Nihonteki

The Chief got a fun outfit from our friends in Japan (thanks Dai!). The Japanese have a very distinct style when it comes to their kid's clothing. It reminds me of the stuff they are selling in Target now. He's stylin'.

A Home Is Where The Fun Is

Lizard and her dad spent some quality time building a fort last week. She was bummed when it came time to clean it up, but felt better when I told her she can always build another one, which she did the next day.

What's Your Therapy Of Choice?

The other day I was sitting with The Chief and started to feel very sad. It bothered me that I was feeling sad because I didn't think I had a reason to be sad (if you don't count the fact that it's freezing cold and gloomy, there has been at least one person sick in my family at any given moment for the past two months straight, and I'm not in California anymore). 

"What is the cause of this sudden sadness," I thought, and then it hit me. I hadn't sewed anything for almost nine months. It was time for a project or two...or three....or...

*As a side note, I did not neglect my family, I just didn't sleep much.

My first attempt at a stuffed animal. I found a free pattern for a whale, but it would have been flat so I altered it to have a back and a stomach. I thought he turned out pretty cute.

I bought this skirt at Goodwill for $3.50 and turned it into a lace pencil skirt using some clearance fabric. $5.50 total and a few stitches later I had the lace skirt I had been wanting. My pattern was tracing over a skirt I already had.

I also bought this sweater for $3.50 at Goodwill and turned it into a knit skirt for Lizard. Re-purposing is so much fun.

 I didn't have to alter this pattern. I had bought this fabric because it was cheap and I liked it. It was just waiting to be turned into a Scotty dog.

This is my first doll. I made it for a one year old's birthday present. I couldn't find a free pattern that I liked online so I made up my own. I looked at a ton of different dolls and chose the parts I liked best from a bunch of them. It's not perfect, but it takes practice right? I'm having fun learning.

This is my second doll and I'm starting to figure things out. I have four more dolls planned out and I'll post them when they're done. Looking at them is voluntary. ;) This is all fabric I have on hand and need to use so it's great.

Look Mommy I'm Pretty

Even though I don't wear make up I still have some on hand just in case. Some of it is very old and I came by most of it through promotional offers. In the beginning I didn't wear the stuff because I thought it was a hassle, but my primary reason for not wearing it now is because it irritates my skin, even the eye shadow! Little Bird's skin didn't seem to have any problem with the lipstick she applied with a shadow brush.

These are the moments that you wish you took a picture of but usually don't because your too busy doing damage control (at least that's how I am). I'm glad I was able to laugh at this while it was happening and not just after.

 Little Bird's hair hangs down in her face and until I have time to do her hair I put it up with a clothespin.

 Looks like she had another rough night. I'm not sure how her fine hair manages to get so ratted up...she must move a ton in her sleep.

Hair Visor

Blessing Day

January 6th was the Chief's baby blessing. It's a tradition in our church to bless a baby in front of the ward a few weeks after they're born. He was 11 weeks old, which is a little older than normal, but we wanted our parents to be able to be there and that date worked for everyone. It was a very nice day. The Chief enjoyed it immensely.

Look What We Made

Lizard made a cute gingerbread house out of graham crackers at an Activity Days activity (she has activities twice a month with girls her age at our church). I made an ice cream cake for the company we had on The Chief's blessing day. It was a cold day, but the ice cream still tasted good.

The cake is surrounded by cut up ice cream sandwiches and has a Peppermint Joe Joe's crust with peppermint and vanilla ice cream and whipped topping. There is also a layer of homemade fudge. You could do any number of combinations with a plain Oreo crust. Can't wait to make the next one.

A picture just isn't enough when it comes to Little Bird, so here is some more video of her in action.

She says "da" before a lot of her words (used to be da da but she shortened it) so when she's with The Chief she is saying da-mouth, da-cute, etc.