Mommy Daughter Hike

I love this picture of Ella walking behind me in the tall grasses on a hike we did with my husband and the pups.

Hearty Good Wishes

I love this this fabric line.  I was inspired to create this quilt for my nephew and a friend's son after seeing a picture of an old weathered sea captain.  This fabric is a japanese line called Hearty Good Wishes.  Which of course is perfect for my nephew in New England whose father loves japanese culture.  Perfecto!  The larger throw sized quilt is for him.  It has a denim backing so that it's not too babyish and can grow with him.   The smaller one is for my friend's child.  It's more of a baby quilt.  It has a super soft cream minky backing.  I love these so much! 

Ella's Playhouse

About a month ago, I began planning to make her a tablecloth playhouse for Ella's 2nd birthday.  I had seen several online that were adorable but really expensive. Many of the tablecloths were based on using a dining table or a card table.  Unfortunately our dining table has a large trestle so there would be very little space for Ella to play.  So, I started looking for card tables.  They were expensive as well and all of them came with chairs.  So, my husband offered to make a frame out of PVC pipe and fittings. This was a perfect solution because we could make it as tall or taller than Ella and replace parts if necessary or break it down completely.  We sketched the design that we wanted and took measurements based on our table at home and Ella's height.  Then, I calculated the fabric I would need for the walls since I already had LOTS of fabric on hand.  I didn't have enough of "one" fabric to do the walls so I headed to Hancock's Fabric while hubby went to Home Depot.  I found lots of fabric on sale and scored a beige fabric that was 108" wide. I bought 3 yards for about a total of $12 thanks to a 40% off coupon.  Husband got all he needed (and more) from HD for about $8.

  

I begin cutting the pieces from the wide fabric from the wall, curtains from some leftover hello kitty fabric that I had on hand, window frames (2) from pink bias tape, the roof from a scrap of brown fabric the door from leftover red fabric from Ella's quilt.  It took quite a while to cut the wall pieces because the wide fabric was really cumbersome.  But once I had all the pieces cut and pinned together the sewing went really fast.  After sewing and fitting it to the frame, I made a few adjustments and decided to decorate the sides with butterflies and letters.  I made a theater on one side so that we could do puppet shows.  After getting it done, we revealed it to Ella and she ran into it and began popping her head out the windows and giggling.   Not bad at all for about $25.

I heart Waterloo Ice House

and so does Ella.  We always have a blast especially when her cousin Annabelle meets us there.  Ella is now at the age where she can master the slide all by herself (even though it gives Mommy heart palpitations).   Her cousin is now 5 years old and is self-sufficient.  She can play the entire time we're there unsupervised - baking dirt pies, meeting new friends and running around without her parents constantly having to intervene.  It's difficult to fathom that we will be there one day.  That we'll be able to enjoy a meal and a beer without constant interruption and anxiety attacks.

Mamma Jamma Ride

Seth and I rode in the Mamma Jamma on Saturday.  47 miles!!  It was a great event.  My only regret is that I didn't train more for the ride.  We didn't get the opportunity to ride on our vacation and my bum and my legs were really feeling it.  The last 15 miles was tough for me.  I've never felt that bad on a ride.  My legs were exhausted, my back was spazzing and my sit bones were so sore that I had to get up out of the saddle quite a bit towards the end.  I was so happy to see the finish line!! Still, the route was beautiful and everyone was in good spirits, including Seth who breezed through those 47 miles and did his best to keep me pedaling.