More Mats in the Shop

"My Best Coloring Book"

"Milk and Cookies"

I'll be a better blogger tomorrow. I promise. Today I took a nap instead of doing my usual internet/sewing machine frenzy while the little guy slept. But tomorrow I'll announce the March giveaway winner (can you believe March is over?!?!) and tell you what's up for grabs in April. Good night. :)

Thanks, On The Dot!

Today this mini security blanket of mine is featured in Julie's fantastic blog about all things dotty: On The Dot Creations. Go check it out - she features 3-5 polka-dot items each day and every single thing she reviews is completely adorable. I love seeing what she picks each day, and my etsy wish list is getting longer and longer!

A Good Read

Have you ever heard of the Carl books? My mom discovered them when my youngest brother Michael was born, and I think they are quite possibly the best children's books EVER. Each book follows Carl the Rotweiller and his little friend Madeline on a different adventure. The pictures Alexandra Day has created in these books are gorgeous and detailed. So detailed that you will find yourself discovering new aspects of the adventure each time you read the book. There are no words, so these books grow up with your child - the story can be as simple or as detailed as you want it to be.

This is my all-time favorite picture from Carl's Christmas - isn't this just beautiful? Sometimes I feel like tearing out the pages of the book and sticking them on my walls. Moses has loved reading these books, and I think Brett and I enjoy them just as much as him.

Maybe Moses and Thor will have their own adventure soon...

Sewing Day!

Yes, I realize I may have totally jinxed myself by labeling this sewing day, but I think I might be able to get some projects finished today. It seems like all my sewing time in the last two weeks has been taken up by unexpected cleaning projects and missed naps. I guess that's life. :) But today I have big plans...

Happy Post-Easter

How rude of me - I didn't wish you a Happy Easter. I hope yours was as relaxing and fun-filled as ours was. Now that Easter has passed, I find my house needs a thorough cleaning and the garden needs to be planted. It's so nice to be able to turn off the heater, open the windows, and let in some fresh air!

Friday Find

It's been a while since I posted any etsy finds here, but last night I came across this fabulous hand-knit shawl at one of my favorite shops, Tickled Pink Knits. Isn't this gorgeous?!?!? There are 6 different colors you can choose from when ordering and you only have to wait 21-30 days for it to be made and shipped - that is some seriously fast knitting when making something as intricate as this! I'm totally saving my pennies for one of these.

GOD - through the eyes of a two-year-old

Today is what my friend Karen calls a "bad two-year-old day." I was all set to blog about how difficult Moses has been today, but realized that probably wouldn't do much to help my bad mood. SO (and I guess this is where thousands of dollars towards an unused psychology degree pay off) I am going to write a POSITIVE post about my darling little son.

As we were coloring together this morning he asked me to "draw God." Well, that's a pretty tall order. I told him "I don't know what God looks like," and as he gave me his curious little stare I started realizing what a HUGE pile of questions that was bound to give rise to. While I braced myself for the possibility of having a theological discussion with a toddler, he seemed to make up his mind about something. "God's a fast runner" he said matter-of-factly, and returned to coloring. Well, yes. I imagine he would be. :)

So, we now have that to add to the list of how a toddler conceives of God:
1.) God put my head on me.
2.) God gots chickens in his back yard.
3.) God gots the sun in his hand and the moon in his truck.
4.) God's a fast runner.

Pretty funny stuff - and that cheered me right up! Enjoy the rest of your day!

To The Post Office

These cute drawstring toy bags are on their way to new homes, but I just had to show them to you first. There are some SERIOUSLY cute little girl names out there!!!

Catching Up

I'm back from my wonderful weekend away with my cousin. It was the perfect vacation filled with sitting around, laughing, and a trip to a delightful little tea house in San Juan Capistrano. I got to "sleep in" (well, I still woke up around 6, but I got to lay around in bed as long as I wanted), take some nice long walks, and even paint my fingernails. Now that's what I call luxury! So far, today has been spent catching up with real life: figuring out what needs to be bought at the grocery store (what?!?! no one ate any vegetables while I was gone?!?), doing laundry, and playing outside with Moses. I've also been figuring out how to finish all my custom orders (thanks for being so patient!!!) and manage to make some gifts for MORE friends who are having babies. My little weekend away was just perfect for making me realize even more clearly what a great life I have.

Gotta love 'em...

... but sometimes Mommy needs a vacation. So I'm going to "the OC" to spend a girls weekend with my cousin. I'm SO excited - this is the first time I've ever spent the night away from Moses (I know, over 2 years is WAY too long). I know I'll start missing him about 4 hours into the trip, but I'm also looking forward to sleeping in and blow drying my hair without someone hanging on around my knees trying to use Daddy's electric toothbrush to clean the toilet. I'll be back on Monday! Have a great weekend!

On Blankets

I am a firm believer that every house with children should have an ample supply of blankets. As a child I think I spent the majority of my play time fiddling around with our 3 well-worn (there are 4 kids in my family) receiving blankets. A blanket can be a cape, a tent, a net, a vehicle, a satchel, a horse saddle, a head dress, a costume, a seat, a pillow, and a friend. In fact, all four of us kids had- in addition to the stock of play blankets- our own special blanket that we took everywhere with us. Here's mine:

Pretty worn out - it is literally see-through and I have no idea what color it used to be. My mom made a ceremony out of "putting the blanket in a special place" when she started trying to break me of my thumb-sucking habit at 7. (Yes, 7.) To this day it is nicely preserved in a box in my parents' closet - bless her for knowing how special that blanket was to me! I imagine there was a time when my Mom was carting around three toddlers, each dragging along a worn-out stinky blanket, but she never made us leave the blanket at home. She got it.

Then there was Mister Bear, my youngest brother's blanket substitute. (Apparantly by the time you get to kid 4 you run out of creative names for their stuffed animals.) Michael dragged this poor bear everywhere he went by sticking his index finger into the hole in Mister Bear's throat. (In your mind's eye now add a very small boy to the end of the line of toddlers following my Mother through the grocery store. The first three drag dirty blankets and the last boy drags a bedraggled old stuffed bear wearing a sheep-skin vest.) When Mister Bear's head was finally hanging on by a few frayed threads, Mom reattached it and the process began again. The poor old guy is now beyond repair and has been relegated to the top of Michael's (now 18) book shelf.

This is Moses' blanket. My mother-in-law made it for him. This is actually one example of how great she is: she called me before giving it to him to ask if I minded that she made him a blanket. I'm sure she was thinking of the 3 beautiful blankets I had painstakingly made for him that he wanted nothing to do with. Of course I didn't mind, and of course, this became THE blanket. He sleeps with it every night and drags it all over the house with him. He hates it when I wash it and always reminds me that "it's actually clean." And my feelings aren't hurt at all. Even though making blankets is my second job, I love that he's found his special one. I totally get it.

One for the Little Guy

The other day I let Moses "design" his own drawstring toy bag. He chose this adorable baseball fabric (with a little help from Mommy) and I found a cute coordinating striped print.



I even let him help make it. OK - he really only got to draw on the fabric scraps with my quilting pencil, but he felt like he was helping, and that's what counts.




The end result is super cute - we appliqued a big M on the front for Moses ("M says mmmmm") and he loves putting toys in the bag, carrying them around the house, dumping them out, putting them back in...

I put a second baseball bag in the shop this afternoon, where it is patiently waiting for a name to be appliqued onto it. :)

Try This:

I can't take any of the credit for this one - I got the recipe from Women's Health which I subscribe to and LOVE. This recipe was a HUGE hit with my husband and son - they both ate TONS of asparagus, and that's saying something!


Chicken Mojito with Mint and Lime over Couscous


Ingredients:

1 cup couscous

1 bunch of asparagus

garlic powder

salt

black pepper

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp sugar

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup light rum (or white wine - tastes just as good and more likely to be found in your fridge)

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp lime juice

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint


Instructions

1.) Cook couscous according to package directions


2.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange asparagus on baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Roast 15 minutes or until fork-tender.


3.) Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and sugar. Saute about 3 minutes.


4.) Add chicken and saute 3-5 minutes more - until golden brown on all sides. Add rum (or wine) and broth and simmer 5 minutes.


5.) Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Season with salt to taste.


6.) Chop asparagus and arrange with couscous and chicken mixture. Garnish with chopped mint.


7.) Enjoy!

Still Sewing...

I really AM working hard over here, despite the absence of new items in my shop. I usually try to list at least one new item in my shop each weekday, but lately that has been hard. I'm working on a bunch of custom drawstring toy bags and decided to wait until they're all done before listing anything else in the shop.

It's also been a hard week to fit in my usual sewing time. Between people dropping by unexpectedly (which I LOVE) and the all-night power outage we had on Tuesday, I've gotten much less sewing done than usual.

But, Brett and I had a very exciting scrabble game which we played by candle light that night. He BEAT me (yes, you read that right Daniel) despite the 30 points I earned by spelling "fix" on a triple word score space. Sometimes it's nice to have your plans ruined by a squirrel chewing through the power line. :)

March Give Away

Can you believe it's already March? All of the fruit trees up here on the farm are blossoming and it is so gorgeous! We usually have a short streak of really warm weather right around this time and all the trees burst into flower. I tried to get Moses to appreciate their beauty as much as I do. I said "smell the blossoms! Aren't they pretty?!?" He gave them one sniff, turned to me and said "Let's hammer stuff!" I guess you just can't turn a boy into a girl. *sigh*

Well, time for this month's give away. As usual, anyone who leaves a comment anywhere on the blog this month will be entered into the drawing at the end of the month to win these:

No, not the gift cards. :) Another set of drawstring bags - there are more pictures of them in my shop. I thought this set was nice and springy and perfect for a March give away.

Now,go outside and smell some blossoms! (Or hammer stuff... whatever you're in the mood for.)

February Give Away Winner...and a new play mat.

Another patchwork play mat has made its way into my shop - I think these are my favorite thing to make right now. I can totally indulge my love of putting together unexpected fabric combinations.

Anyways, now for the reason you are really reading this... The winner of the February give away is Tanya of Razor Berries. (Go visit her shop for some seriously awesome art work!) Congrats Tanya and enjoy the sachet!