Hexagon Quilt

I've had a desire swimming around in my head for years.  I've made 2 quilts...one was a baby quilt which was my first ever.  Though it is very simple, I like it a lot and am proud of it.  The 2nd one I made....not liking it at all.  I was completely inexperienced and had zero money so I did what I could.  It needs a lot of help.  That was about 9 years ago.  Since then, I've had the desire to prove to myself that I CAN make an amazing quilt, a throw quilt just right for my height...and today I'm seeing that far off goal get a lot closer!  All pieces have been cut and have been laid out on my bedroom floor.  Now comes the tedious part...actually sewing all those pieces together.  I'll be interested to see how long it takes me to sew everything together.  I'm thinking a few months...which means a few months with almost no floor space in my bedroom.  So far though, I am LOVING how it looks and can't wait to lay on the couch snuggled under this quilt!

Hodge Podge of Stuff!

 Made this note thingy at the Ladies Retreat last weekend and love it!

 Best $5 on toys I've ever spent.  He loves these construction toys!

 Our blackberry vines!!!  They started as dead sticks!

Won't be long till these turn black!!

Arf!

Elle was in a school play last week. She was the cutest little Dalmatian I've ever seen. It was so much fun to watch her and I made sure that I was looking at her the whole time because she kept checking every 20 seconds or so to see if I was! I would smile really big and wave :) Levi would wave back at her. He was enthralled by the whole production. Way to go Elle!

The whole pack...of 2nd grade doggies

Take a bow sweet girl!

Week 5 of TMT

I'm on week 4 of C25K as I do TMT (Tough Mudder Training.) The minutes get tricky this week and I knew the only way I'd remember when to run and when to walk is to write it on my "palm pilot" in permanent marker. lol

Weekend Home Tour

This past weekend I was able to go on a Home Tour of 17 homes in the Austin area! Most of them were very untraditional in the way the owners had decorated. I took LOTS of pictures and wanted to share a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

What a bathroom!

Cute little area to have afternoon tea!

One of the homes even had a couple of old old cars in the garage.

One amazing house keeps their Christmas tree up all year...sometimes I wish I could do that.

I loved these curtains.

One of the homes even had a small museum attached to the side of the house!

And then we saw a lady with purple hair walking with her baby in a baby carriage from the 1800's. It's at that point that I realized that I had actually just taken a little over 600 pictures of 17 dollhouses. lol...did it take you very long to figure out that these were dollhouses? I was hired by a woman in the Austin area to chronicle all the minute details of each of her dollhouses, which she will then use to make 2-3 books out of. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I'm all ears

It's official...Elle is growing up. It's painful and exciting all at the same time. And I find it ironic that this pain and excitement is exactly how she described a step into womanhood today, as she got her ears pierced. The entire family packed in the car after dinner and headed to our Claire's. Everyone was so excited with her and for her. She picked out a sweet little pair of peridot colored earrings.

Anxious anticipation (for all of us!)

Admiring her new ears :)

Can it really be that I have a daughter that wears earrings now?

All Partied Out

Since this past Thursday, I've made 5 small cakes, 48 cupcakes, 24 easter birds nest (chow mein and chocolate dessert), a crazy good Giada dessert, and used 7 containers of icing. I'm pretty much all baked out--and all partied out too! It has been a wonderful weekend and everything went absolutely smoothly. But, I am also very relieved that today, I'm officially done thinking about birthdays until September! Below is the picture of the cupcakes I made for Elle's class today. I was informed late last night by Elle that "All the other parents bring their kids cupcakes to eat during recess, right after lunch." Mind you, I hosted Bunco at my house last night, which meant their was no way I could get to the store last night and make them. Also note that I am babysitting a sweet 5 week old every day this week from around 7:30-4:30. So, I just put on a happy face and headed to the store as soon as I dropped Elle off at school today and made 24 cupcakes faster than I've ever made cupcakes and had them at her school by 11:15 this morning. And...it was totally worth the effort to see a sweet little 8 year old smile! (as well as all the other kids in her class who I thought were going to have a nervous breakdown when they saw the cupcakes!) Tonite, we are taking her to Super Salad and a yogurt place we've never been. And then...we, meaning I, shall pass out from over-partying it!

Ava being my helper with sweet little Allie
Levi being my laundry helper. He has really gotten in to "helping" me with chores lately and it's so sweet.

Levi taking after his mommy...trying to get a few good shots of Allie :)

Springtime in Gtown

Bluebonnets are pretty gorgeous, but I don't think anything beats a field of poppies. I might almost be obsessed with them. I already knew that our town loved poppies, but the other day while driving Ava to preschool, near downtown, I noticed TONS of lawns filled with them!!! Been here for almost 5 years and never noticed this section of town before! Almost everyone in this 1 mile radius purposefully doesn't mow their lot so that the poppies will bloom everywhere. It's breathtaking to drive through these neighborhoods. We decided on the way to worship last night to stop and take a few pictures in one of the fields. I had to really restrain myself from taking pictures of just about every poppy I saw. Enjoy!

New dresses + candy = Easter

Since we celebrate/remember the death of Jesus every first day of each week, Easter to me, is just a good excuse to buy an new dress for me and the girls. Oh and let's not forget the candy. I specifically buy candy for their baskets based on what I think I'd like to snack on at 9:30 pm. I'm not ashamed! Anyway, Easter was wonderful today. Somehow we had time to take family pictures outside and still be to worship early! And speaking of worship, the singing this morning was incredible. It was powerful and with a packed house, it felt like we were going to blow the roof of the building! Heaven is going to be amazing. Here are the official Easter family pictures!

It's amazing to see a picture of us and think that it all started with two people...
...and it has grown into this. I am speechless and in awe every time I see pictures of our family. Blessed beyond what we deserve, by far.

Looks like the Easter bunny made an appearance....

Everyone checking out their loot

And what makes this even better is that he didn't have any pants on. He looked like a cross between tom cruise and the blues brothers.

The baby is no longer a baby

He is now considered a toddler, though in the parent guide book, in Chaper 7, you are allowed to continue calling your last child your "baby" for the rest of their lives and there is nothing they can do about it. So there ya go. After the MASH Egg Hunt Saturday, we headed home and frantically went to work preparing our house for a Cookie Monster Party! We invited all of the babies at church and ended up with about 25 people here! It was a wonderful party and very laid back. I had a lot of fun decorating for this party and Levi was beside himself with all the Cookie Monster stuff everywhere. Happy 2nd Birthday Biggie!

Make a wish sweet boy.

One of Levi's most favorite people in the entire world....once she got there, he didn't care about ANYTHING else at the party. I am so thankful that he loves her and she loves him!

I'm TWO! He is working really hard on getting the right fingers to go up.