A Jingle-y Surprise!

There was a jingling package in the mail the other day...

Goodies from Grand-Auntie Liz!

Iris says "Thanks" for the envelope

She's a little too little to appreciate this.

Eli remembered the ball he left at Arthur's house, and was so excited to have it back, he was jingling and jingling with joy. 

(Note the joyful expression...)

(And yes, that IS the ball that Auntie April got in China, brought to Missouri, gave to Eli, ELi left it UNDER a bed or something, and since last August, it has resided in MO. Finally home in Idaho! That is a well traveled ball!)

Jeremy says that this ball is a sign that Liz and Bruce hate us

I say us leaving it at their house for 9 months is a sign that we hate them. Besides, Eli has at least 5 toys that are more annoying than this one. 

Thank you Grand-Auntie!

De-Skunkify Your Kitty in 10 Steps!

You will need:

1 skunk sprayed cat (a dog would also work.)

a bathtub

2 large bottles of tomato juice

1) Put your skunk sprayed kitty in the bathroom. CLOSE THE DOOR! (You do not want tomato juice covered kitty streaking through your house and jumping on the couch!)

2) Put her in the tubby. Hold her down!

3) Start pouring tomato juice all over your kitty. Rub it in. Pour and rub it all over. Get her face, her ears, her tail, her tummy, everywhere!

Don't let her out of the tub! She'll try to get out, so hold her tight!

4) Appreciate how truly angry your kitty is right now.

5) After you have coated your kitty completely with tomato juice, shampoo and rinse her. (Rosie's shampoo of choice is Herbal Essences Long-Term Relationship, for long hair.) She will hate this the most, because after all, tomato juice is rude, but this is WATER!!!

6) Lather, rinse repeat. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear.

7) Towel dry your kitty. (Kitties hate hair dryers, and haven't you been abusive enough for one day?)

8) Leave your kitty in privacy to try to regain her dignity. 

9) Very Important! Close the door to your bedroom so that wet kitty doesn't go take a still slightly skunk scented nap on your pillow.


10) Take a good whiff of your kitty tomorrow. If she's still stinky, repeat. 

Iris' Blanket

All pretty girls need a pretty blanket.

The only downside to not knowing Iris' sex before she was born was that I didn't get any baby sewing done.

But now, (after 4 months) I have a pretty flannel blanket done for her. 

Just in time for summer!

A Blanket for Mason

I made a sweet little blanket for my sweet little nephew, Mason, who is due next month.

(Iris reluctantly models it...)

When I saw this fabric in the store, I screamed out loud. So cute!

You have to know my sister, Cheri. She is such a bookworm, an owl just fits her personality perfectly. And who doesn't LOVE argyle?

So Jeremy and I have 3 nephews, and 3 nieces, but they are all on his side of the family. This is my very first on my side! So exciting!

Can't wait to see you, little neffy-poo!

You're a Grand Old Flag

The view from my living room

The view from my front walk 

Eli painted the bottom red stripe all by himself!

Herbses, Precious!

I planted flat leaf parsley and basil, because they are herbs I use the most.

They did not germinate.

They did not sprout.

I was so sad.

I bought a basil plant, and decided to pull out the weeds that had sprouted in the washtub where I'd planted the seeds.

Look what was underneath!

I am so happy!

Iris' Beautiful Irises

Could they be any gorgeouser?

Frustration

Today Eli told me, "Mom, I need Rosie to LISTEN to me."

I can totally relate. I have the same problem with my four year old.

The Paisley Cupcake

So some crafty girlie friends and I have started a new blog,
The Paisley Cupcake.

We are crafts, homemaking, recipes, gardening, you name it, we'll probably do it!

I post every Monday, and so far, we're having lots of fun!

Super exciting news though, my Baby Activity Mat (featuring Iris) has been featured on One Pretty Thing! So excited!

So check out The Paisley Cupcake, and become a follower, cause we'll be having lots of cool crafts, and giveaways this summer!

(End Advertisement) ;D

Playroom Garage

Eli's playroom has been extremely chaotic.

But I had a plan.... :D

This horribly ugly but extremely sturdy piece of furniture was in our basement when we moved in.

It was in my craft room, and I used it to hold all the junk I was not currently using.... but honestly, I was afraid to touch it. Doesn't it just scream spiders and germs! Eeeeuuuw!

Fortunately for me, I have a big strong handsome husband who hauled it out to the garage for me, AND stripped, sanded, and primed it!

Using only paint we already had, (i.e. free) Jeremy and I painted it, and now it is adorable and spider and germ free.

Eli calls it his toy garage.

I shared this makeover on

A Home Without Books Is Like A Body Without a Soul

This is the top shelf of Iris and Eli's closet

It measures 8 1/2 feet.

It contains 182 children's and YA books that I LOVE. (I know the exact number because I am a dork and have a list.)

You will notice I have started stacking on top... which I hate!

Jeremy needs to build some more shelves. :)

Being Four

When Eli was three, he requested his quesadilla be cut into thirds. He wanted only three m&ms, thank you very much! He would eat three eggs over easy (really!) for breakfast.

Now that he is four...

(No, I did NOT give my son four corndogs. His dad did...)

The Many Faces of Captain Hook

sleepy

ecstatic

plotting Peter Pan's demise

super happy

No matter how often he asks, I can't bring myself to call Iris "Mr. Smee"...

Summer is {almost} Here...

And I couldn't be happier!

Drumroll, please...

Eli got a drum for his birthday (from my dad, who clearly hates me)

It is was a little hard for him to carry and play, since it had no neck strap, and since he really, really wants to have a parade, I fixed one up for him.

I have had this strap floating around for a while in my craft room...

one of those things you can't throw away, because SOMEDAY it might be useful.

(I maintain that that adage is only true in crafting!

And even then, not always. Throw away the bread bags, Mom!)

I stitched a tube of fabric, slid the strap thru and secured it at both ends...

Voila!

Can we say headache?

Doctor, Doctor

Eli had his 4 year well child check yesterday.

Our Doctor asked a bunch of questions about E's development.

One in particular made me laugh.

He asked, "Does he play pretend?"

Eli was dressed like this...

And would only answer to "Batman"

Horsies

We've rented our pasture to a bunch of horsies for the summer.

Eli is thrilled, especially when the "cowboy" comes over to take care of them.

He asked the cowboy what his horses names are.

The cowboy, who I now think of as "Mr. Not-Long-On Imagination"

initially had two horses here.

They are named Black and Paint.

Being the smart-alec that I am, I was tempted to ask which one is which.

This week he brought over two more horses.

I wonder what their names are...

Pajamas

It is getting warmer (FINALLY!), and as cute as Mr. Eli looks in footie pajamas,

they are simply too hot for him to wear.

Remember his Batman pajamas?

The undershirts I got him came in a pack of 5, so I let him pick out 4 more fabrics... and I made him 4 more pairs of pjs!

I bought fabric and undershirts, 1/2 yard of material is more than enough for shorts and an embellishment on the shirt. Total cost for 5 pairs of pajamas was just over $11.

And Eli had sooo much fun being involved in the creative process...

He is such an artist!