33

I remember I cried for an entire month before I turned 30. The last tears were shed sitting at a stop light on my way to work. That seems like SO long ago!

I turned 33 on Saturday and had a great weekend. We met my Dad, Stepmom, Sister, and Brother-in-law for breakfast at the cutest little place. Stella was the star as usual!

My sister got me the cutest book! I haven't tried any of their designs yet, but I did make a batch of cupcakes and try some of their tricks - I can't wait to play more.

Shoes are always a hit! (and I feel like Jack Purcell's scream spring)

And, from Jim... We're still playing with it, but we love it already! He asked me not to write about the first Christmas in our new house when we decided to only get each other one present and to paint the living room. My one gift was a Home Depot gift card wrapped in a box with a rock and a "contract" to help me paint. As awful as it was and sounds, I could see that he knew how badly I wanted some color on our white walls and he was being thoughtful. He's done MUCH better since!

Off to a GREAT start!

There are things about soccer that I find extremely frustrating. A couple of months ago my husband and a friend watched a soccer game that went into extra time (twice) and still ended 0-0. To me, that's ridiculous! However, I'm very excited that Seattle now has an MLS team and that the support is phenomenal.

Resounding start

They beat NY 3-0. It's only the second time that an expansion team has won their opening game. (And beating NY... just icing on the cake!)

We had some company over to watch the game and although Stella hadn't seen a couple of Jim's friends for a while she warmed right up to them and was showing off all night. She even sat on Kyle's lap for a while! (She does like the guys already) The picture is terrible, I don't quite know why.

A better kind of weekend.

I did a much better job of relaxing this weekend and not driving myself into a craft frenzy. We relaxed, had some company, and even got some things accomplished. Best of all, I was ready to face the WASL this morning (If you aren't from WA you just can't fully appreciate that!)

Friday Jim went to a friend's while I got some knitting done. Nothing to really show, but it was very nice.

Saturday my Mom and Bev came over to see Stella. It was such a nice surprise! She was a little cranky, but perked right up when they got there. I made plans with an old friend to spend the day in Seattle. I can't stop thinking about going to a flea market since Liz mentioned the fantastic lamp she got and I thought they'd have some good ones up there. Turns out that one of the larger markets in western WA is pretty close to me. I might have to drag someone to check it out with me.

I got FOUR kitchen drawers cleaned out and condensed to make room for the utensils we used to have on our kitchen counter. (I'm still working on the kitchen). Can you believe that we had four junk drawers in our kitchen?!?!?! That's ridiculous!

Sunday was our day to just relax. She saw me making pancakes and wanted to make her own breakfast. Dad set her up with a table. See how her hand is blurry??? She's stirring! :)

I spent a long time just laying on the floor playing with Stella - what a joy! After her nap she was a little crabby from all of the teething so I thought it might cheer her up to help make brownies. (No, I'm not going to show my Sunday morning self to the world!)

It helped, but she wasn't ready to be done when the brownies were done so she got her own bowl and ingredients and pressed on.

I LOVE this picture! Three things that I always want to remember: how much she loves to "bake", the way she always crosses her feet in her chair, and how she sticks her little tongue out when she concentrates. (Like her great-grandpa!)

Finally, she played with rice while I made our favorite version of General Tso's.

Ok, I don't know why that picture is sideways...

Overall, a VERY satisfying and restful weekend!

You are one tough cookie my sweet!

My poor sweet girl! She's had the runs for about a week and a half (the first 6 days were BAD!), yesterday she had a fever and laid around most of the day, this morning when I went in to get her up she was having a tough time breathing so I took her to the doctor. She has croup and an ear infection! She is far tougher than the rest of the family put together. I would be a bear to live with and Jim... well, let's just say that boys/men are not very tough at all when they're sick. I've been known to not be very sensitive when Jim is sick. Turns out a few of those times he's been REALLY sick. It's hard to tell with all of the moaning and whining even when it's just the sniffles. :)

She's taking a nap now and when she gets up I know I'll love all of the snuggling time, but I sure hope that this all clears up quickly (and she gets all THREE of the teeth she's working on at the same time) so we can get back to the fun!

As for my last post, I'm not doing too well with it. Sunday I made a loaf of bread, a batch of cookies, and cupcakes! I'm going to try again. Here's a look at the darling little mini cupcakes. (Don't judge me for using Funfetti... they seem to be a hit with everyone but me!)

A picture of Stella and Jim playing while I mess around with the settings on my camera. I can't figure out how to take clear pictures without the background being extremely dark.

Keeping up with the "Jones's"

There are so many amazing blogs and women who are doing such amazing things! Baking fresh bread for their families daily, knitting beautiful things, home decorating, Etsy, etc. It makes me want to do it all. There was one point a couple of weeks ago where I was exhausted and Jim told me, "You're doing it to yourself". I think I had one of those "ah ha" moments that Oprah always talks about. I AM trying to do too much and it's stressing me out! All of my jewelry stuff and sewing is constantly all over the kitchen table, the counter is overflowing, and I can't stand it. Starting now I'm going to slow down. I'm not going to try to keep up and be the "perfect" mom and wife. More quality time is more important than more sewn items or fresh baked bread. (No, I'm not going to give them up, just cut back!) Before the cutbacks began... This is what I did on Saturday for a baby shower:



Cupcakes for the kiddos (they're supposed to look like baby rattles, it's a little tough to see in the picture and I keep thinking of Charlie Brown when I see the one on the bottom right!)









A crummy picture of the cake...









And trifle that I take to every family function just because I love to eat it!





The shower was for my cousin who's having a little boy. I gave her a playmat and taggie blanket. I love the playmats! (I only sold one on Etsy so I took them down and am just going to use them for shower gifts.) I used ours all of the time last summer. It's the perfect size for a little one who isn't mobile whether you're indoors or out. There are grommets and a drawstring cord so when you're ready to go you pull the cord and it makes a bag that you can put all of the toys in. I left toys in ours and it hung on a hook right inside our garage door ready to go at anytime. It would also be good to leave in your trunk if you have any room with all of the other baby stuff. I can't take credit for it, I got the idea from Martha Stewart and waited about 6 years to make one. I found great fabric that is vinyl coated cotton so it's water/sand/dirt proof. Here is Stella with hers last year.






(Ok, the one I have of her using it is on the other computer, but here is a picture of what it looks like pulled into a bag.)

If you can get a good deal on the fabric and are a sewer I think it's a great gift



Here's the one with her using it!











But now it's time to make our house calmer, more organized, and more beautiful. (If only for the year or so we have left to live there.) Do you read these girls? They're sisters, and I just found their blogs. They are both so inspiring when it comes to decorating your home. I'm currently working on decluttering/cleaning up the kitchen. I think I'm going to do this in all of the rooms before I actually get to the decorating part... or perhaps not. :) I've already printed off several pages from their sites for my new idea book. I know I'll never have a show house, but my goal is just to make every room in my house a place that I love to be!

And finally, a picture of Little Girlfriend because I just can't seem to post without one! Sitting (not very lady-like) in her cousins bouncy chair. She never liked her own this much!