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.

Lent... 1 day early.

And a taste of things to come:
Thank goodness my mom is coming over tomorrow because we need a change of pace. Last week the doctor said A's ear was still a little pink and if it bothered her, to give her a call and she would hook me up with some more antibiotics. Well she ended up with a little cold, which seemed to clear up over the weekend, and then Tuesday, 2am she woke up screaming. She said her "ear hort". This happened a good 4 times or so and first thing in the morning I called the Dr. for her meds. Unfortunately they didn't get the call to the pharmacy until 4:30pm, after 8 phone calls on my end. So Anastasia sat on the couch miserably... ALL DAY LONG. I found cooking an onion in the microwave in a small amount of water for just over a minute, and waiting for the juice to cool made a nice soother for her ears. (google "onion for earache" for more specific directions). We watched snoopy and the Muppets multiple times. Oh yeah, I had to watch too. That was part of the deal for her not to scream at the top of her lungs. Atleast I was able to read an entire book about saving seeds.


Yes my friends, I have every intention of having my very first garden this year. Complete with all or most heirloom seeds. It was going to be simple, but the more I sifted through the catalogues, the more wonderful things I wanted to grow. Then I picked up a book about saving seeds from the library and realized it isn't too difficult to save most types of seeds from one season to the next. I guess I am an all-or-nothing person. I can't just do the minimum and be happy, I really have to completely embrace all aspects of what I am doing in order to be successful at it. My mom probably never thought she would see the day that I sat down with an heirloom seed catalogue and poured through the pages of tantilizing vegetables with her. I have to admit, I never saw myself as a gardener but the more I connect with my roots and the more picky I have become about what goes into my children's (and my) mouths, I can almost feel the dirt calling me.




(Green Zebra heirloom tomatoes and why my husband wants a garden)

My mom has always loved gardening. She is currently raising worms in her closet. I wish I was kidding! Nick teases her about them, securing our inability to adopt any of her little slimy friends for our composting endevors. I come from a long line of Czech farmers. I remember the huge well of pride I felt eating greenbeans my grandpa grew, and I helped pick and snap. I remember the snapping part well, on the porch of my Grandpa's house with my cousins, aunts, whoever was around. I felt connected to my family, the land and the meal we ate. That was what my family was. Farmers and homemakers and it all intertwined. Once farming was a way of life and now it is somewhat of a luxury for those who can find the time and space for it. And it is one luxury I want to commit to. So any farmers out there who can share some advice, please do! Until next time... let the planning begin!