Pig Tails for Hannah

Check out Hannah's first pig tails! :) One of her teachers at daycare loves doing her hair. I wish I could do it, but it's a hot mess when I try. She's growing up so fast. She walks all over the place now. She says Mom, Ella, yes, yum, & HoHo (her lovey's name). She loves to climb and is our little monkey. She climbs on our bed, the chair, the sofa, the bathtub, and the list goes on. She enjoys playing in water and taking baths. She likes to play hide and seek and squeals when we "find" her. She loves to snuggle and nurse. She's such a sweet little girl and she's getting big too fast! She's in the Toddler room at daycare and I keep on thinking that she does not belong there because she's still my baby. Love her!

Discovery Place Kids - Huntersville ROCKS

Hannah enjoying the little kid area. She LOVED the flowers and the little bridge she could walk on.

Ella and Grant (in the full gear behind Ella) enjoyed the fire truck.

Ella shopping in the grocery store. She had so much fun!

Ella at one of the water tables. There were a ton!

Hannah at the little kids water table. She is sitting in a highchair seat. She spent at least an hour here and loved it!

We recently visited Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville and it was grand! The girls had such a great time. If we were not moving I would have purchased a family membership. Fortunately there are similar places back in Minnesota. Unfortunately the fabulous friends we enjoyed the adventure with will remain in North Carolina. (I apologize for the bad pictures. There were taken on my cell phone. Next time I'll bring my real camera.)

Hannah's Apron Dress

Here is my first attempt at an apron dress. I got the pattern from Little Lizard King. I didn't follow their directions or measurements exactly, but it was good to work off. The next dress will have a few changes.

E is for Ella

Check out what Ella made with her Legos! She did it all by herself. That's my smart girl. :)

Deep or Not So Deep Thoughts... House Lust

So I am currently re-reading the book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. I've read it before... a couple times and I always pull more bits of food for thought from it. The last couple days I have been pondering house lust, or more specifically, my own house lust. We are selling our home in North Carolina and moving back to Minnesota. We will be renting for least least a year, but Philbert and I enjoy looking at houses online. It's a hobby of sorts.

I rationalize my thoughts on what I believe I need/really desire in a home. Four bedrooms - so the girls have their own rooms and we have a guest room or room for a third kiddo. A dedicated craft/sewing space - I love to sew and desire a place where I can create. A front porch - I want to sit on a swing and read to the girls like I used to do at my Oma's house in Duluth. A open floor plan - We like to entertain and often crowd in our kitchen at our current house. A finished basement - for a family room so the TV can be hidden away for infrequent viewing. Bedrooms on a second floor - I like the idea of the family sleeping space being separate. The list goes on and on...

But I don't really need all these things. My girls currently share a bedroom and it's not an issue. My sewing room/guest room/office is really a blessing. It works. I don't need a front porch to read books to my girls on nice days. We can read lots of places. So what if we crowd in the kitchen, the last I checked no one has declined an offer to join us due to the lack of an open floor plan. Really our home we have right now works for us and hopefully at some point we can find a similar home in Minnesota that works for us. I'm not going to go broke paying my mortgage just so I can have a breakfast room, playroom, sewing room... you get the pictures. It's not what matters in the grand sceme of things.

So what do I really need in a house you ask? I need somewhere my family can call home. I need a little yard for the dog. I need it to be in neighborhood that is a community with folks out and about who connect with each other. I need it to be close to where we work and where we play. That's what I need.

The four bedrooms, open floor plan, sewing room, finished basement and breakfast room... not such a big deal.

Book Review: Welcome to the Great Mysterious

I recently finished reading Welcome to the Great Mysterious by Lorna Landvik. I have read a couple of her other books (Angery Housewives Eating Bon Bons and Patty Jean's House of Curls) and I really enjoyed them. Landvik is a good story teller and this book is no exception, although it's not as good at the other two I read. I didn't feel like I developed the same frienship with the characters like in Angery Housewives or House of Curls. It was a nice story, but it was very predictable. I enjoyed the characters, but not as much as her other books.

The story follows diva Geneve Jordan who travels from New York, where she is a well known, well paid Broadway actress, to Minnesota to care for her nephew for a few weeks. Her nephew, Rich, has Down's syndrome.

So in short, it's a fun read. It won't change your life and it's not nearly as well written as her other books.

I'm Making Crafts Mom...

Last weekend I woke up to the sound of Ella Bean humming and singing her monkey song. When I cam out to the living room to follow the sound she was all set up at the coffee table and told me "I am making crafts mom." She had decided she needed to make cards for her friends. Oh Bean, my little crafter. Just like mommy.