tree shoppin....

what do your kids do when you are busy trying to find the perfect shaped christmas tree? for some reason, mine always end up doing this!

my girl

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Our holiday was full of deviled eggs, chocolate eggs, plastic eggs and ham.

The time I set aside for working on my quilt was quickly diverted to my girl! Now, I have to tell you that she takes her sewing very seriously.....

and stays very focused on her task.

(Don't worry, the needle has been removed to keep those little fingers safe!)

Last week Joan (wishes true and kind) had shared the idea with me of putting up a design wall for Isabella. All I can say is...thank you, thank you, thank you Joan. I initially liked the idea because of the cuteness factor, but as soon as it was up I loved the idea because of how much Izzy enjoyed her new found creative outlet.

She took to it immediately and surprised me with how long she was fully content designing.

(try not to gasp too hard over the fact that she has some of my little folks scraps, she was very gentle with them)

She spent her morning choosing fabric, pressing fabric, and putting it on her design wall...all with such intense purpose and determination. I loved every second of it!!

I made her fabric holder this weekend using the kidlet pattern (by JC handmade found here). I altered it in size then added straps to hang off the back of her chair, it works perfectly.

I couldn't resist making a second one for her coloring books....and to be honest, I think there will be a kidlet hanging from every door knob in my house by the end of the week! It is the perfect size and remedy for those miscellaneous things that really have no home.

couldn't resist

Izzy and I were in desperate need of an outing today...something that would excite her enough to ease her into a nap, but mellow enough to not require a lot of preperation on my part. The logical resolution, shopping of course. We packed a baby doll, a snack and headed off to Target to check out all the new Liberty of London clothes I keep reading about. Now, I will be honest in saying that I am not much of a floral pattern buff...but my baby girl on the other hand cannot get enough of them. I was always known as somewhat of a tom-boy (nothing makes me happier than an oversized tee shirt and a good pair of sweats) my sweet baby girl on the other hand is as girly as girls go. It took her one glance at that rack to know that she was in love. Sadly, most of the dresses in her size were sold out, so she didn't get to go too wild. We walked out with one skirt, a swimsuit, a purse and a dress that she couldn't bear to take off after trying it on (seriously, they rung it up while it was on her). All and all a successful outing...she got excited, and happily fell asleep on the way home...and I didn't have to do much!!

Doesn't she look so peacefully cute sleeping in her new dress?! I couldn't resist sharing with all of you. The bad news is, now I think I might be hooked on the idea of making a quilt for her out of all Liberty of London fabrics.

Oh...and like icing on the cake, we also got a copy of The Princess and the Pea!!

keeping it real...

I haven't blogged in so long, mainly because I haven't had much creativity to share lately....and, well, I have been fully intwined in the lives of my children. I haven't even had much time to surf all my favorite blogs, but my daughter is sleeping....my sons are all at school, and i just got inspired!! Heather over at a la mode fabrics, posted a "keeping it real" post.....I LOVED IT! So I am breaking my dry spell with one of my own...

KEEPING IT REAL:

I fell in love with my husband from a far at the age of 15, but didn't meet him 'til I was 20. We got engaged after dating for 3 months, and have been married for 16 years now... I love him more than ever!!

This is the first picture of myself to be blogged!

We have 3 sons who all play football, even thou my husband was a swimmer/diver.

I don't think that my sons look anything alike, but they all look like me!

My oldest is a sophomore in highschool, and I have realized that being in highschool was much funner than having a child in highschool!!

There is only eighteen months in-between each of my sons, but there is 10 years between my youngest son and my daughter.

I love the way my daughter has her daddy wrapped around every little finger on both of her hands!

I adore the fact that my daughter has the same hair color and completion as my mother. Having her makes me feel like a piece of my mother is still with me!!

I am the sixth child of seven, I have four older brothers, one older sister, and a baby sister... who really isn't a baby anymore.

I love Pearl Jam, and think Eddie Vedder has the most amazing voice on earth.

I have been to more concerts than I can count and plan on going to as many as I can in the future. Although, the most awesome concert I've seen is the Dave Matthew's Band. I think that everyone needs to see him live at least once!!

I believe that motherhood is the most amazing, emotional, humbling, creative, exhausting and painful thing I, personally, will ever experience in my lifetime.

I don't cry very often, but when I do it feels liberating.

My new favorite toy is my Kindle.....i love to read!!

All of my sons are named after cities (Austin, Davis, and Trenton). My daughter was going to be named Kiera after a city in Australia, but my husband loved the name Isabella so much that we decided to forgo our trend of city names.....to the disappointment of all of those around us.

I go by my nickname Chris, from my middle name Christiena....but my birth/first name is Ayescha. An old German name that no one can pronounce.

I love all things Apple...and am currently obsessed with the new ipad!

My baby sister is my bestest best friend in the whole world!!

In this picture, (taken at my brother's wedding) we both had "one to many" together for the first time.....it was a blast!!

When I was young my mother use to tell me "Cut your hair all you want when you are young because one day you will be to old to get away with it"....2 years ago, I realized that I was too old to get away with it!!

It's time to pick up my eldest from school, so that is all the keeping it real for today!!

Honey-bee

I couldn't resist sharing a picture of the cutest little honey-bee that graced my garden yesterday. She was feeling much better and smelling the flowers before flying off to find candy...

We did finally catch her and put her to bed after hours of flying around the neighborhood spreading cheer and joy!