Productive Weekend!

This weekend was perfect....I went to the quilt shop, finished 2 quilts, and got some new ca-ute Christmas fabric in the mail!!  

I was able to get both my girlies' quilts totally finished, quilted and bound, on Saturday. I opted for just an overall stipple design.  I just wanted them finished and it was taking me forever to come up with some creative quilting pattern.  I did the binding by machine since these will probably be washed a ton.   I finished Emma's in just a few hours.  

Then we headed to out for a cookout, complete with crazy lightning storm.  When we got home, Dayna just didn't understand why hers wasn't done yet...as if the quilting fairies came while we were gone!!  So, I went into high gear and had hers finished by 1 a.m., put it on her bed, and waited until morning!  She was so cute...SOO surprised it was done!  I haven't gotten pics of  Dayna's yet, but it's pretty much the same thing :o)  


Hope yall had a wonderful weekend!!

Princess Peach Mario Kart Birthday Party

This weekend was Emma's 9th birthday party!!  We had to put it 2 weeks out but it was so worth the wait!!

my sweet girlies!

The Invite

Props goes to my sister for this awesome invite!!  She is the BEST graphic designer and does amazing work.  She literally just whipped this together for me :o)

The Games

Mario Kart Racing
First of all, the cars didn't turn out exactly like I had them in my head.  I got cardboard boxes from work, took them apart, and then made the cars.  I spray painted them...they turned out duller than I wanted, but...OH WELL!!  We divided the kiddos into 3 Pit Crews.  They had to assemble their cars by attaching the racing stickers, numbers, and license plates.  Then there were 3 laps...each kid in each Pit Crew got a turn to get inside the car, hold the handles on the sides, and race around the track.

Caaauuute!!!

Mario Bingo:
After the race, we decided to settle everyone down by playing some Mario Bingo!  I printed the card from HERE and the calling cards from HERE.  I found gold coins at Party City that we used for the bingo pieces.

Pinata
The hubs drew and colored Bowser Koopa for the front of my DIY pinata.  I used cardboard, duct tape, and crepe paper to make the body of the pinata.  I made it pretty sturdy...we had to break it open to get it to fall apart!

The Cake
I am not sure why I always feel compelled to change recipes, especially whenever we have company. Branson's exact word was dangerous...lol! I changed up my buttercream recipe and it turned out AMAZING...everyone seemed to love it.  I planned to make the cake messy...turns out that's harder than I thought!  I'm so used to smoothing everything out.  Anyway, the cake was strawberry, my family's fave.  My sister created the pennants.  I used checkered flag duct tape for the flags on each end.

Birthday Banner
Again, my sis did an awesome job making the pennants for the birthday banner.  All I had to do was cut out, put on cardstock, and connected each pennant with 3/8" ribbon.

I LOVE the bubbles!!!

The Table

I didn't get a picture of the table with all the food on it.  We had hot dogs, chips, homemade mac and cheese, and baked beans - the traditional Ragan party food!  I used checkered flag duct tape over the water bottle labels.  I also got these pvc pipes from Home Depot, spray painted them green, and used them for the utensils.  I found these great red bowl at the dollar store...they remind me of some of the plants in Super Mario.

Thanks for letting me share about Emma's birthday bash!!  I love hosting my girlies' birthday parties, but they sure do wear me out!

My First Quilt

I came across this quilt the other day...and decided I needed to blog about this one!  This is my very first quilt...the one that started the madness.

I made it the summer I was preggo with Dayna (7 years ago now).  I was teaching in our school's K-4 and had all naptime, all summer to work on it.  I bought this Carebear fabric at Walmart, as well as the backing fabric, and just started cutting and sewing!  I wanted to make this for Emma, as a present from the new baby.  Anyway, it has been snuggled, hauled weekly to school for naps while Emma was in daycare-Kindergarten, washed a gillion times, and now the binding is starting to fall apart and it's so thin you can see right through it.

I will never "fix" this quilt, though....it's just too special the way it is!

Happy 9th Birthday to Emma

Tomorrow is my older daughter's 9th birthday!  She's so cute and excited about sharing Mother's Day with me.  I can't believe I have a 9 year old.  It seems like yesterday she was born....cliche, I know, but it's true!

10 Things about my Emma:

♥   She is fiercely loyal to those she loves

♥   She LOVES to read and will stay up as late as possible reading a new book

♥   She is a self-proclaimed tomboy {note the super hero shirt and the tree climbing}

♥   She LOVES her family, no matter how weird we all are :o)

♥   She is a natural pessimist....but I am determined to bring her over to the bright side!

♥   She is crazy smart and gets amazing grades in school

♥   She loves to write little notes for me...she filled my suitcase with notes and a stuffed animal when I went to Chicago

♥   She has a great sense of humor

♥   She loves to draw....just like her daddy

♥   She has been my greatest teacher in the world of how to be a Mom.....this child challenges me every. single. day

I love this girl!!!

Happy Easter!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter....leaving you with a pic of my sweet girlies :o)

Love This Girl!!

This is my first baby...born almost 9 years ago.  I can't believe how time is flying by.  I love this picture of her...we went outside to get some pics of this quilt, but I think this pic is my fave. She is fiercely loyal, loving, spunky, independent, LOVES to read, HATES to play piano but does it anyway because her momma said so :o) , and seems to knock over, spill, and break just about EVERYTHING in her path....boy, do I love this girl!!

First Day of School 2011

Today is the first day of school for my kiddos....1st and 3rd grades.  Wow, where has the time gone??  My husband took them shoe shopping yesterday and they must have had miracle grow over the summer because my older daughter is now in a size 5 after ending the school year in a 3.  Not sure how that happened!!  Anyway, I was up at 5:30 this morning, pre-heating the oven, showering, packing lunches, making breakfast, curling hair.  At 6:45, I had exactly 15 minutes to get myself ready...good thing my hair is pretty low maintenance!  Just blow and go.  Out the door by 7:00 and to school by 7:20.  Whew!

I am not sure who is more excited for this new year, but I sure do wish it would slow down a little.  I am feeling the time slip through my fingers, and I am trying to grab it and hold on a little longer.  This year, Emma and I have started writing each other letters, kept in a composition notebook.  When I write something, I put it under her pillow and she does the same.  She's getting to where she needs more private time, but it's hard to get with a little sister always underfoot.  It's a way to keep connected.  I sure do love my little ones!!

Time to Get Chopping!

It's time to start cutting for the Kaleidoscope quilt along...and I have to admit that it seems daunting when you see the number of pieces to cut out.



Plus I changed my mind about the fabric I wanted to use.  At first I was pretty committed to using my DS fabric, but after I thought more about it, I am going to use my FQ bundle of California Dreamin'.  I love this fabric and I am from the great state of California, so it's perfect.  Plus, it's so cheerful and bright...perfect for a summer project!  Tonight I am cutting into this beautiful stack...is it just me, or does anyone else ever feel bad cutting fabric...almost like you should find the biggest quilt block possible to keep the whole pattern intact??  I'm weird like that, I guess!

Oh! And we got a new member of the household this weekend!  Her name is Roxie and is about 8 weeks old, we think.  She is just the cutest little ball of fur you ever did see!! And super sweet...love her already!!

Thoughts on Motherhood

Not a day goes by that I don't absolutely LOVE being a mom!  That being said, being a mom has had its challenges.  I don't really miss the diapers and bottles and baby baths as much as I used to (although I would be more than happy to go that road again!).  I have to say those challenges were a lot less life-altering than those I see now with my girls in elementary school.  Now the struggles I see my girls go thru each day are more life-altering.  I believe each day they are growing and learning, but sometimes it's the hard way.

It's amazing to me that motherhood can leave you feeling 100% rewarded and 100% inadequate and frustrated all at the same time.  My 8 year old is experiencing growing pains right now, wanting to be thought of as much older, but still acting so much younger.  She is super tall for her age and feels very awkward.  Very self-conscious, but not enough to make her not throw a fit in public.  She likes a little boy at school who is about head and shoulders shorter than she is, but she thinks he is so cute because of the way he spikes his hair....oh my, so cute!  She wrote me a note on Mother's Day that said, "Dear Mom, I like ****.  Don't tell Dad. Love, Emma" She eventually told him later that day, which I knew she would.  She is both embarrassed, but also wants to talk about it.  She truly is a walking contradiction.  Every time I think I know how to handle the challenges she throws my way, I get a huge curve ball and realize just how clueless I really am!!

Photoshoot with my Girlies

I feel like I haven't been able to spend a lot of quality time with my girls lately...I'm still recovering from surgery and it's not super easy to get around with crutches.  Last night we watched the Royal Wedding together and they were both just in awe.  I had to explain the oh-so-complicated English traditions and ceremonies.  They loved seeing all the princes, princesses, and other royals...and those awesome hats the ladies wore to Westminster Abbey!

So today, we did a makeup and dress-up day and took a bunch of photos...they turned out so pretty!!

It was such an awesome day :o)

Teaching the Girls to Embroider

My mom, Grammy, is a super talented lady....she taught me so much about sewing and I have so many great memories of her teaching me to be crafty!  She creates her own homespun embroidery patterns and sent some to the girls for Christmas this year....and we are finally getting around to using them!!  Emma had to learn that you CANNOT sew around the hoop....it was so funny!!  I think I re-threaded needles about a hundred times, but we had such a great time.  Dayna kept squealing about what a great time we were having and she was so glad I was teaching her...melted my heart.  I am thankful for my mom....and for having 2 wonderful daughters.  Forgive me for gushing ♥

Dayna before we started

Emma before starting

Am I doing this right??

You can see the blue line of stitching....she did SO good!!

Working hard!

This face was so funny!  Every time she wrapped the hoop with her needle!

They got the hang of it after a few minutes