voting should be like a party

Over dinner last night John and I were talking about the poles being up and I said we should start taking Isaac down there and teach him about the voting thing. Isaac automatically chips into the conversation because he ALWAYS has to be involved..... the unfoldings.....

Isaac: "Some guy told grandma, 'oh I voted too!' ."

Us:" bla bla bla bla we should take Isaac."

Isaac: "Oh yeah! D,o you get a goody bag? "

mommy starts to giggle

Isaac: "When you go to grandmas' church for the first time you get a goody bag!"

I thought this was pretty darn cute and it made me laugh pretty hard. But you know what, I think this kid is on to something! If there was a goody bag I would be way more eager to go vote. Dam... and all those candidates they should give us a nice big bag a swag! I think if that happened way more people would be wearing those "I voted" stickers, don't you? Man my kid is on to something!

DISCLAIMER: I am not serious about the goody bag people...please don't judge....Well, me of course, judge my son all you want.
I am just kidding people..... geez!

Cabs are fun

HEY JUST FOUND THIS IN MY DRAFTS FROM DEC OF 2009. CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER POSTED IT......MUST READ .....

Let me start with a little background to this story

Isaac and I were at the book store and were looking at this "Ripley's Believe it or Not" book and found that some logger found a full dog in one of the trees he cut down. The dog must of got in the hallow tree some time and couldn't get out, died, and then became preserved because of the tree and bla bla bla. It was really cool and there was a picture in the book of it, the dog and tree are in some museum now.

So, Isaac asked me the other day if we were ever going to ride in a Cab. I replied, " yeah, probably some day"

with loads of excitement he answered," oh good mom, cuz when they ask me the question about the dog I will know the answer!"

It took me a second to catch on to that comment then I realized we had been watching "Cash Cab". I laughed a little and then had to explain to Isaac that all cabs aren't like that.

So cute.

Birth

OK, I spend a lot of time ignoring all the things I want to do by looking at random blogs all the time, it used to be magazines now it is blogs. um.....did someone say procrastinator?

Well anyway this morning I have been reading this one http://www.designmom.com/page/2/. If you scroll down the page you see she has posted a bunch, BUNCH, of birth stories written by other people. Well I have been reading it all morning and welling up with tears during every one. Some of the tears are brought by sadness and others joy.

It is fun to hear other people's stories weather sad or happy because in the end they all turn out fine. They also make you remember the birth of your own children, if you got some or in some sad cases have lost some, and either way remembering that day that little person came to visit or stay reminds you off all those joyful loving feelings you had. Something you will never forget.



P.S. can you believe how much I have been blogging? I have been getting up way before my kids lately and it has been heavenly having some time to myself before I have to tend to my little ones in the morning.

The Vogue Sewing Book

Sorry for all you who don't give a lick about sewing but I just had to show you my fab book.....

Tah Dah!

now lets just open this puppy up
BAM!
table of awesome content

I love these illustrations. It has a section showing all possible shapes of silhouettes, jackets, pants, collars, sleeves, necklines, and skirts and they are all illustrated like this. I love them. I want to copy and frame these pages and put them on my walls.
It has this funny chart showing out of all those things just illustrated which is suitable for each different body type
It even has a chapter on designers categorized by location......It even has their little pictures! Did I say how much I love this book?
Then of coarse the section on fabrics with cute COLOR photos. There is 17 pages of fabrics...front and back! Love it.

The "art" of stain removal...I love the way they word this book.

how to get any stain out

It has a whole section on Fashion Terms and look what else "french" fashion terms

It EVEN has plans to make your own cutting table.....I know, It has it ALL!

This part I love because I am currently making myself a craft nook and this book was dishing out some inspiration. Has a small section on finding even a little corner to set up an "inspirational" space to work in. Love these pics they have too. Gotta love 1973!

That is just all the awesome extras and it of course has a whole bunch of the standard stuff in all the loveliness of the 459 pages. So yes I am pramoting this book. If you ever come across it while thrift shopping you must buy it and if you really don't sew much buy it anyway and sell it on e-bay!

Getting on the ball....I hope

Wow first off has it really been that long since I blogged? Naughty me. Sorry to all five of my followers....oh I mean four...one of them is myself.

I am not really sure why it has taken me so long to finally write a post ..... oh wait maybe it is because of a little something called LIFE. Yup and I ain't so good at juggling it.

So much to blog yet so little time. first up I guess will be my schedule. How boring, I know. I am on a mission to organize my life in hopes that it will help me accomplish more of what I want to do. The problem is I want to do it all.

Lets see, I want to vacuum, dust, wash floors, change sheets, deep clean the kitchen, and clean my bathrooms, yes all THREE of them, EVERY week. I guess at the very least I would be happy with every other week. I just want a clean house already! Second I want to do to all these things more, preferably once a week, be crafty (this is a huge undertaking in itself. I want to do all crafts), work in the yard, water my poor plants, maybe get some exercise, go fun places with my kids, and , oh yeah, blog. I am also on a mission to be an awesome sewer/seamstress!

(ok believe me you can skip this whole rambling paragraph)

OK so on a small tangent I was on a mission for the best sewing book because for mothers day my awesome husband got me the Martha sewing book and I was so excited but then as I sat down and went through it I was kind of disappointed with all that it lacked. The book though is really fun to look at and gets you excited to try new things. So any how I started my quest for the best sewing book ever but to make a long story short lets just say that for a second I was going to write the best sewing book ever myself because I was afraid it did not exist. But to my surprise I discovered that It has been sitting right under my nose. Yes I already own it! I have no Idea where I got it, I am thinking my grandma or Mary Arana. Yes I fell in love as soon as I sat down with it. I went through all my books, even the sewing text books I had during my small stint in college but this book is hands down the best ever........are you ready....... The Vogue Sewing Book! Yup that is it! This book is so good that I decided to make it my text book in my quest to become a master sewer. Ladies if you ever come across this book in a thrift store or something (also my new thing...vintage sewing books) you MUST buy it. It has everything you will ever need to know. I LOVE IT. It has a great textiles section and goes through so many fabrics and what they are. I am definitely going to study that chapter. When I was going to school I could not wait to take my textiles class but I never made it that far. I went to beauty school instead. Still kinda lost on that one. One of my fashion design teacher told me I should go to beauty school...... that lady was nuts............Stupid lady. Anyway I don't think I made any long story short cuz this is kind of long..... anyway get the book it is great. I am going to stat studying it. That is what my husband does, studies, a lot, and he isn't even in school. He is my inspiration. Totally self taught never went to college and has a kick ass job (just got a promotion by the way!) and has an awesome title and truly is good at what he does. And he doesn't even stop there ....right now he is studying for his masters he tells me. He he love this guy! Yeah ....studying.... gotta squeeze that in my schedule also.

OK, here is my schedule. I made it last weekend and I have not yet followed one day. How sad for me. I am still going to try though.
So, what do we got, Sunday is the shine up my kitchen day and please mom change my stinky sheets day,

Monday is clean the whole downstairs including dusting and floors and Yup, I am so combobled, I even have to schedule bathing the children and myself. It is also park/adventure/play date day for the kids, which ever I am feeling that day.

That big blank section in the middle is when Isaac is at school so it kind of breaks up morning and afternoon.

oooo...Are all four of you excited for this day BLOG day......oh and laundry..yuck.

Ahh.. you get the picture the rest is pretty self explanatory.

Wish me luck.

And before I go here is s bit of cuteness

Forgot some

I failed to note two more important crimes

6)Fails to comply with all diaper changing laws and codes ALWAYS!

7)Attempts and (some times succeeds) to climb onto structures that are not permitted for babies; coffee tables, chairs, and step stools. This one is quick so be on your toes!

Wanted

WANTED

BY THE MOMMY

POLICE

OLIVE THE MASKED CAPER

acts of criminal injustices

1)Breaking into restricted baby areas such as bathrooms, garages, and kitchen cupboards (yes this criminal can open doors, beware!)

2)Resisting arrest by means of throwing fake temper tantrums; throwing oneself on the ground and kicking ground with leg

3)Wrestling with other known criminals; Isaac Arana

4)Standing in no standing zones; the highchair

5) The most hideous of all crimes, smuggling paper by means of ingestion with no exclusions to even toilet paper! (YUCK! Of course not! Clean straight off the roll of course!)

Don't let the cute cheeks fool you this one is armed and dangerous!

p.s. I don't really know how to use many forms of punctuation correctly so please don't hate me if I do. Just tell me how to fix it before someone I really want to impress looks at it! (not that I don't want to impress you...but you know what I mean;)

p.p.s. I also can not spell. You should see my posts before I spell check them, SCARY!

A nostalgic look back on Isaac being 5

I can not believe my little boy is six years old! I am sure I said the same thing last year and I am sure I will say it every year for the rest of his life. He will always be my little boy and I will always wonder where the time went.

In memory of Isaac's fifth year of life I thought I would take a moment to remember all the firsts and lasts that the year brought us. I think I will start with the lasts.

1)Say goodbye to the experimental pee era! There were no incidents on record for year 5. No more discovery of pee in places it did not belong such as bathroom walls, bathroom trashcans, empty bathtubs, and yes even preschool playgrounds.


2) No more sleeping in mommy and daddies bed! Yes an end to little feet sneaking into our bed at wee hours of the night. (finally!)

3)Say goodbye to the stroller. Finally old enough to rough it like the rest of us at the fair.

4) last time drawing on himself with marker.....just kidding, I don't think that will ever be a last!

and on to the memorable firsts!

1)First time being a big brother!

2)His very first day of real school! 3)His first time camping and catching a fish!

4) His first kiss other then his cousin Sadie. (I know scary what kindergartners are doing these days. Not allowed to let it happen again until he is 20! He knows!)

5)Lost his first tooth!

6)First time reading!

7)First time wanting to use the public restroom by himself. (Mommy right outside the door of course!)

8)First time swinging without mommy's help!
Wow that is a lot of firsts. So proud of my not so little guy and he most definitely needs to be celebrated! Happy Birthday Isaac

Olive has a little party

Grandma Mary insisted that we have a birthday party for Olive and I am really glad she did. I can't believe I was trying to avoid planing a party for my little one year old! I mean after all she has overcome in her first year, she definitely deserves to be celebrated! We will only get this chance once and we are truly blessed that we were given the chance at all. So, thank you so much Grandma Mary!

With out any further ado, here is the guest of honor little Olive Marie Arana

I tried to make this a little extra special by making her a little outfit of sorts. I was inspired by my friend Katy who went all out for her twins first birthday. Outfits, decorations, and cakes! You name it she did it. I feel good about just getting an outfit made. Well really just a sweater and accessories.

On to a different note, we are now sure of the fact that Olive does not like her house full of people. We should have known this because at our pumpkin party she cried any time anyone so much as looked at her. The same is to be said for her birthday. Here she is crying when everyone sang to her. I did start to feel a little guilty....but.... we will just blame it on Grandma Mary ;)

Olive representing her birthday in the form of a sweater.
We were so lucky to have some special guests who by chance happened to be in town so they just had to come. Tah dah.... Amelia and Paul! I feel like they are somewhat celebrities seeing as everyone I know is always watching them on their mommy's blog, http://baby-rific.permanentriot.com/. They are pretty cute!

I think Paul really enjoyed playing with Olive's new sand table.

Olive having fun with her big buddy!

Olive playing with some of her favorite cousins, Charlotte and James

Oops... someone said something to Olive, or maybe just looked at her.

And this is the saddest face ever that made me feel like a bad mommy for giving her a party after all.

And we will end with a cute hug. This is little Valena (yes, Valena!) giving little James a hug. SO cute.

Happy Birthday Olive! I hope you will forgive us for the home invasion celebration. We love you little angel!

diaper time

I used to just change a diaper, then I had to ask, then I had to plead, and now I have to beg, wrestle, bribe, sing, and sometimes just cry.

How much longer till big girl potty time?

hmmmm

I am supposed to be posting on my blog but I have seemed to waste my allotted time looking at other random peoples blogs. I am most definitely the definition of a procrastinator. I will post something good soon.

I hope.

Happy 1st birthday Olive!

I can't believe it has been a year! Oh where has the time gone? I spent a good part of late last night crying, yes crying, that my baby was born a whole year ago. I also cried a little this morning. I get a mix of emotions just remembering the day she was born. I feel lucky to have had a little over 24 hours with her to truly enjoy before the drama of the first two months of her life. It breaks my heart to think back to that time but my heart is also filled with joy seeing that at a year old she is healthier then ever. I love you little olive and Happy 1st Birthday my princess! I am truly so proud of what you have overcome!

Singing herself happy birthday

oh Yuckie!

Olive singing happy birthday with us

What the heck is going on?

hmmm...what to post.....

lately I have been feeling like I need a good dose of inspiration. I used to do more in the sense of making things when Isaac was a baby but now a days all I have time to do is clean and walk Isaac to and from school. Oh yes and also may find time to organize all the junk I have.

All my crafting stuff is hidden in Olive's closet which doesn't seem to help much considering the time to craft is when Olive is sleeping and when that happens she is holding all my nifty things hostage.

Katy I need you to be neighbor and inspire me! Olive's birthday is tomorrow and I have nothing planed, not even an outfit picked out. Maybe I will get a wave of inspiration tonight ..... I always think that and then when the time comes I would just rather go to bed.

hooray for Legoland

On Monday it was slightly on the warm side and Isaac didn't have any school so we decided to make a trip to Legoland! It took like an hour to get ready to go and I still managed to forget our lunches in the fridge and payed $15 for a salad and cup of fruit at Legoland!

When we got there we went straight to the kiddy playground and Olive loved it! So cute! They have like water table things and she was so excited about it.

And look at Isaac. He is so big! I really don't know where the time went. Oh, and please take note of the wild hair. It has been taken care of, and that is for a different post.

On to the water park. Isaac pointing at water and yelling at it....so Isaac.

Isaac being silly on the way out.

Olive loved the water park and loved how the water shot out form the ground. I wish I could have taken some pictures of her playing in the water in her super cute bathing suit she got from auntie Bridget. I was just to busy walking her around and making sure all the crazy kids didn't trample her. Next time I will bring John and I will have him do the dirty work so I can take some pictures.