Summer Break

It's been a lovely summer break around here. There's been so much going on, I took blogging off my to-do list. I've barely even surfed around to see what you all have been up to either. I just started poking around a few days ago when we got back from a nice long vacation. You've all been so busy! So many interesting projects going on out there. I'm ready to jump back in with both feet.

Here's a bit of what I've been up to:

:: getting oodles of lovelies from Sew to Speak ::


:: working on this slouch hobo-style bag for myself ::


:: hitting the beach. hard. for two weeks ::


:: knitting this hat from One Skein for a friend's new baby ::


:: burp cloths made from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection ::


:: got some lovely new yarns ::


:: turned them into felted bowls for thread ::


:: owls have taken over a few ::


:: turned some of Xander's monster art into this canvas wall piece ::


:: finished this custom order for Kate ::


:: the inside is as fun as the outside ::


:: we grew our first hanging tomato garden ::


:: and discovered wasp-larva covered tomato caterpillars ::


:: completed a challenging (and fun) custom order ::


:: a gig bag for Elisa ::


:: she has already taken it on tour with her ::


There it is. The brief history of our summer. For the next few weeks, we'll be busy getting Xander ready for kindergarten. Celebrating my birthday and Quinn's birthday. And Kevin and I will be taking a short trip to Vegas without the kids (of course!).

But I'm sure I'll get a little crafting (and posting) squeezed in there somewhere.

Tennessaw Tennessee

We're back from Chattanooga, Tennessee! It was our first time there and we had a great time. The weather was great, and there was so much to do. We could have easily stayed another three or four days. But, alas, it's back to work. And, I've come down with another bug (bronchitis?) and don't know when I'll have time to make it to the doctor this week. I'm going to take a week off from any after-work crafting and try to get to bed early. But I'll be back next week with more of the projects I'm working on, including a tiny preview of the quilt I'm working on for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap.

In the meantime, here's a few snaps of our vacation.

:: Sunglass holders and pencil bags for Xander and Quinn ::

:: Quinn and Kevin on a carousel ride ::

:: Xander plays on a sculpture outside the aquarium ::

:: Munc shadows (Quinn is behind Kevin's legs) ::

:: A sign at Rock City ::

:: A waterfall at Rock City ::

what happened?

Was I really gone for over a month? I know I slipped into digital world for a bit, reading things like this, and this, and this.
But I didn't think it had been a month!

Still, I did find time to do some non-pixel related work:

I finished up this scarf. Just in time to put it away for next winter, now that Spring is here.


I'm working on this sweater for Lynne's class. I'm predicting I'll finish up in the fall, just in time to put it on. (Just kidding, Lynne!)


I took a trip to NYC with a girlfriend to visit another girlfriend. While there I picked up these fat quarters from Purl Patchwork.


And this book from Purl Soho I can't wait to have a reason to knit those angora booties! (I'm talking to YOU, Erica!)


Jason turned me on to these stickers from Sticker Robot.


And we were in the local newspaper last Saturday for a story I submitted about meeting Barack back in March. The title of the story in the paper was "Flirting with Fame". Yep, Kevin teased me about that.

Now, I'm relaxing for a few minutes before going to bed after getting everything ready for the Munc family's trip to Chattanooga tomorrow. We were supposed to fly Skybus, and this is the second time I was burned by them in the past 10 days. *sigh*

Anyhow, I was able to put together these cute messenger bags for the kids. They outgrew the ones that I made for them when we went to Boston (on Skybus. *sigh*) last September.

Yes, that is paint on Xander's sleeve. Yes, that is chocolate ice cream on Quinn's shirt. That's how we roll.

I also made them cute little sunglasses holders and a small pencil/pen/stickers holder bag, but I forgot to photograph them before the sun when down. I also made these cute little travel pillows for them for the car ride down (yep, I'm pretty bummed about not getting on Skybus tomorrow). I'll snap all of them when we get back into town.

I promise not to wait another month.

a small disappointment

We're supposed to be packing tonight. But our flight to Chattanooga was canceled due to the first Nor'easter to hit us in '08. Lousy timing. The kids were really excited about the trip. We were supposed to go here. And here. And here. If we're lucky, we'll be able to leave on Sunday morning.

That is the second disappointment of the week. The first came late Tuesday evening when it was clear my choice in candidate wouldn't be winning Ohio's primary. I was much happier on Sunday, when Jason and I got to shake hands with him. Later, a friend of a friend quoted us in this article about the election.

In the two to three seconds I spent not obsessing about the upcoming election, I did manage to plan out a few new crafting projects. I ordered some new fabric from phatfabrics (pictured above), and am planning on doing something with this in the new master bedroom.

I also took a trip with Lynne to a yarn shop and picked out some nice wool for a sweater I'm going to be starting. Yep, you heard me right. I've been knitting for five weeks and she has me starting a sweater. I love that girl's optimism.

Finally, I found out this week that I'll be participating in my first quilt swap! I'm really excited and have been thinking about what kind of design to work up. I promise leave American politics out of it.

pretend warm

Oh February. The shortest month. The month that seems the longest. After the umpteenth day of cloud-covered skies and temperatures in the teens, I decided that some pretend warm was better than no warm at all and took the kids to the Franklin Park Conservatory. Ah, moist air. Warmth. A pretend bit of summer. Lovely.

As a bit of irony, I'm scheduled to leave town tomorrow afternoon with some girfriends to have a girls' weekend out. In, of all places, Chicago. Heh. Chicago in February. Who planned this trip?

We're Back

Well, as I had hoped, my kids are great little urban travelers. We had a great time in Boston and the two of them kept up with Kevin and I quite nicely. Xander initially kept asking us why we were on a walking vacation, but he got into it okay after being on the Freedom Trail for a couple of hours.

When we got back this morning and pulled into the driveway, Quinn actually cried! "I want to go back to Boston!" She said. Kevin and I are already talking about taking them out to Vancouver on Spring Break.

:: Quinn loves Skybus ::

:: Xander on the Freedom Trail ::

Off to Boston

Tomorrow Kevin and I are taking on the kids on their first flight. We scooped up some $10 tickets to Boston on Skybus a few months back and the trip has totally snuck up on us. We're madly rushing around tonight doing laundry, packing, and trying to figure out what to do in Boston. I'm sure that part will be pretty easy once we get there.

I'm not even sure the kids would care what we did. They are just so excited to get on a plane. When we were at the pool Monday they looked up every time a plane flew over (which, unfortunately is about every 10 minutes)and asked, "Mommy, is that our plane?" Finally we saw an orange Skybus and I was able to say, yep -- that's the one.

I'm hoping I'll bump into a vintage fabric or clothing store while we're there. Other than that, I'm open to anything. See you all when we get back this weekend!

Going Camping

Kevin and I are taking the kids to his parent's tree farm tonight in the hopes of seeing some good meteor action. It's the annual Pirseids meteor shower and we can usually see it pretty good down on their farm – away from all of the city lights. Mike and Erica are coming with us. We’re looking forward to a night of playing shadow puppets in the tent with the kids, making s’mores and watching the light show.

:: Quinn is excited to leave town ::

:: What a ham ::