What I {Have For You} Today

Sigh...its been a harsh summer.  Hopefully we'll get an extra long fall to make up for it. Mia has a new found love for playing outdoors.  She picked a lovely day to do it. 

Well there was this cloud...

But we told it to scram!

That's better.

I might a little generous when I say she likes to "play" outside.  Really all she does is walk in circles and yell at the dogs.

And then she'll squat...

Apparently this isn't unusual.  Babies love to squat.

This playtime made it abundantly clear that Mia needs to get her bangs trimmed.  

Poor kid has to do the Justin Bieber hair flip.

Did I ever tell you I had a moment with Justin Bieber? I did.  It was magic, we totally made FULL ON eye contact. My tummy gets dizzy just thinking about it...

In addition to wandering in circles Mia also attempts throwing her ball

I just love this pic for some reason.

When she's not yelling at the dogs she'll try to throw the frisbee.

She's also crazy fearless about putting her hand in Trin's mouth.  It freaks me out every time but it makes Mia giggles like crazy.

Then I was a super mean FGM and {gasp} put a hood on the baby!

She hates hoods.  Can you tell?

Shadows!

Proof of my existence.

And now it's time for "Holy Crap That's A Lot Of Freckles!"

They came on strong this year.

Sometimes I forget I have them.

And then I see these. 

YIKES!  Although I can't imagine what it would be like to not have them. 

And now as promised, I have some pictures of my beautiful new niece! 

Vivian Aliza Laum

7lb 2oz

19in

Snuggling with mom...

Resting from the trauma of birth...

Looking confused...

And gettin some love...

Oh how I love babies!

And because I'm so full of love...

And I got a 95 on my paper proposal...

And it's FINALLY getting cooler...

I'd like to give you a gift!

The gift of scarf or hat! 

You choose! 

Please leave a comment and you may be randomly selected to receive a lovely handmade hat or scarf.  Your chances of winning are really good since only about 6 people read this and I think that number may be skewed by me reloading the page all the time.  

Winner will be chosen on FRIDAY.

So get commenting!

What I {Will Catch You Up} On Today

It's been a while.

I'm sorry.

Here goes...

So as I have been whining about for several weeks rachel did. was at its first craft show!

A while back I mentioned some thrift store shopping I had done and some of the great things I found.

You may remember these?

Well I had to make them a little more rachel did.

So here's what I did...

Pulled out the thingies

Shook up the paint

And started painting

And then it was time for the show.  

There was a contest for best display.

I didn't win.

But if you ask me

I was robbed!

But I may be a little biased...

I even made little tags.  Don't they look profesh???

This picture literally stopped people in their tracks.  I actually think Mia was the most successful person at the craft show.  Her head probably grew two sizes with all the compliments she got.

Michelle came up with the idea for the pom pom flowers

They're my favesies.

And really easy to make!

We found these things called Thickers for the lettering

Perfect!

So overall I'd say the show was a success.  I learned a few things, met some cool people, and got some really positive feedback.   I won't do another until the fall cause baby hats will most likely sell better then.  And frankly, I'm a little tired of making stuff! 

I think I have crochet elbow.

I will have a bunch of new stuff in the shop very soon so be on the lookout!

Post Script- I forgot to mention the obscene amounts of rain we had on Saturday.  So that kinda stunk.  

Oh and James of course brought his video camera...

Oh and in cuteness news Mia figured out how to clap! Enjoy.

Yeah yeah yeah... I forgot to turn the camera...it was a moment! No time for thinking!  And I have no idea how this outfit happened.  It just did.
 onesie by Aunt Manda
headband by blueeyedfreckle
"belt" by Me

What I {Am Excited About} Today

Sooo...

It's official.

racheldid is going to be in a craft show!

I just received notice that I have been accepted as a vendor in Sweet Ps Arts Festival!!!

I am SO excited!

I am SO nervous!

I have SO much stuff to make!

It will be fun though.

So this weekend I have been scavenging the thrift stores of Marietta and Alpharetta to find supplies for the show.

I have to fill a 6 foot table! I have to have a display!

Luckily I found some gems...

We first raided the women's blouses

Looking for good prints to cut up



With good buttons to steal

 

The vases will hold baby hats



"How so?" you ask.  You'll just have to come and see.

And then we stumbled upon the most random and perfect thing ever...



and best of all



There were two of them.

I plan to repaint them and replace the loops with hooks for the headbands.  I haven't worked it all out yet, but it's gonna be good.  I got a good feeling from them.

I also found this bowl type thing

I have no idea how I'll use it.  But it spoke to me.  I just couldn't walk away.



Yes, I realize I'm just a few steps from an episode of Hoarders.

I also hit up a local used book store and was excited to find some J.D. Salinger!



R.I.P. Salinger.

I only recently discovered that Roald Dahl wrote adult fiction. Hopefully Kiss Kiss will live up to The BFG (Side Note: That is my favorite children's book of all time.  If/when I have a daughter her name will be Sophie because of that book.  If you haven't read it, you should.)

 So Michelle and Jason recently purchased Kindles.  They are in LOVE with their Kindles.  I'm kinda on the fence about it.  I mean the sleekness and the convenience are huge selling points...

But I'm a sucker for a good used book.

The smell.
The yellow tinge.
The oldness.

It just does something to me.

I mean I have Larry Mason to thank for this book!

But one downside is this...



I hate dog-eared pages.

hate, hate, hate

So that is an advantage of the Kindle.  No need for dog-ears.

But then again I can't imagine a Kindle replacing books for kids.

This was purchased for Mia



Can you imagine these illustrations on a screen?



Certainly not.

Sometimes a book should just be allowed to be a book.