Lions and Tigers and Bears! OH MY!

We are a very spontaneous family. And this morning despite the dreary weather, we really wanted to do something fun. So on a whim we packed some food, diapers and extra clothes and packed the girls into the Jeep and drove to DC to the National Zoo. Very spontaneous. Very fun indeed! We saw Lions: And a Tiger and his beloved ball:

And bears and flamingos:The National Zoo has an awesome new Asia trail with my all-time favorite red pandas. So cute. They NEED me to cuddle them. lol. And they had the most adorable asian Otters too. But can you guess what Anastasia's favorite part was? The frogs! We drive all the way to the zoo and see all the exotic animals and she loves the frogs, which we have in abundance in our own back yard. I do absolutely love that she loves frogs because when I was a kid I too loved frogs. I was obsessed with them. My mom made me froggy clothes, I had atleast a hundred frog knick-knacks, and I had pet frogs from time to time. Yes they are awesome. And this new love for the slimey green creatures that are currently singing deafeningly, loudly in the trees right now, is proof that she actually got some of my genes. I am so proud.

And just for kicks, I thought this picture of George Washington's Bathtub from our trip to Berekly Springs was really fun:

On another note, it has been a good, busy week. I scored both of the girl's a new wardrobe at a consignment sale for less than $50 the other day. That included brand-new stride rite shoes for Anastasia. Yesterday I spent the morning gardening which I loved more than I ever thought I would. It is nice because Anastasia enjoys hunting for worms as I dig in the dirt. And Isabel is just happy to ride around on my back, or watch nature from her carseat. So it is a good family activity that helps me feel productive with 2 small children. That doesn't happen very often! Happy weekend everybody!

I am making a private Shutterfly page for family and friends. So if you want access to ALL our photos, and/or the ability to download and develop them... please shoot me an email at marmalejo@gmail.com . Thanks :)

Busy as Bees making Honey.

That would be us... busy bee bliss. The first days of Spring provide us with dozens of adventures to be had. Nick tells of our adventure yesterday (giving us all a break from his newest hobby) and our trip to Berkely Springs. We enjoyed being enveloped in the "wild and wonderful" terrain that is the very heart and soul of West Virginia. The highlight for me was definately finding a mountain spring, 20 minutes from our house! I will definately be saving jugs and making random trips there for water rather than spending money at the store.

Last Thursday it rained, and I needed out of the house. So I found Books-A-Million (which I used to like significantly less than Borders or B&N) to be a fun date with the girls. I like that they have a train set for Anastasia to play with, and the kids section is really close to the craft magazine section. So Anastasia played while Isabel sat in a comfy chair and I read some magazines. That is where I discovered a really sweet magazine called "Living Crafts" with very waldorfy, natural crafts. Anyhow, they had an article about growing Easter grass that you can find here. So you can guess what we will be doing this week! I also like the following centerpiece from Martha Stewart:Decorating for Spring is so cheery! I can't wait for Easter! And this week's color is blue... so we painted with blue watercolors... and I think I have a few tricks up my sleeve!

Binge Sewing.

I finished the Easter dresses and am so excited I can't wait until Easter to share!

I used Wendy Slothboom's Feathered Friends fabric and the Portobello Pixie "Claire" pattern! How perfect of a name (except for the spelling typo), for the perfectly fairy tale dresses! AH! I can't stop squealing in delight! Even Bitty Baby got a matching one even though it isn't pictured! And, these pictures truely don't do the flowy, maiden cuteness of these dresses justice. As if my kids couldn't get ANY CUTER!!!

I heart Green.

Its been very green around here this week! I have decided to do a color each week to try and teach Anastasia colors that aren't red. So this week seemed the appropriate week to start with St. Paddy's day and all. We made the above egg carton caterpillars, which were recycling at the same time so they are green squared!! And they eat newspaper shamrocks...mmmmm. Anastasia enjoyed painting everything green! Even her hair! I had people asked me if I dyed her hair green while I was out. Yeah. right. Someone today asked why Isabel was dressed like a boy... um, she had flowers on her blue coat... she just likes blue. People are so weird sometimes. lol.
Green-dyred rice and split peas for playing in. Warning: only use if you want to sweep the floor We also watched green inspired movies on YouTube. I go in and out of Youtube phases. I am totally in one (hence my previous post) and I learned how to put them on my blog. How exciting! Isabel even got in on the action and wore green while doing the morning crossword. lol. And lastly my green froggy sugar bowl:



And even my green peas are coming up!

Wearin' of the Green

Top of the afternoon to ya... Happy Saint Patrick's Day! If you aren't wearing green, consider yourself pinched! I have some fun gifts courtesy of Youtube for all you wonderful blog readers! Here is a silly St. Patrick's Day movie for little kids from Big Idea (the maker of Veggie Tales). Anastasia loved it though it was a little goofy:



And another great old cartoon of Irish-spirit note:



Meanwhile the corned beef is in the oven... mmmm.... Strange how much I love the stuff and only make it once a year. We watched the above movies this morning, made green caterpillars out of egg cartons that we painted green, listened to some Irish music, and now my two little leprechauns are fast asleep. Time to cut out some fabric pieces! Hope you have a great and corned-beefy, green and snake-free-y, happy, river-dance jiggy St. Patricks Day!

Whats in your basket?

I have already done a good deal of my Easter shopping for the girls. For some reason, I like filling Easter baskets and stockings more than buying the bigger gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Thus far I have purchased some Crayon Rocks and some finger puppets from Let's Explore. I have been eyeing the crayon rocks for some time now, and think that Anastasia is old enough to enjoy them. I think I will pair them with a sketch book and possibly a nature inspired coloring book. I also ordered a cute knitted bunny from Green Mountain Wee Woolies Etsy Shop for Anastasia, but it looks like a nice item for Isabel instead in person. I would post pictures of some of the cuteness, but I don't want A-Bomb to see.

Yes her name is A-Bomb today because she explodes into rage at any moment if she doesn't get her way. I got Anastasia a cute bunny last year so I figured I would outfit him with a new ribbon rather than buy a whole new bunny. I am going to try and find a pretty soft white rabbit for Isabel's basket. I was also considering sewing up some Purl Bunnies. And for Isabel I want to add some bells, beans and rice to a few eggs and glue them shut for some fun shakers. I might get some flower seeds and little pots. I am thinking of getting some plastic animals along with the stickers and candy I have for filling Easter Eggs for a fun Egg Hunt.

Yes maybe I am a little ahead of the game, but I am usually so last minute in reality that I am lucky I get anything done on time. (I seriously wrapped Christmas gifts on Christmas morning! Santa came AFTER breakfast lol.) I still have to make Easter dresses! So I want to know, what is in your Easter baskets?

An Utterly Otterly Week!

Can you see the little otter on the rock? Whats also crazy about this photo, is that in the reflection, Anastasia looks just like me when I was a kid. Its really weird because all the rest of the time she looks like little Nick.

Isabel is 5 months old now!

Do you ever feel you are on the verge of completing so many things at once... but are so far from actually finishing? That would be a good way to describe my life right now. I have been trying to take some pictures for my shop so I can announce it here... but the elements (wind) is getting in the way of my perfect pictures!!! ugh. I think we could power our entire neighborhood if we had a windmill right now. I mean, its not even that windy, but everytime I step outside with my camera, the wind blows. And yesterday I was going to spend all day sewing some cuteness to sell, and I couldn't find anything so I decided to clean my craft room... or more accurately, my craft shelves. So I have been cleaning that room in between all the wants and needs of my little ones.

We have also been spending tons of time outside. Its been so nice. Last week my mom and I took the girls to Richmond to the art museum and Maymont, an amazing public garden with a little zoo. Anastasia loved the sea otters and fish. So I bought her a cute little Folkmanis Otter finger puppet at the gift shop that she insisted she show the real otters. The real otters must have thought it was their little brother otter because they followed it around from the inside of the glass! They went up to it with their nose and wherever we moved it, they followed the puppet nose-to-nose! Anastasia LOVED it! We also happened to have this adorable book from the library called Utterly Otterly Day by Mary Casanova that is so cute! I picked it out without even knowing we would visit real otters so it worked out great even though Anastasia still thinks they are seals. Anastasia likes reading it with her puppet.

Anastasia developed a new fear of bees. WEll, bugs actually but she calls them bees usually. It is sort of my fault as I found a tick on her neck last week while brushing her hair and yanked it off and it hurt her. She screamed and cried and didn't want me brushing her hair or touching her neck. WEll I showed her that it wasn't me, that it was the bug that hurt her. That atleast seemed to calm her while scarring her for life. Then over the weekend she woke up with a nightmare where she was "Afreed" of the "Bees". What have I done? Now she randomly freaks out about bees when we are outside (and sometimes inside) especially if she is surrounded by dirt. It didnt help that a prickly plant got her leg yesterday while I was planting the peas. She was sure she got attacked by bees and wouldn't let me put her down and screamed histerically! I meant to pick up a spray bottle for "bee poison" (aka water) for her to spray when she is scared of bees. Maybe it will work? Either way, it is half funny and half really sad especially when I think she would be okay if I never showed her the tick... but then I might never have been allowed to brush her hair again.

Its Coming...

Yes my friends, Spring is almost here. We are waiting impatiently (as are the bulbs poking out of the ground in our yard) for the warm, flowery Spring. I have been completely absorbed in my gardening books, and joined a gardening forum as well as reading every little tidbit of information I can about planting and succeeding! I had no idea there were so many options! To till, or not to till. Lasagna gardening vs. raised beds vs. tilled rows. And the composting choices? Plastic bins vs. wire bins, vs tumblers. And all the varieties of vegetables to choose from. I have learned in this week more about worm poop and manuer than I ever wanted to know. I am longing to get outside and pick a spot, rip up some sod, start my compost bin, plant some Sugar Snap Peas and build some tepees for them. *breathe*

I am becoming borderline obsessed with my imaginary garden and am devising evil schemes to keep the animals away from it. I saw a cute little bunny the other day, and my first thought was, "aww, Easter and spring fuzzy cuteness" then I remembered the lettuce I want to grow and I immediately switched gears to "evil, flesh-eating bunny must never step foot in my yard again! wahahaha." Spring seriously needs to come completely (none of this wishy washy stuff) before I really go insane. lol.

A couple of good things coming soon: I was hoping to be finished last week, but looks like I need a little more time to get my Etsy shop up and running. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be to put items on there (I am used to Ebay) but I think once I get going... it will all be good. And I just found out today that a friend's husband is trying to start an official Farmer's Market in downtown Front Royal. I was told I could have a spot if I want to sell baked goods and maybe crafts! Hooray!

So my time has been divided in many directions all waiting for warm Spring to come and make everything bloom and blossom.