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Guess who turns two today? The fastest ridin' . . . . . . rootin' tootin'est toddler around. Just like her daddy, she's a neat freak. . . . . . most of the time. But when it comes to "popcorn," all rules go out the window. . . . . . she's not the most adventurous of eaters, but sometimes she'll indulge me. . . . . . and she always puts on a good show. . . . . . does she look like she has horns? Most of the time its a halo, but that willful, stubborn, bossy two-year-old is definitely starting to show . . . what are we in for this year? I'll keep you posted. She's the light and the joy of my life. Two years full of smiles, laughs, messy diapers, and a few hugs. . . bring on many more years, lighter on the diapers and heavier on the hugs, please.

Don't worry, blog. You're not alone. You are not the only thing in my life that I have completely ignored for the last several months. I've neglected house, yard, laundry, inbox messages, and husband. I've avoided friends and abandoned the gym. And for what reason? The SCBWI Conference. (That stands for Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, btw). You know I'm a sucker for packaging and when the bright, colorful slick brochure with a rocket on front arrived in the mail I knew I had to go. The names of the presenters jumped off the page at me for further enticement. David Weisner? Kadir Nelson? Two of the most skilled (and awarded) illustrators in children's books. . . Richard Peck? I loved the Soup books growing up. I HAD to go. But, I decided early on, I wasn't just going to GO, I had to go full steam ahead. If I was going to network, I needed new business cards. If those business cards were going to be useful, I needed a website. If the w...

Pink flamingos in the front yard? Underwear hanging on the clothes line? But, of course! What could be more appropriate a "send off" for our friends Eric and Kate (see below) who are moving to Ohio than a very Improper, White Trash Barbecue. Here's hubby after a long, hot few hours at the grill. . . kickin' it. If we had done a prize for "best dressed," I would have had to given it to Kate. . . And Kat who has already done justice to the great event in her blog (nice belted leopard top, chica!) Sophie wins for most photogenic of the evening. . . This pic of Lance is a little fuzzy but way to good NOT to post. . . and YES, I actually ate that hotdog. Why did I choose the completely black one, you ask? That's what a good hostess does, takes the worst one to leave the only slightly crispy hotdogs for her guests. Lucy enjoyed the rare moment where we actually LET her make a mess. A few of the fine dishes on the buffet table. Macey and Lisa in matching t...

A fantastic series of greeting cards featuring Monsieur Boudin, a dapper little dachsund from Paris. . . and if they did come larger I'd hang them all over Lu's room! I also wish they were available for purchase in the US, darnit! I guess I'll just have to enjoy them over the world wide web for a while. From the very creative creatives at Lab Partners .

This Denyse Schmidt quilt from the Sundance Catalog is inspiring me. . . and tempting me. It's on sale at the Sundance Outlet store not far from where I live and I practically salivate every time I see it. I really like the idea of using solid fabrics to make your own patterns and designs in quilts. Here are a few excellent examples from Land of Nod that also get my creative juices flowing: There is a whole flickr group called simply solid quilts which is also fun to peruse for ideas.

Did you see this over at Bakerella ? They're brownie patties on cupcake buns with cookie fries! It's three desert junk foods that look like fatty, fast foods! Of course, I love it. Hubby isn't much of a burger and fry sort of a guy, but I can see this working well for kids' birthdays, too!

After reading an article from the NY Times about how many bloggers are leaving their blogs, I thought I'd better reassure you that NO, I am not abandoning my blog! Actually, my computer abandoned me! The old gray mare finally dug in her heels and said, "No more rides, no more shows, no more long hauls. . . send me out to pasture." So, we've ordered a sleeker, younger, faster model and in the meantime, there will be posts with now pictures and no graphics from me for a few weeks. Then when the new pony gets here, I'll show you pics of my family vacation and maybe even some of the sewing crafts that have taken over my desk while the computer snores. . . Maybe I'll just quote cool articles : According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on t...

This one is for little baby Lyla . . . a lot of fun to make. Final quilt size is about 36x42". Again, Egyption cotton on the front and a fun whole-cloth print on the back. I cut a lot of strips at random widths (1 to 3"), sewed them together and then cut strips the other direction at 1.5". I pinned them to the white cotton in sort of wavy stripes, sewed it down and then snipped the edges for a raw edge look. It's machine-quilted in freestyle, unplanned waves. Oh, and add this project to my list of fun projects I want to do but will probably never get to. . . I did buy elastic thread the other day, though!

1. She's brilliant. 2. She has a highly developed sense of humor for a 21-month-old. Now, these two facts listed above are probably not all that evident in the hundreds of pictures I take (and post) of her. Oh, she's cute, that definitely comes across, but the picture I'm about to show you will prove that's she's more than just a pretty face. . . Ta-da! That's the marvelous little scene she put together the other night as Mike and I were fixing dinner or who knows what. . . We've been putting real bugs in jars the last week or so ( see recent post ) so she made the connection and put these bug puzzle pieces in jars she dug out of the cupboard. Not farm animal puzzle pieces, or shapes puzzle pieces, BUG puzzle pieces. Brilliant.

Every once in a while, Jane and Kristine do what can only be called virtual shopping where they put outfits together online and share what the would buy if they could. . . I love it. So here are some projects I would try or buy if I could. . . you know, if time and money were not an issue. (found at Olivelse-shop) (found at Pottery Barn Kids) (found at cosas minimas) (found at oliver + s) I want to learn how to do these little crochet flowers and then put them all over everything Lucy owns. . . (found at Little Birdie Secrets)

Lucy's first pet. . .