Street Smarts

A few weeks ago I was driving "down the hill" to run some errands with Moses the chatterbox in his car seat. We passed the above sign and he announced "Mom - that sign says 'Watch out for deer!'"
"That's right, honey!" I said, impressed that he had figured this out on his own.

We then passed this sign, and Moses immediately shouted "And that sign says 'Watch out for horses!'"
"Great job, Moses! You sure are smart" said his proud mommy.
We continued driving for a few miles and passed this sign:


A confident little voice in the back seat piped up again: "And that sign says 'Watch out for letters!'"

Aren't kids great? :)

Last Taste of Freedom

My wonderful friend Jen just sent me some pictures of the trip we took a few weeks ago to Twain Harte - little did I know it would be my last trip before being imprisoned by my placenta. We had a blast - her son and mine get along REALLY well. We very rarely have to interfere on the "we don't hit our friends" and the "we always share our toys" levels, which, as you moms know, is VERY nice. The husbands get along very well too - both love cooking things over and/or in fire, and there was a lot of that going on. This left Jen and I, along with the delightful "baby Elle" to do girl things, like NOT cooking things over fire, and going to my favorite fabric store of all time, the Twain Harte drug store.

It is so weird that this drug store has a HUGE selection of designer fabrics, but they do, and every time I go there I meet quilters from all over California. I actually managed this trip without buying ANY fabric, but I did my fair share of drooling.

A great trip with great friends and a bit of adventure sprinkled in. Shortly after that first picture was taken poor little Moses fell into the river (in 37 degree weather, which, for us Californians, is REALLY cold) and of course, there were no clothes to change him into. Jen and I managed to jerry-rig up a new outfit out of diapers, dirty socks, plastic bags, and a tiny pair of pants Brett purchased at a local fishing shop, but the entire thing left Moses saying "I don't like to do that adventure, Mom."

Thanks for the pictures, Jen, and I think I still have your socks! :)

Just kidding...

Well, between the last post and today I've been sentenced to bed rest. The diagnosis: placenta previa - complete. Something about the "complete" part seems to be extra concerning for the doctors... so I'm on the couch for the next 3 weeks. Seems like the perfect opportunity to update my blog regularly, right? I'll try, but I don't have all my camera stuff available and I HATE doing posts wtihout pretty pictures. I'll just have to get creative. :)

I'm Back!

Wow - I can't believe the last time I posted here was in July!!! Nothing bad happened to me (thanks to those of you who asked). We just "lost" our internet connection, and it is apparently much more difficult than the commercials make it sound to provide internet access to those of us living in the boonies. I have missed this blog, and the blogs I have come to love reading daily. I will say, though, that having no internet connection did make me much more productive on several other fronts - housework being one of them, and napping being the other. :)

I'm looking forward to listing many new items in the shop over the next few weeks - I have been sewing, although that is slowing down a bit as I reach the HUGE phase of pregnancy. Happily, life as a pregnant lady with an almost-3-year-old has provided me with many blog-worthy moments over the last few months, and I'm looking forward to sharing some of them with you. However, nap time calls, so for now I'll just leave you with this picture of the latest quilt in my shop.

Ashland!!!

Well, Ashland is as wonderful as it ever was. I had a SUPER relaxing weekend with my aunts and cousins and took full advantage of the fact that I had NO responsibilities! We stayed at the Siskiyou House, which is an old and gorgeous brick home that the owners have decorated perfectly and filled with all kinds of comfy chairs, extra fluffy white towels, and huge white feather beds. It was so cozy and perfect. We did all the things I love to do - work on our sewing projects together, sing old songs, play board games, walk around the park, tell funny stories... it was very therapeutic and I feel totally refreshed.I definitely recommend renting this house if you are in the market for a vacation home in southern Oregon. This is the third house we've rented in Ashland and it was by far the best. The owners were SO nice and even encouraged us to use the fresh basil from their garden!
The house was located within walking distance of all the downtown shops as well as the park, so I'm hoping that I did enough physical activity to walk off all the fudge I kept eating (yeah right!). I did a lot of shopping and found a wonderful little fabric store, where I bought myself a big project... more on that later.

I did miss my boys, though, and it is very nice to be back. Moses seems so much taller since I left and I was only gone for 4 days!

Going out of town... again.

It seems like we just returned from our fabulous weekend in the mountains, and I am repacking my bags for a mommy-only trip to Ashland, OR. Every summer all the girls on my mom's side of the family rent a house up there and spend the weekend sitting around talking and sewing, walking in the park, browsing the shops, and attending Shakespeare plays. It is WONDERFUL! Brett and Moses are taking advantage of my absence by going on a "boys only" camping trip with some friends. It's probably just as well that they've left me out, since sleeping on the ground at 20 weeks pregnant doesn't sound too appealing to me! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and once I return I promise to be better about updating my blog (and posting new items in my shop!).

Polka Dots and Swirls

I just listed this play mat in the shop. In fact, that's about all I got done today. We enjoyed a fabulous weekend at our friends' cabin in Twain Harte and got home late last night. Luckily, Moses let us sleep in this morning, which got the day off to a nice, non-productive start. I should have finished sewing a blanket for the shop, done about 3 loads of laundry, and vacuumed the house, but I didn't. I did, however, build an awesome tower out of blocks this afternoon... that counts for something, right? :)