Inspired

Lisa Congdon is posting a collection a day in 2010 on her blog, cleverly titled, "A Collection a Day, 2010"

This picture:
Is the inspiration for my next quilt.

Awesome, yes? Thank God for artists who can see amazing things in trash so that we can see it, too.

Dudes!

FRONT PAGE, GUYS!!!

Sew

Well. I got a new sewing machine for Mother's Day (which is still two weeks away but my husband indulges me).

Old & busted

New hotness

And it has been like a sweatshop up in here. I made the Union Jack pillows for Aunty & for the shop. Then I made one for my mom for Mother's Day (we are all Anglophiles on my side of the family). Then, because Josh's mom is not an Anglophile but does collect Elephants, I made this:

Here they are together. Cheerful little fuckers, no?

And, because they're ostensibly from us & Dash, we had him write little notes for the Grandmas.

Now, a normal person would have just had the kid write a note on fabric with a fabric marker & be done. That's not how we roll here in Crazytown. We had Dash write the notes on paper, then scanned them into the computer, resized them & printed them onto printable fabric. Then I sewed them onto the pillows like labels.

Also, I made a quilt for Josh & me. Finally. I have made a total of eight quilts since I started sewing, and this is the first one we get to keep.

I haven't actually completed the quilting part yet because I can't decide what to do. Get rid of the white border & hand quilt it? Keep the white border & stitch in the ditch? Send it out (unlikely)? Anyway, we used it for the first time last night and it was pretty great.

Look, Win likes it!

Also, Aunty was all, "hey, could you whip me up some potholders?" And I was all "Sure!"

I used this pattern & tutorial (thank you, Cindy!) and it was very clear and awesome, but I'm adding oven mitts to my list of shit not worth making (along with brownies from scratch and deodorant).

6:15 pm on Friday

Working up an appetite for dinner.

Anglophile Much?

I added a couple of Union Jack pillows to the shop. What do you think?

More info here: Fox vs. Squirrel

Good

You know what's tasty? Take about 2 tablespoons of honey, the juice from one or two lemons, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and maybe a glurg of olive oil. Shake it all up in a jar & pour over sauteed carrots (baby or big, sliced into 1"-2" pieces).

Go do it.

Olsons

Oh shit! Vikings!

Two Wheeler

Who has two thumbs & learned how to ride a bike?

-->This guy<--

Dash's Aunty gave me the hook up to end all hook ups with this vintage Schwinn that used to be her grandma's. Josh took it apart & cleaned and scrubbed and tuned it until it was better than new.


And I added some crocheted flowers to the basket. You know, how I do. If you stand still next to me long enough I'll crochet something onto you, too.

Weener

Dash had his first ice skating competition this weekend.

Cue Rocky theme song.


Mid-competition


"You seem like a nice kid. Too bad I'm gonna have to kick your ass."


"OK, mom. Seriously, you're embarrassing me."


FIRST PLACE, BITCHES!


Fairly pleased with himself.


Official.

Bas-uh-baruh

I feel like our family really shines during the warmer months. Despite living in Southern California, where we can pretty much do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want, there's something about the quality of light in Spring and Summer that draws us out. Out of our little shells and out of the house and into the world.

That said, hey! We went to a baseball game (thanks to the generosity of our beloved friends the Villalpando family!). And the Angels won, again. Dash is now 5 for 5. I kinda feel like it's time the organization acknowledge our contribution with some free tickets, right?

Everybody lean in and smile! I need a family photo, goddamn it!


Come. On.


GRAND SLAM!


Someone got to try cotton candy.


"One, two, three strikes, you're out..."


My boys.

Rebirth

We don't celebrate Easter the way Christian families do, obviously. But we do celebrate in our own way. We take the day to honor the Earth's return to light and abundance from the cold, bleak days of Winter.

Dash woke us early this morning to hunt eggs in the back yard. Is there any sweeter symbol for the promise of Spring than an egg filled with treats?


We painted a new birdhouse for our feathered friends. I've been pining for a mama bird to make her nest in one of our bird houses like she did last year.


And then. And then. (I can't even say it without getting choked up.) Josh made pancakes. From scratch. The most fluffy, flavorful, perfectly golden pancakes the world has even known.


Dash learned a new trick (Josh helped with sound effects and hand gestures).


Dash has never been eager to help (I read all these articles about how kids love to be involved! love to help out and feel like they're contributing! Who are these children? I have never seen one in person), but today I offered to let him "shave" carrots and he was all about it. Clearly, the trick is to involve an element of danger.


And because, despite everything, we are still Americans, we courted diabeetus. Courted it hard.

Tonight we're packing up an Easter ham and some lemony carrots & asparagus and heading over to see our newest baby friend, Miss Viola June (and her parents, and some more beloved friends, but let's be honest--it's mainly about the baby). Seems right to welcome this new season of promise with some baby toes, doesn't it?

Fail

1. Dash is playing with one of those springy/clippy hair things (what are they called? the ones with the teeth? butterfly clips?). Anyway, he's all, "I'm making this a Light Up Scraper. It lights up and scrapes your skin [demonstrates by scraping teeth across his skin]. "

Worst. Invention. Ever.

2. Dash sweeps his hand across the room and declares that he has made a new country. "Wow, Dash! Are there farms & cities?"

"Well," says Dash, "there aren't any farms."

"Oh, so where do they get their food?"

"Supermarkets."

Awesome.