodness, don't you? I finished sewing on the binding on this challenge quilt last week but am only now getting around to posting pictures. For the binding, I ended up using the last of my Anna Maria Horner Cathedral print. It was bittersweet but I am keeping this quilt for myself so at least I can enjoy it every day.

I usually struggle with which fabric to use on the back of my quilts but as soon as I saw the colors I would be using in this quilt, I knew the perfect print would be this Alexander Henry bird print that a STLMQG friend introduced me to. She used it to back this amazing quilt. I didn't have enough for the width of the quilt so I pieced a strip of another Anna Maria Horner print down the side.

The girls took one look at the quilt and dubbed it the "birdy quilt." And so it will be.

My only regret is that I didn't make this quilt bigger. I had quite a bit of shrinkage since I don't pre-wash my fabrics. At 54" x 46", it's a fine lap size for someone petite like me, but just barely. Lesson learned: err on the size of going bigger than intended.

Still. Love it. So thankful I participated in our guild's challenge on this.

Like mother, like daughter

2011-07-26T21:59:00.001-05:00

When I was a junior in high school, I took this Spanish class that masqueraded as a history class. In other words, it was a history class taught entirely in Spanish. The idea was to immerse you into the language I guess but all it did was strike fear into me. The last five minutes of every class, one unlucky girl would be called upon by Father Moreño to summarize (in Spanish) what we learned that class. If you can believe it, there were some girls who were ~~crazy~~ smart enough to volunteer for the task. I was not one of them. I spent the last five minutes of each class having a silent panic attack.

Wouldn't you know it but I went nearly the entire semester without being called upon? Until one day when my luck ran out and I heard "Cara? Cara??" and then what I could only assume was him asking me to summarize the lesson of the day. I really didn't know because I was terrible at understanding spoken Spanish. Reading? Writing? No problemo.

So there I sat in second period AP Spanish History wishing to just melt into the desk and disappear. It didn't happen so I did the next best thing: I literally put my head down and looked at my desk like a statue, refusing to even acknowledge the request. It was the longest, most uncomfortable three minutes or so. Finally, I heard the familiar shuffling of feet in the hallway as the other classes were starting to let out and change. I had dodged the Father Moreño bullet.

Violet apparently had her own Father Moreño moment this past weekend when my Dad joined us at the park and said hello to her. I don't know if she didn't recognize him or what, but our ordinarily very outgoing child got very quiet and looked down at the ground, still as a statue. And she stayed that way for a good minute and a half. I guess shyness has made its arrival (finally) in our family.

Of course, it didn't take long for her to warm up.

By the way, Father Moreño never did called on me again. I guess my Ally Sheedy Breakfast Club move either elicited pity or sufficiently freaked him. Whatever the case, I never signed up for another Spanish class again.

The Homecoming Quilt {Work in Progress}

2011-07-24T23:12:00.000-05:00

When I was asked last November to join a sewing bee, I almost said no. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up or that my skills would be sub-par to those in the group. But I took the leap anyway and I'm so glad I did. The {Sew} Beautiful Bee is a fabulous group of women who have pushed my skills in ways I never would have pushed myself.

I was the Queen bee in June. After much deliberation, I decided to ask my bee partners to make a block around the theme home. As many of you know, our third daughter Violet was born more than three months early. She was in the NICU for 110 long days. All we thought about was her getting better and stronger and coming home to us. She turned one in December and is doing great.

I'm using my quilting bee blocks to make a "homecoming" baby quilt for another NICU family who is on a long road to bringing their baby home.

This weekend I made two blocks to add to the 10 I've already received from my bee buddies.

For the first one, I used this paper piecing template and added a little Heather Ross gnome to give it some personality.

For my second block, I built on a little house that Emily had sent me with her block. It seemed like a little cottage so I nestled it in a field of wildflowers and gave it a little girl with magical balloons.

Look at them all together. This little neighborhood just makes me smile every time I look at it. All the little details. The charm. The variety. I can't wait to stitch it up into a top.

GO! Baby Winner

2011-07-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

Oh man, I wish I could give you all one of these GO! Baby cutters. But Mr. Random.org decided the lucky winner is Christine M. who said:

Thanks for the great giveaway. I've just come across your blog. It's great how we 'make friends' with people all over the world!

Congrats, Christine! I'll be in touch. And thanks to everyone who entered. I enjoyed visiting all your blogs.

Baby June

2011-07-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

Beautiful baby June on her new quilt.

Because I'm not sleep deprived enough

2011-07-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

Resistance is futile, I suppose. I just can't get this quilt along out of my head so I'm going to tackle it (at a slower pace than three blocks a week). Tonight I went "shopping" in my solids bin. After auditioning a bunch of combinations, I ended up settling on a collection of colors similar to the Pat Bravo colors Faith is using. Go figure. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right, Faith?

Lately I've had huge spurts of creative motivation. I just want to sew, sew, sew. Many of you ask how I find the time. The short answer is I often sew when I should be sleeping.

But there will be little sleeping at our house tonight. Not because I will be sewing but because our air conditioner broke today and it's sweltering in our little 1930's brick and plaster Midwest abode.

The older girls are still up, no less because it's in the mid 80s in their bedroom. I told them they had to sleep in their underwear tonight. Lila's eyes got all round and she said, "I can't do that. What if Santa sees me in my underwear?" Yes. What if.

Juice Boxes :: Modified

2011-07-13T21:08:00.001-05:00

{image via Cluck Cluck Sew}

Isn't this a lovely quilt? I love everything Allison (aka Cluck Cluck Sew) makes, including this Juice Boxes pattern. I have a few of her patterns and they're a joy to use.

So when a dear friend of mine announced she was pregnant again (with a girl!), I immediately thought of this pattern, but in red and aqua to match her nursery.

I decided to throw in some gray prints to tone down the patriotic-ness of it all but it only left it looking kinda muddied and not pulled together. It's a crappy cell phone pic but I think you can see what I mean.

It was frustrating to say the least. All those blocks. All that time spent sewing. And I hated it. Hated it.

Thankfully, I didn't make any rash decisions (like cutting out a totally different design). Instead, I set it aside for a few days and then decided to see what it might look like with some white sashing.

Thank goodness. The white gave the eyes somewhere to rest and made the gray feel at home. I still love the original pattern, just not with the fabrics I selected for this quilt. Baby June Marie, I hope you and your mommy love it.

Allow me to get sappy for a moment + a giveaway

2011-07-12T21:35:00.004-05:00

When I started this blog five years ago to chronicle the pregnancy of our first baby, I never imagined that I'd still be at it with three little girls and quilting (Alternate blog name: Me? A Quilter?)! But here I am 1,291 posts and 26 quilts later. Crazy. Crazy awesome.

I probably will never be able to fully express how thankful I am to have this extended circle of women and men who share in my moments of exhilaration, frustration, and sleep deprivation. A community of people who inspire me with their talents and challenge me to take mine to the next level.

That is why I get so excited when I have the opportunity to do a giveaway. I feel like, in a small way, it's an opportunity to give back. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could go all Oprah on you and give everyone something -- You get a quilt. YOU get a quilt. You get a quilt! -- but I'm not yet independently wealthy.

But I do think I have a pretty good giveaway for you today. You know what's better than free stuff? Really nice free stuff like an AccuQuilt GO! Baby and any three dies of your choice!

That's right. The nice folks at AccuQuilt are giving me one to give away to one of my readers anywhere in the world! So if you haven't had any luck winning one elsewhere in Blogland, perhaps the stars will align for you here.

All you have to do is leave a comment. If you are a follower, you can leave an additional comment (for a total of two chances to win). Please be sure I have a way of contacting you. Either leave your email in your comment or be sure it's linked to your profile. Entries with no associated contact info will not be eligible since I have to be able to get in touch with you to get your mailing address.

If you're looking for some quilt ideas or quilt block ideas, be sure to check out these 22 free patterns AccuQuilt is offering. I especially love this page of block ideas. Reminds me of the very popular Farmer's Wife Quilt Along going on right now.

To get these free patterns, just click on the image below and follow the prompts. There's some good stuff here.

I'll keep this giveaway open until next Wednesday, July 20 and then have Mr. Random.org pick a winner. Good luck!!

**Giveaway closed **

Just call me Ma Ingalls

2011-07-11T20:00:00.002-05:00

It's funny how your kids can be so different from one another. Lila sounds like a horse any time she gets up in the middle of the night. Rosalie, on the other hand, is more of the Children of the Corn variety where she silently appears at your bedside and scares the crap out of you by staring at you with her big moon eyes.

Tonight she tip toed down the steps about an hour after we thought she'd fallen asleep. "I can't sleep. I have knots in my hair."

So there I sat brushing my little girl's hair, just me and her. When I got it all silky smooth and pretty, I pulled it back and put it into a loose braid to keep it somewhat contained for the night. I felt like I'd fallen into an episode of Little House on the Prairie. All that was missing were some white shapeless nightgowns and an old wood house.

I love having little girls.

A new toy and a challenge quilt

2011-07-10T09:01:00.002-05:00

Remember that special delivery I received a few weeks ago? Well, the folks over at Accuquilt sent me a GO! Baby fabric cutter and three dies of my choice. I'm fairly certain they found me after I posted about cutting through my sewing machine cord with my rotary cutter. Can't you just hear them? Oh, this poor woman DEFINITELY needs our product. Look, she a danger to herself!

Now I'm a bit of a thrift when it comes to buying tools for my quilting. One look at the cracked ruler I've been using for years would tell you that. But I've always been intrigued by the GO! fabric cutters, so I'm glad to have been gifted one because I don't think my thrifty self would have ever splurged on one.

My kids were entirely intrigued by this machine. Violet approves.

Last weekend I pulled out some fabrics and gave it a test spin. I was worried about fabric waste because I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to maximizing my cuts. But I have to tell you that what you lose in fairly minimal fabric waste, you gain in time savings. For me, mom of three toddlers, that's a trade off I'm willing to take.

The half square triangle die was my maiden voyage with the cutter. Before I knew it, I'd cut out 200 triangles. Seriously, folks. I was watching a movie with my husband in the basement and had all of this in about an hour.

I was worried about fabric shifting. Didn't happen. What did happen for me though was that my shapes were often hanging literally by a thread or two that the die didn't get. So I did have to manually take a scissors to snip them free here and there. It wasn't a big deal and the cutter still saved me tons of time, but in the interest of full disclosure I wanted to point this out. I did have less of an issue with it when I cranked the fabric through one way and then back the other way, for two passes.

What I love about the HST die is that it dog-ears the triangles so you don't have to trim the overhang pieces once you sew and press your triangles into a square. Another time saver for sure.


Place your fabric on the die plate, cover it with the Accuquilt mat and feed it through the machine. No batteries, no cords, just a hand crank. Easy!

Triangles for hexagons.

There are lots of great dies available for the GO! Baby, especially if you like specialty cuts for applique. Personally, though, I love a good half square triangle. There are so many designs you can do with them. I mean, check out this flickr group.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use my GO! Baby to tackle my St. Louis Modern Quilting Guild's Rip Rip Ripping Challenge. The challenge worked like this: bring one yard of fabric to the June meeting. Cut it in half. Keep one half yard for yourself and pass the other half yard in a musical chairs kind of way. When the music stopped, you kept the half yard in your hand. Then you cut that half yard in half and kept half for yourself and passed the other half. So on and so forth until we all ended up with five fabrics of various sizes -- from a half yard down to a piece about 20" x 5".

Our challenge was to sew something larger than a placemat with at least four of the five fabrics. Here were my fabrics -- I think I got lucky with my mixture:

Using my GO! Baby, I cut out my challenge fabrics and 12 additional fabrics so that I had four pinks, four yellows, four greens and four blues. In addition to mono-chromatic prints, I made sure to include fabrics that had accents of the other colors in the quilt.

I kinda took "larger than a placemat" to a new level. But I couldn't help myself. It went so fast using the cutting die. And my piecing was so incredibly accurate.

So thank you to Accuquilt for the opportunity to try this product. You definitely have a convert on half square triangles.

Stay tuned, my dear readers. I think you know what is coming next!

In the meantime, if you want to check out a bunch of free patterns put out by Accuquilt, you can click on this icon below. Just follow the prompts.

Hey, look, I found my camera

2011-07-09T07:31:00.001-05:00

One of the harder realities of working full-time again is that I'm not around to snap the 100+ frames a day of the girls that I used to do when I was at home with them. I'm lucky that I get tons of great cell phone photos sent to me throughout the day by Kelly (which I love), but I miss being there to personally capture their moments of silliness and sweetness.

Having virtually no pictures of "toddler" Violet has been the unintended consequence of my time out of the house. Plus, you know, we have a bit of the Third Child Syndrome going on. It's so true what they say about spending less and less time recording every millisecond of milestones with each subsequent kid.

So without further ado, let me catch you up.

Simply put, Violet is an unstoppable force. She's everywhere. On everything. Climbing. Running. Being a wild woman. A few months ago, Ted turned around and she was standing on the dining room table. Did I tell you about that?

And she's talking a lot, despite cautions from her medical team that she'd most likely be delayed verbally since she's clearly so ahead of her age from a motor skills perspective. One of her first words, after "hi" and "bye," was "stop it." She started off saying it when she was getting into mischief, probably because she knew we'd be right there in moments telling her to stop. But now she'll say it when she wants you to STOP IT.

She's playful and silly. She loves to hide in the curtains, do the finger motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider, and play Peek-a-boo. Up until recently, if you said peek a boo, she'd cover her ears instead of her eyes.

She recently learned how to nod yes, except it's more like a full-body nod where everything seems to be moving up and down. She's saying Lila's name, trying to say Rosalie's, and excels at saying mama and dada. When you change a dirty diaper she says stinky! And when I leave for work in the morning, she runs to the door and kisses me.

Her latest verbal accomplishment is a three-word sentence -- Do it again! -- said this morning to Lila who blew up a balloon and let it deflate.

Oh my goodness, she loves the girls. She follows them around and tries to do everything they do, good or bad unfortunately. Her latest antic is playing "sit on your bottom" with Rosalie. We're in so much trouble when the three of them learn how to scheme against us.

Now let's talk about Violet's hair. It is finally starting to grow. And wouldn't you know it, it has all these random curls. Pretty darn cute if you ask me.

On a medical front, Violet continues to receive daily treatments for asthma but we've recently dropped from twice a day to just once a day. She's been plagued with chronic ear infections so we're headed to the ENT later this month for a consultation on tubes. Other than that, she's doing great. Fantastic. We're blessed.

So there you go, a little bit of an update for all of you who have been following Violet's remarkable progress.

Keeping it real

2011-07-04T21:40:00.000-05:00

Some day I will have a sewing room with ample storage and dedicated tables for cutting, pressing and sewing. Some day I will have a sewing room with wonderful natural light and a big design wall.

Some day.

In the meantime, I have come to terms with my meager space in the basement, sandwiched between the dryer and a storage shelf. This is where all the magic happens, folks. Behold.

I hope I didn't scare you with my careless and precarious stacking of fabric. I'm working on three quilts at the moment and, well, creating can be a messy process, right?

Shall we pan out?

Ah, look at that. Everything within my reach. Cutting table and sewing table in one? Check. Rulers wedged in between the wall and plumbing pipes? Check. Random kitchen timer??? Check.

Don't be jealous.

Officially feeling old

2011-06-29T21:47:00.000-05:00

Lila and Rosalie were playing with their Fisher Price toy telephone the other day. You know, the kind that has a rotary dial and a handset with a cord attached? Lila picked up the handset piece and said to Rosalie, "Don't touch the phone, Rosalie. See this cord? That means it's charging."

Special delivery

2011-06-29T07:26:00.001-05:00

Mail day was particularly exciting on Monday. Look what found its way to my house. Now to just find a kid-free moment so mommy can play with her new toy! I'll be back to tell you all about it.

Feel free to enable me

2011-06-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

About a year or so ago while working on Ted's manly quilt, I got over my fear of cutting into my hoarded stash and actually used some of my most coveted pieces including the scant piece of grey FMF seeds I had stashed away. Seeing those favorite fabrics being used every day by someone I love is so much better than folding and refolding fabric into plastic tubs, let me tell you.

So when I decided to make a quilt for my office wall inspired by this quilt by Susan Weinroth, I had no problem cutting into my favorite fabrics.

Where I seem to have a problem is when I use up the last of a fabric I love. Because what if I have a quilt idea later on where that fabric would be the perfect fabric -- the only fabric -- I could imagine using? So then I proceed to get the kind of anxiety that has you searching on etsy and ebay for more of said fabric because, naturally, it is almost always a fabric that has been out of print for, you know, years.

Case in point, I just swapped for a yard of this adorable Lizzy House Red Letter Day print. And wouldn't you know it that it is the perfect print to use as backing for this quilt I'm working on for my office?

Before I could change my mind, I quickly pieced the entire yard it into a backing for my quilt. It was perfect. And the longer I looked at the print, the more I fell in love with it. I started obsessing about all the future projects I could make with it. And then, the panic set it. And at the risk of articulating something I know my husband suspects I already do, I promptly went online and found a seller on etsy who had two continuous yards left. I'm so ashamed. And happy.

Help me folks. This is a sickness. A sweet, sweet sickness.

No reply

2011-06-23T21:51:00.001-05:00

Well??? Are you?

What? You don't know what I'm talking about?

Here's a recent scenario to illustrate:

1. Cara runs a giveaway on her blog for a lovely quilt. People comment to enter to win.
2. Cara gets an email every time someone comments on her post.
3. When the giveaway closes, Cara uses random.org to pick a winner of her quilt.
4. Janet is the lucky winner.
5. When she goes to reply to Janet, her first name pops up but instead of her email address, it says "NO-REPLY." How frustrating. Cara has no way of contacting the winner.

So what went wrong? This person doesn't have an email associated with her Blogger profile so no one can reply to comments she leaves or get her the quilt she won. How sad.

Jodi at Pleasant Home has a great post about this no-reply blogger thing and how to fix it. I highly recommend reading it. At a minimum, it's good form to at least leave an email in your comment if you want a reply.

So Janet, dear Janet, I need to hear back from you. You were selected on Monday as the winner of my Pez quilt. If I don't hear back from you by Monday, June 27, I'll have no other choice than to select another winner.

Update: Janet has contacted me! Thanks, Janet! For those hoping for a re-draw, don't dismay. I have a fantastic giveaway coming up that I think you will LOVE.

The Pez quilt: A mini-tutorial

2011-06-21T22:13:00.003-05:00

Thank you for all of your kind comments on my solids-only quilt. Wow, I need a better name than that, don't I? Update: I forced my husband to name it so he dubbed it the "Pez Quilt."

Well in lieu of a good name, how about a mini-tutorial? This quilt is super easy to put together. You'll need a background fabric and some charm squares. In my quilt, I used 26 charm squares.

Here's what you do:

UPDATE: Reader Dianne had a very smart, time-saving idea: Sew your charms to a 2.5" strip of fabric and THEN cut them in half. Thanks, Dianne.

I told you it was easy! Customize it as wide or long as you want.

Knock knock

2011-06-20T21:05:00.002-05:00

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Janet.
Janet who?
Janet, the winner of my quilt!

Congrats to Janet who said:

I'm getting worried that I am enjoying reading these knock knock jokes! Love the quilt and would be thrilled to own it.

Janet, it's yours! Send me an email with your address and I'll package it up and send it out. And thanks to everyone who told me their funny knock knock joke. Who knew there were so many? And that our lucky European friends have been spared from visiting this corner of comedy?

Clowning around

2011-06-18T18:54:00.003-05:00

The circus is in town this month. And it's a really amazing European-style, local circus that can leave even the most non-spontaneous person (me) longing for the excitement of the circus life. Of course, my unrealistic little daydream was interrupted multiple times by requests to use the potty. Again?! Seriously? Eat your cotton candy.

Violet, I promise we'll take you next year.

A quilt for you

2011-06-09T21:16:00.001-05:00

A while back, our St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild announced a solids-only challenge where we were to take a charm pack of Kona Solids and make a quilt. We had to use something like at least 21 of the 43 squares and we could add up to two additional solids. Binding and backing could be whatever we wanted.

I entertained a lot of layout options and sorted through that charm pack more times than I care to admit. In the end, I picked all the blues, greens, and purples and threw in a pink and an orange to punch it up a bit.

I then just cut the charms in half and arranged them like so against a Kona charcoal background:

It has a bit of character in that my straight-line quilting is a bit shifty. Apparently my walking foot went on strike during the quilting of this one. I thought a good wash and dry would help but it only seemed to accentuate it. Oh well. Like I said, character. It's baby-size and would be a perfect playmat for a wee one, what with all those bright colors. Would you like to have it? I'm going to give it away.

If you want a chance to win it, just leave a comment below. If you want, feel free to share your favorite knock knock joke. Lila's in a big knock knock joke phase right now and I can't seem to come up with them on the fly like my husband can.

I'll keep this giveaway open until June 20. International entries are welcome. One entry per person. Spreading the word is appreciated but not required. And if you are a follower and still read my sporadic postings, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Buy two, get one free

2011-06-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

I'm reprising my role of stay-at-home mom today because our nanny is sick and none of my back up care options panned out. I'm not complaining. It sure is nice to hang out with the kids unexpectedly on a Thursday. We even managed to buy groceries without too much drama.

Be sure to check back this weekend. I am going to be giving away a baby-sized quilt of mine. :)

A bit off topic but on my mind

2011-06-08T17:02:00.000-05:00

Funny thing about taking a few years off to have three kids. You -- or at least I did -- acquire a wardrobe of pj bottoms, t-shirts and the occasional maternity shorts/pants that are just so comfortable, surely it's okay to keep wearing them, right? And the bras. Don't even get me started on the bras. With my boobs inflating and deflating on an annual basis, well, you end up having a hodge-podge of nursing bras, sleeping bras (yes, there is such a thing), and pre-kid bras.

So when it was time for me to go back to work, you can be sure that I thoroughly enjoyed rebuilding my wardrobe. However, despite all the changes to my body childbearing brought, it did not bring me larger feet. I still wear an incredibly difficult-to-find size 5.

Thankfully I have discovered Zappos.com. Cue the angels singing. It's still not easy to find everything I want but the selection is much better than anywhere brick-and-mortar retail. Problem is, they carry lots of expensive shoes that like to lure me in with their pretty shapes and positive customer reviews, like this lovely wedge by Calvin Klein. $118. Ouch.

Source: endless.com via Cara on Pinterest

Imagine my delight when I found this knock-off pair at Target for $29.99. Bonus that I actually like the more daring red color to Calvin Klein's subdued red. Thank goodness I was going in for diapers (and came out with shoes, a dress, and a half dozen other things not on my list -- how does that happen?).

Source: target.com via Cara on Pinterest

Hamming it up

2011-06-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

I was traveling on business yesterday and today but thankfully Kelly spoiled me with lots of pictures of the girls throughout the day. This trio of pictures made me laugh out loud in the middle of a client meeting -- whoops -- when it popped up on my phone.