Here we GO :: PANAMA & EL SALVADOR

 (pintereset)

It's going to be a little quiet around here for the next couple of weeks.  

We are going on a little trip.

 WOO HOO!!

I'm sure I will have a lot of pictures to share when we get back.

I hope our paper airplanes get us all the way there.

Here we come :: Patchwork

YEAH, so excited!! 

We will be at Patchwork this year.

If you are in the area, you should definitely check it out.  

Inspiration :: Pretty Braids

 I chopped my hair.  Every time I have ever chopped my hair it has been on a whim.  My hair was pretty damaged, it was late at night and I needed a little change.

Now all I see is beautiful long hair.  That's okay.  I will stay a little cooler this summer and my hair grows fast...at least that is what I keep telling myself.  

Until then...I will be inspired by this pretty braid that my friend Christie braided by herself. 

Pretty amazing!!

PIZZA FOR 2!!

 what do we do when the kids spend the night at grandma's 2 nights in a row.  

yikes! 

we are not used to this... at all.  

it is ella's spring break so the were livin' it up...at papa's and grandma's.  the first night we went to sushi at almost 8 pm.  we talked and talked and talked a little more.  sometimes it's hard to start and finish a conversation in one evening with the kids around.  then we perused our local book store.  we had fun.  the next morning we slept in a little and then surfed together.  that never happens.  usually we take turns or else i wimp out because it is too cold and just andy surfs.  i love surfing with andy.  i miss the days when we didn't even have to think about who surfs first and all that.  we just went out and had fun.  speaking of missing, although we were having fun together we sure did miss our little babies.  we checked in every couple of hours..."we are feeding the horses...we are at the movies...we are eating ice cream...we are at the park"...like i said, they were livin' it up with papa and grandma.  andy wanted to go visit them...uh, no.  we did some errands and got a couple of things done before we go on a little trip all together as a family next week.

 the second night we stayed in and made these yummy pizzas together.  

we cheated a little.  we love this pizza dough from TJ's.  it is so easy and amazingly delicious.  we threw some of our favorite toppings on...or should i say, my favorite toppings.  andy likes these also, but if it were up to him he would probably vote for some sausage or something.  i like it simple...tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. 

YUM!!!!

i didn't even get a picture of it out of the oven because we were so hungry and it was gone in a flash.  

we weren't the only ones doing a little missing.  we got a call from my mom, with julian crying in the background.  he missed his mama and his daddy.  we were there in a flash to pick him up.  ella was doing just fine without us.

what do you do when the kiddos are at grandma's?

SPRING FLOWERS

The dancing pants...

 I  recently used a pattern for the little dress I made for Ella and it went pretty smooth.  I don't usually like using patterns for some reason, although I think that that is slowly changing.  One thing I don't like about patterns is having to cut the pattern out first, then cut the fabric out.  I know, that shouldn't be that big of a deal, but for some reason I just hate that part.  I guess if I were to use the same pattern multiple times, I wouldn't have that problem.  Oh well.  

So I made these new pants for Ella the way I often make clothes.  I block out a pattern from an article of clothing that I know fits well. 

I used this soft kind of stretchy fabric that I found at a rummage sale.  Then I blocked out a pair of skinny pants that fit Ella great.  I did change it up just a little.  I made the rise a little bit longer, didn't add belt loops and just placed elastic around the back waistband instead of making them adjustable.

 Apparently these pants are great for looking for bugs...

 dancing...

 twirling...

 spinning...

 practicing Tarzan moves...

and peeping on neighbors.

These pants came together fairly easily, although I did realize that blocking out the pants probably took longer than cutting out a pattern twice and I still don't have a pattern to go by when I am through.

I still like knowing that whatever I make will probably fit fairly well.

The only problem I had with these pants is I hemmed the back pocket the wrong way and then I couldn't find my seam ripper...I still haven't found it.  Who would have known that this fabric is incredible hard to rip a seam from without the seam ripper.  I finally just left it.  Can you see the difference in the two pockets?

It's the first thing I see when I look at these pants.

Maybe some day when I find my seam ripper I will fix them...

don't stop...

Love that she loves books...hope that never changes!

Sometimes I am in the middle of doing something and I suddenly realize that the house is really quiet.  Usually that means the kids are up to something.  I like to get a sneak peak at what they are up.  Recently, on several occasions,  I have carefully stepped down the hall to avoid all the squeaky spots and slowly pushed a door open only to find the two of them reading/looking at books. 

I swell with pride...yeah, those are my kids.

 

HA, I'll claim them even when they are rascals.