Sewing Group Fun!

A few months ago my friend and I started a sewing group. I love to sew and it's another fun way for me to release my creativity. I am a beginner still (often I need to look in the manual for a reminder on how to thread the bobbin) but it's been nice to learn from other skilled sewing experts. One of the recent projects we did was the bubble skirt. I thought this skirt would fit Emmie but it turned out to be a great fit for Miss Madison. I'll have to do another one for Emerie:)
It's been awhile since Madison will let me put anything in her hair so it's been fun to put in some pigtails. She used to say they were "too owie". Madison has been saying some cute things these days. When Jake gets home from work she always gets a serious look on her face and says, "How was your day?" and she often will ask people how they are feeling. When she wakes up in the morning I ask her what her dreams were about. She usually says that she had dreams of pink kitties or puppies. This morning she told me that her "Dreams came true!"

A little bit of painting

About a month ago I worked hard to finish a bunch of paintings that were gifts for family and friends before our trip to Utah. I forgot to take pictures of the ones I gave away but I did a few extras to brighten up our house. It's been fun experimenting with some new styles. I have always loved the impressionist paintings and tried to create some with the same type of feeling. I think it is a beautiful thing to paint a feeling rather than having everything already said. It's nice to leave some work for the mind to fill in the blanks.
The picture of the dandelion is based on a photo I found online (not completely my design). I have been obsessed lately with the theme of dandelions and wishes. I have plans to do a few more fun ones and already have a place picked out where they can go. Jake surprised me when I came home from our Utah trip with a new bedspread and my painting idea will work perfect in our room. Jake always has a fun new project for me to find after I come home from a trip. It's so fun!



The last painting is not my painting, it's my grandma's. She is a wonderful artist! We had some time while I was in Utah to exchange paintings and spend some time painting together. The painting of the Aspen trees that she did was just a study so she was surprised when I asked if I could get it framed. I think it is beautiful and it says a lot about my grandma. Even though she was just "doing a few practice trees" it was still so clean and perfect! When I do a study paint ends up all over the paper and you can tell it's a practice:) Thanks grandma for teaching me so much!

Eleven Months Old!

Wow! Time has flown! She can't be turning one, I feel like she is still my little baby. She must seem so little because I have Madison who is so grown up now.

At Eleven months Emerie is crawling and doing a little bit of walking too. She gets braver everyday and seems to take more and more steps on her own. When she crawls it is very thoughtful and she doesn't go very fast (which is good for me). When she walks she gets a sparkle in her eye and has a big smile on her face that says, look what I can do! Her vocabulary consists of ma, ma, mom, dad, baby, all through, num nums, up, kitty, doggie, and a few of her favorite animal sounds. She still loves to make her little cougar growl and will imitate most sounds Madison makes. Especially the loud ones during church:) Emerie loves to pull out all the books, empty the cupboards and help out at the dishwasher. She gives great hugs and kisses and loves to read books. She has earned herself the front seat in the double stroller for pulling Madison's hair too much (just getting her back for all the head bops and pushes). She likes to do whatever her sister is doing and she loves to eat! She also loves to hang upsidown and have her tummy rubbed. Emerie is such a sweetheart and she is always making us laugh! We love you Emmie!

Creative Little Girl!

The other day Madison and I were having our usual morning conversation about what she wanted to wear. When Madison wakes up one of the first things she does is run to put on one of her dresses. It's hard to resist the squeals of excitement as she yells, "I am so excited, this is my princess dress, I look so beautiful....!" I was going to let her wear a dress that day, but since there was cold rain, she needed to wear pants with it. All winter she has resisted pants, (resist might be a mild word depending on the day). Well, this particular morning as I was helping her get dressed she showed me the tag on her dress and said, "Look mom, there is a sign on my dress that says NO PANTS!" So... in case any of you didn't know, that little tag in your dress isn't about what size you are, it's a declaration to spare us from spoiling are pretty dresses with pants. Thanks Madison for making me laugh. Despite her creativity, she still had to wear pants. Luckily she put them on with a smile as we laughed at her funny comment. Oh, and why wear just one of the "neck-a-nesses" from the jewelery box when they all look so pretty:)

Singing With Spirit!

Madison loves to sing. I thought she did a great job at Ba Ba Black sheep! I especially love how she says the word "dame". Often she does her own interpretation of the words and comes out with some funny phrases. "Jingle Bells" was "Tingle Bells" and lately, when she sings the Cinderella song... Cinderella Cinderella night and day it's Cinderella, (you may night know the song unless you have seen the movie recently), anyhow, Madison sings "Cinderella, Cinderella, maccadia Cinderella." Night and day... maccadia, pretty close;) It's just funny because she loves to sing that phrase over and over all day long!

Jake always recalls the story where he was confused until the age of twenty at the word "Shallmeno". It took him a long time to realize that the phrase was "shall men know" in the wonderful song, As I Have Loved You.

Indoor Puppet Theatre

I've been doing some fun sewing projects lately and here is one of them! I've always wanted to make and indoor puppet theatre for the girls and I was able to do this one all with stuff I had around the house. Two old bedsheets and two tension curtain rods that we haven't needed in this house (our closets have doors:). Madison has had lots of fun playing with it and we have had some great family home evening lessons using out little puppet theatre. It's also been fun to take the bottom off of the puppet theatre and Madison has a little castle entrance into her bedroom.

Dale Chihuly and the Botanical Gardens

The first Wednesday of every month the Columbus Botanical Gardens are free! One of my favorite artists is Dale Chihuly and it was so fun to see his beautiful glass sculptures on display at the gardens. It was so nice to get away from the cold winter skies and feel like we were in a tropical place. Madison and Emerie loved playing with the plastic replicas of Chihuly's sculptures.

Dress Up Fun!

Madison loves playing with her friends and she absolutely loves dressing up like a princess! What cute girls.

Winter Fun!

Yes it is starting to be spring but I have a lot of catch up to do on our blog. We've had a lot of fun finding fun things to do indoors this last winter. In these pictures the laundry basket transformed into a train and mommy was the engine. And yes...Madison is not dressed for the weather. It's been a long winter and we are all excited for warmer weather!

10 months old!

Emerie is ten months old! Wow, so grown up. She loves to crawl and get into everything. She especially loves to see what Madison is doing, which often results in tears for Emmie and time out for Madison.

I have lots of updates and pictures to come. We were out of town for a little while and have been away from the blog:)