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The project my daughters did with me!

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Here's something I'm rather proud of. . . I have raised two successful babysitters. When they were starting out babysitting, I was as nervous as they were! What if something happens? Will they have to cook? What if the kids are hard to handle? I went over instructions with them right until they walked out the door. I canceled my plans and stayed home in case they called for help. When they got home, I'd want all the details and then go over what to do for next time. They got better and better with each job and my nerves calmed down when I realized they were great babysitters who knew how to keep kids safe AND have fun with them at the same time. Hearing from friends and neighbors what awesome babysitters my daughters are made me so proud!   But now they are getting older and getting different jobs, and spending more weekend nights with friends rather than babysitting, they're ready to pass the torch on to younger babysitters. We had the idea to put together a guide/kit ...
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pregnancy update

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No need for me to do a pregnancy photoshoot, some of the world's best sculptors and painters have been using me as a model. . . Thank you, Anonymous of Willendorf , Nnamdi Okonkwo , and Fernando Botero for making me feel beautiful. You may also like to know, that I am now 34 1/2 weeks! That is 3 days past when I had Lucy! Feels like a big relief and a great accomplishment. It also feels a lot different than last time. . . First of all, I was pampered and coddled in bed from weeks 30 to 34 with Lucy. Now, I'm bending down and getting up and down off the floor and picking things up and chasing a toddler and it's hard work! I also haven't lost all that fluid, so I feel much MUCH bigger than the first time around. I'm outgrowing all my maternity clothes! I've broken two bras! My right hand and arm have been going numb in the mornings and my feet and ankles look like balloons at night. I have horrible heartburn. My undershirts roll up all day like Gus Gus on Cinde...
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not-so-still-life

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I cut some beautiful peonies from my yard. . . Lucy likes to do what I'm doing. . . she cut dandelions. . . . and arranged them. . . . . . she has to have her hand in EVERYTHING. . . Here is our final arrangement.
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it's done!

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The quilt for Lucy's bed is done! And the transition to the big-girl bed is done! I'm soooo pleased with both.
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to seattle and back again

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Lucy and I went up to Seattle a couple weeks ago. . . I got to rest, but my Mom and Dad put Lucy right to work . . . doing yardwork. . . Doing the cooking. . . Even going out to catch dinner. . . They loved catching and watching the fish, in the water. . . they were very apprehensive about the fish once they were in the bucket. Lucy insisted she caught the little one, but in fact, she caught the biggest one. Lucy and Max having tickle time with their Papa Bob. Lucy's cousin, Max, is a couple months younger than her. . . Tanner is a year and a half or so older and the three cousins got along fabulously. They had a blast all weekend. Lucy even tried to get in their car with them when they went back home to Vancouver area. Here is my sis, Missy, and her whole cute fam. And a parting shot with Lucy and her Papa Bob and Gramma Leen. We had a wonderful time! Loved every minute of it.
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a quilt for her "big girl" bed

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Working on a quilt for Lucy. . . I'm totally copying this beautiful quilt from Denyse Schmidt , one of her "Pretty Square" designs that she created for Sarita Handa. It's basically a log cabin square with variations and randomness added in. . .
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Look Mom!

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Do those words scare you as much as they scare me? Here is one bad "Look Mom!" from this week: She was using markers to color some Mother's Day cards for the Grandma's, and I made the mistake of turning around to do dishes or something. Grandma Leen and Grandma Linda, this is the the other product of that little coloring session! Thank heavens for Crayola Washable Markers. . . Can you guess Lucy's favorite color? Orange. She picked out the these roses for me and then hubby arranged them: This was a good "Look Mom!". . . Mother's Day flowers and breakfast. Yummm.
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what do you do. . .

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. . . on a snowy/rainy spring day when you're couped up with a two-year-old? Make pictures of sunnier spring days.
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a haiku

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sad, baby blossoms sodden sprigs of lilac beneath delinquant spring snow
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another post about baby quilts

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I know, I know. . . I'm always posting baby quilts. But that's my THANG. . . you have to know that by now. I LOVE making baby quilts. . . I've never duplicated one. I love making them each as unique and different as the babies and families I make them for. This first one is for baby Livi. The little tag at the bottom is a scrap of Japanese fabric as a special shout-out for her mom, April , who is not only my friend but a fellow Japan-o-phile and taught me this little trick of using little fabric swatch accents. . . And this one is for little baby Alden who has yet to make his arrival. . . I know, strange for me to have a quilt done AHEAD of time, they're usually late! But we had an early shower for his soon-to-be-mommy, Kate, when she was in town recently. The rugby stripes are a shout-out to soon-to-be-daddy, Eric, who played rugby for the well-known Highland High Rugby Team. The back fabric is another piece I bought when I was in Tokyo a year or so ago. The front gra...
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relish!

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Broiled Tilapia with Avocado Salsa and Steamed Broccoli with Orange Chances are, if you've spent more than 15 minutes alone with me lately, I've told you about relish! the saving grace of my weeknight dinners. . . I'm not a good cook. I like to cook with hubby for big weekend dinners where we might be having guests, but I get really lazy during the week. I tend to make the same handful of dishes over and over and over again. And I DREAD making my shopping list every week. One day, I put Mike in charge of planning the menu for the next week and bada-bing, look what he found. . . relish! It's an online menu and grocery planning service. Each week they have 20 or so different meal options for you, you choose the ones you want, tell it how many servings you'll be making and hit a button and it compiles recipes AND a grocery shopping list for you. The meals all take 30 minutes or less to prepare, often use seasonal ingredients, and are actually very healthy. . . and did...
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the good thing about colorstay lipstick is. . .

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I put it on once and its going to stay all day. . . The bad thing about colorstay lipstick is, if Lucy puts it on as eye make-up , its going to stay all day. . .
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9 years and counting

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We just celebrated our 9th Anniversary. . . in San Diego! Here are some fun photos from the trip. This is Lucy's newest move, the "oh my gosh, someone's looking at me" move. Very unusual and surprising for our little show-off. I wouldn't say its bashfulness, I think its more sudden self-awareness. All these photos are from the Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. We took the train up and thoroughly enjoyed it. Notice it is our anniversary trip, but there are exactly 0 (that's a zero) photos of us (hubby and I) together. That's something I need to be more aware while we're out and about. I need to be that tourist that thrusts my camera into the hands of perfect strangers walking by and asks them to take a picture of us together. . . or maybe I just need to train Lucy to do it. But here is a recent picture of the two of us at a friend's wedding. Seems like just yesterday that I was the one with the up-do and the white dress. . . and the han...
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