simple things.

Today I took off work a little early to take Miss "I" to the doctor.  She has been struggling with a persistent ear infection, but also woke up last night throwing up and continued to do so most of the night into the morning hours.  No she is not allergic to the antibiotic like I thought, she just has a little virus.  She seems to be feeling somewhat better so I am praying with all of my might that my "sleeping hours" will be spent well of course sleeping.  Anyway, because of my early off, this afternoon was full of lots of the "simple things".

Simple thing #1: 

Sunshine  (Which has been hard to come by lately here in central Missouri.)

Simple thing #2:  Fall + leaves + a three year old.

Maddox said the trees will be naked when all of the leaves get done falling off of them.

And yes that is a glue gun in Maddox's hand - don't ask.

Simple thing #3: 

A walk in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the week.

Simple thing #4: 
Bike riding - even this bee enjoyed the ride.

Simple thing #5: 

Pumpkin Carving - sorry I haven't got the "night time picture taking without a flash"

down pat quite yet.

Simple thing #6: 

A surprise visit from a good friend who brought homemade bread and strawberry rhubarb jam.  The whole house now smells of homemade bread.

And no, us enjoying the simple things was not at little Miss Isla's expense.  She spent most of the afternoon snoozing in her stroller.  I think that she also enjoyed the sunshine and warm fall weather.  And of course, she enjoyed watching big brother Maddox- she thinks he is so silly.

"soooooooooooooooooooo nice" weekend.

Here are some random pics from a wonderful "non-busy" weekend.  We enjoyed every minute of it- it was Bryan's last weekend off for awhile and we were finally at home after being gone the majority of the last two (sooooooooooooooooooo nice) .  The older I get the more of a "home-body" I find myself becoming.

I am warning you - I was pretty picture happy this weekend.

Painting. 

Now only if Maddox could assist me in painting the dining room.

Some time in the country. 

Maddox, to put it nicely, is an uncooperative subject when it comes to taking his picture - no matter what we try to bribe him with.  I am in love with Isla's brown eyes (hence all of the close ups)- I never thought I would have a "brown-eyed girl".

Exer-saucer.

Isla was introduced to the exer-saucer this weekend and thought that it was the best thing in her little world. 

Bath time.

There is something extra-specially cute about bath time in the sink.

Rainy Sunday. 

With winter fast approaching, every minute spent outside feels especially sweet.

Randomness.

Earlier this evening Maddox spotted a couple deflated balloons that I had thrown away(I have to be really sneaky when throwing anything away), he immediately ran into the other room and yelled in a very serious tone "someone call 9-1-1 somebody threw my ballons away".

like chocolate and peanut butter.

Mixing the likes of paper and fabric ends up with the glorious fabulousness of so many other common favs (i.e. chocolate and peanut butter).  The above could have been just a simple somewhat modern print, but I thought I would make it a little less ordinary by mixing in the ultimate yumminess and texture of fabric and a few stitches.  I love the end result.  I can't wait to make more of these with different letters, different fabrics, different prints, etc - ohhhhh the possibilities! 

Great wishes for bunches of weekend fun!

unbelievable.

How is it possible that there are only a couple of months left in 2009? 
This has been a constant thought of mine today.

road trip.

My friend Stacey and I went road trippin' this weekend down to northwest Arkansas- perhaps the craft fair mecca of the world (maybe not everday, but definitely on this particular weekend).  I should have known that she wasn't just dragging me to Arkansas for one measly craft fair.  In a about a 45 mile radius there was what seemed like a craft fair on every corner.   They were in fields, on farms, in convention centers, and malls.  Not only were their lots of them- they were huge.  There was booth after booth after booth of any beautiful handcrafted and/ or vintage thing imaginable.  It was like shopping on etsy, but instead of just seeing the items on your computer screen you were seeing them in real life.  You could touch, feel, and smell the handcraftedness- actually I think it was kettle korn and glazed nuts.

. . . wish I would have gotten more pics of some of the other cool things we saw.

A couple of regrets- not about purchases I made, but rather those I didn't make. I wish I would have bought  a handmade dress for Isla made of bright orange, yellow, and green so cute fabrics and a crocheted multi-colored blanket- it was so delightful!

Next time we are makin' it a legit road trip and taking one of these . . .
if you are in for next year let me know.

Who would have thought twenty years ago you could go out to the middle
of field on a farm in the middle of nowhere and find this.

too-duh-loo.

mom vs. three-year-old

IN THE ARENA OF MOM VS THREE YEAR OLD:

MOM = 0

THREE YEAR OLD = 1

We have had a change of plans.  I was so excited about creating Maddox's Halloween costume this year for a couple reasons.  I was so wanting to test my sewing/ creative skills and see if I could create the image I had envisioned and two I knew that this was probably the last year that I would have any say at all in what my little creature would want to turn into at "ghost, ghoul, and goblin time".  No need to wait until next year, I already lost this battle.  I kept trying to convince my lovely little man that being Captain "M" would be the coolest costume ever; he refuses to be convinced- maybe it's the blue tights.  As much as I hate to admit it, I was starting to feel rather selfish.  After all, why should I ruin the little guys day just because of my own needs and wants.  Anyway, we have decided to meet in the middle - no he will not be a "engine" (ninja) turtle or a power ranger this year- these were his first choices.  Seriously, where did he come up with a ninja turtle - didn't they drown in the sewer a long time ago?  I refuse to conform to these kind of ever-so-popular little boy costumes quite yet- so we have decided that an astronaut it will be.  Popular, yet "professionally" cute.  The costume is store bought but I would like to make the astronaut's globe-like helmet - any thoughts on how I could make one of these.  I was thinking maybe paper mache shaped by a balloon - any thoughts?

So a sorrowful good-bye to Captain "M".

As a side note, I love these quirky, but ever so cute "Hero" prints.  "Super Hero" and "My Hero" 

They were the inspiration for my little Hero's Captain "M" costume.  I wanted something that looked like a costume, but with a touch of practicality.

CHALK ONE UP FOR THE THREE YEAR OLD!

what a cool idea.

Tonight on the CBS evening news one of the feature stories was about a not-for-profit corporation by the name of Clean the World.  Clean the World's mission is to collect and recycle hotel soaps, lotions, and shampoos that are normally discarded after one or two uses and then distribute them to a number of impoverished countries to help prevent millions of deaths caused by infection and disease due to a not-so-clean environment and bad hygiene.  What a cool idea.  Something that was once so wasteful is now being used to help millions!  Love this.

work and play.

For the most part, I like my blog to be a "work-free" zone, but I wanted to post a few pics from our meeting this past weekend.  It was a great success with the help of so many talented people - thank you.  Planning, preparing, and the production of these large meetings is one of the most enjoyable yet stressful aspects of my job.  I have found that in life the things that bring about the most stress usually also give you the greatest sense of accomplishment (upon their successful completion that is - successful being the key word).  After all, isn't that what pushes you to work through the "I don't want tos" and "I'm tireds" - that thought of what it feels like to have completed a job well done. Anyway, enough philosophy for now :).

Also, check out these guys and this song they made up about Aflac and getting paid on a claim.  They came to the meeting to sing "Aflac's Got Your Back" and another song they made up just for our meeting.  They are two very talented guys.   We also had an awesome guest speaker - Byrd Baggett, CPS.  When I saw he had brought a "track" relay baton as a prop for his speech, I knew he would have a good story to tell and one that I would especially be interested in. 

Oh, by the way, the meeting had a baseball theme.  As if you hadn't already come to that conclusion.

Someone has already found a new use for some of the decor.

so long for now.