Mother's Day Craft

Sydney and Violet made these little pendant necklaces for their Grammy and Oma for Mother's Day. Well, mostly Sydney and Mommy made them. I saw the idea over on The Crafty Crow and thought it would be a great project for Sydney. We just added little Violet's fingerprint too. Now both grandmas have a pendant with the girls' fingerprints. I will say it turned out a bit too big to wear though so these necklaces may become Christmas ornaments.

Happy 29th Shane!

The man I love turns 29 today. I struggled with what to get for him. He means so much to me and another Blu Ray or book just seemed sort of....not enough. In the end, Sydney picked out a record for him (his newest hobbie) and along with a couple small gifts we each made him something. Sydney used some clay that bakes in the oven and made him a pencil holder for his desk. I decided to make him this crocheted yoda to sit and guard the pencil cup. The pattern was a little confusing to me so I sort of changed some things as I went, but that may be because this was my first attempt at any sort of animal or doll. I am happy with the way it turned out and I look forward to trying other creatures in the future.


Shane, I love the way you love me and the girls. You are such a wonderful man of God, an amazing artist, and of course, an amazing father. May your birthday be filled with lots of laughter and fun, and may the Dodgers win today for you! ;)

Baby Brother's Wedding

My youngest brother was married this past Saturday. It was a beautiful ceremony at my parents' house. He married Stephanie, who already feels like a part of our family but now we officially welcome her to the chaos. I wish them many years of happiness and lots of babies. hee hee

Of course I was too busy during the wedding to take pictures but here's one of them heading out at the end of the night.


And here's one of the my little family, all ready for the wedding and pictures to start.


If you are keeping track, both of my brothers have now been married in the last month. Next up is my sister in October. Let's just say it is a busy year for our family. The good news is our family is doubling in size (almost anyways) and it is so much fun!

Favorite Things: Homemade Gifts

As you already know, I love handmade gifts. The girls have received so many amazing things from friends and family. The amazing knitter, mommy, wife, and friend, Amy made this beautiful vest for Violet (she was wearing it back here too). I just love how soft and tightly knit it is, plus it can be machine washed. Amy blogged about it back here and gave Vi the gift months ago but I just haven't been able to share yet. Hope you are all inspired, I know I am each time Violet wears it.

New armoire

We have a 9 month old explorer living in our house. She loves anything off limits including any of big sister's toys, Daddy's flat screen and Blu Rays, and Mommy's crochet hooks and sewing supplies. In order to create a safe land of adventure in the apartment we have been doing some spring cleaning and decluttering. We also finally added this beauty to our living room. I love love love it! There is still a bit of cleaning and organizing to do and then of course my favorite: decorating. It feels so good to go through the house and organize. We are known to move often so usually the cleaning and organizing happens then. However, we have been in this apartment for over 2 years so it was time. I have a few projects in the works so look for some actual crafting up soon.

A brother's wedding

My brother Richard is only 13 months younger than me. He is dangerously intelligent and loves being a father. On March 27th he was married to Michelle. We welcome Michelle and her daughter Lily to our family. Lily and Sydney are only a couple months apart in age and have very similar personalities. You can imagine Sydney's excitement when learning that Lily was now officially her cousin. She even insisted on getting her a gift!

Care Package

Here is a crocheted lap blanket for my grandma who recently had hip surgery. It is a big granny square and made mostly of Red Heart Soft yarn. We love getting handmade gifts, and unexpected gifts in the mail are always fun, so I thought we would pay it forward. Sydney made a potholder from a loom to include. She is getting really good at making those little potholders.