I AM …an optimistic person
I WANT…for my children to be happy and healthy
I HAVE …a wonderful life
I KEEP …everything. I am a pack rat
I WISH I COULD …fly
I HATE …ignorant people
I FEAR …dying a slow death
I HEAR …. elmo on the TV
I DON’T THINK …I will ever slow down

I REGRET … going to college right out of high school
I LOVE …my family, my life, my country

I AM NOT … a tidy person (as much as I wish I was)
I DANCE … with Leila nightly
I SING …loudly in the car, at work, walking down the street. I probably sign off key but I dont care.

I NEVER …say never
I RARELY … like to fold laundry
I CRY WHEN I WATCH … just about anything right now (dang hormones!)
I AM NOT ALWAYS …the most eloquent speaker
I HATE THAT … I only have this one life to live
I’M CONFUSED ABOUT … the universe in general. Its so big and vast.

I NEED … to enjoy the little things more and stop rushing everything else.
I SHOULD … get off this computer and start sewing!!!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend my USA friends! I will see everyone back on Tuesday!

Water at its finest

When Leila was teenie tiny she hated her baths. She hated water. First time in the ocean she screamed her head off and that was just a year ago. This summer the fear and hatered of water has completely changed to she cant get enough of it. She is mostly attracted to streaming water but some days just me walking into the bathroom prompts her to get completely naked and jump in the bathtub even it if is clearly NOT bath time. Oh and taking a shower by myself, forget it. Showers are like water fountains in your own home as far as Leila is concerned. I cant deny her enjoying the water though, her face lights up everytime, and melts my heart just a little bit more.

I promise by next week this blog will get back on its crafty/sewing/knitting kick. Hope you have enjoyed the week of pictures and stories of Leila. (Oh want to see larger pictures of Leila's happiness go over to my flickr page)

Photographer in the making

As promised, I was able to catch Leila in the act of taking a picture of her so very proud papa.

And here is the result. Granted its not right on but I like the artistic flair of it. I have never really been the typical pride swelling mom when Leila was born. I didnt brag about every milestone, I didnt think she was a baby genius. She was just my cute little girl doing her own thing at her own pace. So you will have to forgive me because now I have become the mom swelling with pride that my amazing little girl has been drawn to a camera and can actually take some pretty good pictures for a 2 year old. Granted there are still TONS of pictures of just grass, or her belly button (dont ask) but when she gets a good one, and granted I know it is the luck of the draw, she gets a good picture. So I am sure down the road there will be more Leila showcases to come.

More from the country

Most people who know me will tell you I walk to my own beat. I would have to agree. I have a thing for my family's water pump. My parents have a few acres of land and all surrounding their land is farm feilds. Our water pump stands alone in the center of the land. That water pump has so many summer memories for me mostly about helping water the gardens, filling up small swimming pools, and playing in water sprinklers. Leila also loves the water pump and could play with the stream of water for hours which normally drenches her from head to toe.

I am hoping that soon I will be able to get my craft groove back, I have some stores that are in need of purses and totes for the fall and holiday season so this labor day I am going to honor it by slaving away at my sometimes fickle machine. Until I get some crafty things done though sorry but you all will have to suffer through some more of my and Leila's photography from the last few weeks. Oh and Leila and her skills, improve each time she holds the camera, come back tomorrow and I will prove it to you!

Enough

Last week I was in a "poor me" state. Enough of that. This week there was a decent amount of sad news mostly being this. It made me realize that I have so much more to be thankful for and no high bill to fix my car should get me in that much of a funk. I am sorry to everyone that you had to witness that. I am normally a very thankful person and I intend to keep that up.

I am thankful for:
My family and their constant support.
My beautiful young family and amazing husband who without it wouldnt be possible.
Our health.
A roof over our head.
Food in our stomach.
Really that is all I need. Mooping has ended.

Ugh all around

Ken and I are having a bad day. A 4 am wake up call that the car broke down and has to be towed 20 miles back home (Ken was coming home from work) to find out that a timing chain has busted up some cylinders and will cost between 2,000-3,000 to fix. No problem right, we have a warranty, a warranty that they are now trying to tell us is not valid due to a mis-type on the signed contract. Yea it has been a pleasant day. We are optimistic people so ok we are going to take a walk its nice outside right? Yep halfway back home we get rained on. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

We are keeping our heads up though and I am blessed to have amazing parents who will be driving 2+ hours to borrow me a car, talk to the machanic, and if need be borrow us some money. We are still keep our spirits as high as we can, we feel slightly defeted but tomorrow is another to get back on our feet and keep on fighting the good fight. (I am just so sick of being so broke that it comes down to gas for the car or grocerries)

I am going to take a small break again, we are going back up to my parents for the weekend (that in itself is another story) to get away from it all and regroup in the best place we know of.

I now look at this picture and wish Ken and I werent goofing off I think this is the first picture that we are all looking at the camera and Leila is actually smiling and not scowling.

Can you tell?

What's on my brain? Yep I have a head full of tiny booties, hats and sweaters. Plus I am super excited that I soon will be taking a class on how to knit socks! I personally hate wearing socks but that doesnt mean I dont want to make a housefull of them.

(Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!)

Stay tuned for a birthday week recap, lots of pictures to come.

(To see the flickr credits please check my flickr page right here)

Happy Happy

25th Birthday To Me! I am going to take a few days off and celebrate in style (even though I started yesterday!)

Photo found on flickr (isnt that amazing?!?!)

Opinions needed

So I am on an appliqué kick. I think most of you already know this but anyway I am on a serious kick and the appliqués seem to be doing well at one of the stores I sell my totes at so I am working on creating a whole bunch more and that is where I need your help and opinions. I have started a list of things I could create as appliqués I want things that are cute but still adult like I guess, not too cutesy (do I make sense?) So here is what I compiled, some I know have been overused already but I need to know what you all think. Plus I would love other suggestions things you would love to see on a tote.

And here comes the overly long list *smile*

Dress
Shoes
Flip flops
Side view silhouette (most likely will be Leila’s head)
Cupcake
Piece of cake
Pie
Apple
Pear
Teapot
Coffee cup
Cassette tape
Spool of thread
Needle and thread
Knitting needles and yarn
Button
Stack of books

I am also going to pull up some of my old McCall Needlework magazines and probably pull some funky inspired designs from there.

Alright give me your 2 cents or a whole dollar I will take any advice you want to give!

I think I am rubbing off

Leila likes to take my camera hostage. She does now on a regular basis. Just within the last few weeks she has figured out that by clicking a certain button noises will happen and sometimes a flash may go off. This alone provides hours of entertainment. This is one of her recent photos yep she and I both I guess have a thing for laundry *smile* As I was telling a friend last week I dont know what it is but pictures of laundry drying on a line always make me knees go weak.

Ken and I have decided that once I get my digital SLR this digital will be hers. I hope that as she grows she continues to love art as much as me and whatever medium she is drawn too I just hope she keeps up with it.

What a difference.

I am a bad momma. There I said it. I don’t have a baby book. When I was pregnant with Leila I didn’t take monthly shots of my growing belly (and I dont plan to this time around either). I have only had her pictures taken once at a studio. And while I took pictures of her constantly I didn’t take those monthly pictures so she could see how big she grew. I don’t write her monthly or even yearly letters. Yep I am a bad momma. To redeem myself though I have done one thing that I hope to continue with Leila yearly until she is 18 and that is to take her to the country road I lived by my whole life and take a picture of her each year. My idea is to be able to give her a visual timeline of how much she has grown through the years so she can have it as a display for her graduation party. I am hoping that no matter where we move or live that at least once a year we can go back to that road for a few minutes and capture her in that year in that moment. So there you have it, hopefully I am no longer a bad momma, maybe just a “she doesn’t always get it right but at least she tries” momma.

2007

2008