Family

Lets see...where to begin.  My dad as been failing from cancer for sometime now.  Recently (the last 3-4 weeks) things began moving rapidly and there was a noticeable and drastic change.  About a month ago, my dad called me and asked that I come one more time, that he really wanted to see the girls one more time.  So, we looked at the calendar and booked a week trip starting on the 29th.  On the morning of the 23rd my mom called me and said that Dad was really declining and he wasn't sure he was going to make it to the 29th.  So I promptly made some phone calls.  One to delta to move up our flight. One to my sister in law Jill. Matt. A couple friends.  Then my mom.  Our flight was moved up to the 26th.

Before I could even process what was going on and start packing, Mom (Williams), Jill and the kids were on their way up.  I cannot tell you how thankful, loved and happy that made me.  The kids were a great distraction for Cami.  I was able to get laundry done and keep my mind from racing.  Mom brought up tomatoes, peaches, corn and onions from the garden.  We canned 8 pints of marinara sauce, mom made peach preserves and we ate the last of Dad's wonderful sweet corn.  Jill and the kids left the next morning, but thankfully mom stayed the rest of the week.  It was such a blessing to have her here to help me with the kids so that I could get ready to go.  Not to mention that after I left she did ALL the wash and cleaned my house for me!  LOVE MY FAMILY!  Having a support system so close to us is SO wonderful.  I can't even begin to explain how thankful I am.

We just got back from a very long and difficult trip to Florida last night (including delays in Atlanta and getting home after midnight).  I will blog about our trip to FL later.

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures that week as I was a little scattered, but here are a few.

yummy marinara

Tuesday Mom and I took Cami to 'toddle time' at a local community center.  It was a little 'young' for her but a fun change of pace and best of all indoors which we needed since it has been so hot here. 

Thank you all for your prayers for me and my family during this difficult time.

A project a day...

A project a day.... I tried to think of something clever to say after this, but I failed.  A project a day keeps mommy's crazies away...nah.  A project a day keeps the mess away....certainly not true.  So I decided to just go with a project a day.

As all of you know, I am completely addicted to pinterest.  I have the pinterest app on my phone, so any down time I have I am on it.  Which means when I am nursing or the kids are asleep.  This past week I decided to challenge myself to start and complete a project everyday.  This was a fun challenge for me and it got a bunch of things crossed off of my to do list.  Did I mention I used all leftover and remnants, so this challenge cost me no extra money.  Even better!

So here we go:

Monday:  

If you follow my blog you saw the post about Cami's room.  Several weeks ago I completed her curtains.  I had leftover fabric and have been meaning to make her a matching pillow case.

Here is the tutorial I used via my pinterest account.

http://twiddletails.blogspot.com/2010/05/pillowcases-pillowcases.html

Tuesday:

I saw this adorable idea on pinterest.  The blog I found it on didn't really have a tutorial, but the idea was too cute to pass up.  At our townhome, we are short on storage.  Needless to say we have a constant battle with clutter.  I thought this would remedy.  It  it a chair back storage bag for Cami's coloring books, school books and crayons.  I used leftover fabric from curtains from Matt and I's room and a little bit of ribbon from my bow making stash.  It turned out better than I expected and is perfect for what we needed it for!

Wednesday:

I have been wanting to make this since we moved.  I have been collecting 'walmart bags' and have been  storing them in our one little cupboard in the kitchen.  Needless to say they have been cumbersome and messy.  I used more remnants from our curtains in our bedroom, elastic and more ribbon from my bow making stash.  This was a super easy project. 

here is the tutorial I used via my pinterest account

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2009/01/grocery-bag-holder.html

Thursday:

I had a old purple t-shirt that I made the flowers from.  In the interest of being honest, I had made the flowers a while back and had never completed the project.  This is a throw pillow for C's bed.  I made the main portion of the pillow sham with a extra bed pillow case and basically re-covered one of our old throw pillows that doesn't match any more.  Pretty straight forward.

Friday:

Friday I was struggling with what project I wanted to do.  It seemed like kind of a busy day and I wanted something quick and easy.  Then it dawned on me when Cami asked for a wash cloth to hold her Popsicle with.  I had seen pictures on pinterest of Popsicle holders.  It was the perfect little project to keep me on track.  I used leftover flannel and double layered it.  I made two sets of two Popsicle holders.  These would make cute birthday gifts or party favors for a summer birthday.

Saturday:

The weekend, I decided to challenge myself.  I wanted to attempt one of the cute totes that I have pinned.  This was by far the most difficult and time consuming sewing project that I have attempted so far.  This particular tote is called the park bag.  It is fully lined and has a bunch of pockets on the inside and a lined pocket on the outside.  I felt very accomplished when I finished it.  Although, I must say that I took more than the allotted day to complete.  I cut out all my pieces Friday night after the kids were in bed. Sewed the major portions together Saturday and then did the finishing work on Sunday.  I'm so happy that it turned out so cute!  I used left over curtain material (again), spare pieces of denim (thanks Hailee for your old hole-y jeans) and extra fabric from the pillow case dress I made Cam when we first moved and also fabric from the sling my mom in law just made me. I love it and can't wait to try it out!

So, there you have it....a project a day for a whole week (excluding sunday, but it is the day of rest, right?)  

I am putting the sewing machine away for a while.  My house needs to be cleaned and the girls and I are leaving for Florida in a week.  Hopefully more projects to come when I return!

Cami's Room

So, I have been saying on the blog for months that I would continue to post pictures of our townhome.  I have failed to do so.  Mostly because I have been trying to finish the decor and get things settled.

I still have a couple of things to do in her room.  I need to re-paint her letters for her name, put up a shelf or two and maybe find another wall hanging. I recently made a throw pillow that isn't in the picture but will show it in a "project blog" I plan to do later in the weekend.

When we moved Cami decided that she wanted a 'big girl' room. She chose purple.  When my mom helped us drive out here, before she left she took Cami to the store and they picked out this fun purple comforter.  Cami also moved from the twin bed to the queen.

I made curtains to match and a pillow case to match the curtains.  The fabric is a cute fairy princess print.  I thought it makes it look little girl still and not too grown up.

I made the tissue paper flowers in the corner. Fun and cheap way to decorate and add flair to a room

This also doubles as the guest room.  So don't worry, Cami willingly gives up her purple bed for visitors!

Reese is 4 Months

Wow, 4 months already!  Yikes where has the time gone. I really can't believe her first year is a third over already.  Reese is a HAPPY baby, her smile is infectious and she uses it constantly.  She is a beauty, in fact random people stop me in the grocery store all the time to comment on what a beautiful baby she is.  She LOVES her big sissy.  Reese watches Cami constantly and smiles and giggles at her.  Reese is also turning over both directions at will, she even is attempting the froggy legged crawl.   Needless to say she can't be trusted anywhere.  She loves her solid food, she is a champ at rice cereal, has gotten bananas a couple of times and loved that and her new obsession is sweet potatoes.  She grabs anything and everything and puts it straight in her mouth, including your finger if you're not paying attention.

Height: 24 1/2 inches (75%)

Weight: 13 lbs 9.6 oz (50%)

Head: 16 3/4 in (90%)

Deanna Rose

If you follow my blog, you saw that we found a little treasure here in the middle of the city.  It's called Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead.  I won't bore you with the details again, but it is a gem.

Last time Cami was able to ride a pony and feed the grown up goats dry food.  This time she wanted to feed a baby goat a bottle.  She talked about it all morning and the whole way there.....so she did.

Goat milk is only $1, it was completely worth every penny.  The moment Cam walked in with that bottle one of the baby goats put its front hooves up on Cami's shoulders... he was anxious for that milk.

riding the tractor.  What you don't see here is that I pushed her around.  Did I mention that it has been at, above or near 100 degrees here.

another water fountain, as you can see I remembered Cami's swimming suit this time

Weekend in Holton

Well, as many of you know this time of year is VERY busy for Matt.  This past weekend he was running the KC Am, which meant 4 12-14 hour days.  So my wonderful hunny suggested that me and the girlies head to Holton to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Things are here have been a bit stressful.  I was sick the 3-4 days prior to leaving, Reese and I have been fighting Thrush and my dad who has cancer is failing quickly and we decided that the girls and I will go out in a couple weeks.  Not to mention that having an active 3 year old and a 4 month old is busy in and of itself.

Anyway, my perceptive husband knew I needed a little break.  My wonderful in-laws also gave me a pedicure gift certificate to my favorite little salon in their town, so this was a good way for me to use that up too!

Cami and Grandpa and the Cows

While feeding the cows from her hand she says, "Grandpa, I don't like that....their tongues are too spicy"

We hadn't been there an hour and Cami had already convinced grandpa to get out the tractor

Grandpa and his Girls

A trip to Grandma's would not be complete without some crafting.  I don't want to give too much away as we made some special presents for some out of town family.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking us girls in for the weekend!  Love you

July fourth.

July fourth (as you know) landed in the middle of the week this year.  Matt was able to take one extra day off either the 3rd or the 5th.  He chose the 3rd.  It was so great having daddy home in the middle of the week.

Tuesday we went to the free movies at the Legends.  This picture is from before the movie started...hence daddy working on the phone.

After the movie we headed to grab a bite and then we met some friends at a local pool.  I didn't get any photos of that, but we had a blast.

About 3 minutes before I took this photo Cami tells me that she doesn't need to take a nap because she wasn't tired....right.

random picture of Reese

 On the morning of the 4th, we went to Overland Park downtown to play in a fountain and then to explore one of the restaurants downtown.

 That evening we went over to the Viall's house for dinner.  We met them at church and Kristin and I hit it off right away and have been hanging out a lot.  This was the first time we let the guys tag along too!  They made us a delicious dinner!  Since we have little kiddos we didn't even attempt to keep them up for fireworks. We had a great time and the kiddos wore themselves out!

Cami & Reese and Brooklyn & Livia

Thanks Viall family for having us over.