For Mom.

On our little dirt road we have a horse farm (and a cattle farm, goat farm, and donkey farm). In the last month, the horses have had 6 babies. Every day when we drive past, we say good morning.

I love it when all of the moms are standing around the hay bale eating while the babies are asleep at their feet.

Della decided this was a good time to strike a pose.

More pictures.

I gave the girls some neon hairspray yesterday. Della looks like she rolled around in a bag of Cheetos. Yes, that is a chest tattoo.

Fun activity last night. I wrapped duct tap around the girls' wrists with the sticky side up and they collected things around the yard to make nature bracelets.

Probably one of my fave purchases ever. These came from http://lennymud.etsy.com/. They hold the bouquets that they kids bring me from the yard. I love how they look together. They make me smile.

An Post of Pictures

Our apples are doing well! My use of the macro setting - not so good.

Our garden is on its way. We've planted asparagus, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, green beans, onions and jalapenos. Still to come - corn and maybe eggplant.

Another view of the garden. The asparagus patch is on the far end.

This is a dam Scott was working on with the kids, also referred to as Aswan 2. It was breeched 2 days later when the water broke through underneath.

Thing One and a Bullet Proof Weave

Lulu had to pick a Dr. Seuss character to dress up as for a parade at school. I was trying to lean her toward Daisy Head Maisy or The Foot Book. She had her heart set on Thing 1. Luckily, the costume wasn't too hard to pull together. Scott wanted to get her picture crawling in from the window, because apparently this is what Thing 1 and Thing 1 do. Unfortunately, we didn't have the first Cat in the Hat book to refer too, only the sequel. Still, she looked great and she was the ONLY Thing 1 in the parade.

This morning Della Fern decided she wanted to wear her pink weave. I set her up, added 4 or 12 pink hair bows and a tutu and she was a happy camper.

Happy Valentime's Day [sic]

Lucy mispronounces it as "Valentime's Day", so that typo is on purpose for a change.

The girls spent last night at my in-laws. Sweet! Scott and I went out for wings-n-beer last night and had fun. Today, we've piddled and enjoyed the quiet.

For dinner, I made good old comfort food but upscale. I made a roasted cherry tomato soup and a grilled cheese using a sun-dried tomato foccacia with asiago, havarti, and Swiss inside. It was so yummy!

The other day, Della was taking a nap and her little hand was smooshing up her face and the light was just right... She looks a lot like her sister at 3 in this picture. She thought it was really funny to see herself sleeping.

Girls Girls Girls

Lulu loves to dress her little sister up. She would be a great costume designer.

But her sister also likes to dress herself up. This was the outfit she picked for her 3 year well check last week.

Lucy handmade cards for each of her 15 classmates. Each one had the recipient's name in a fun lettering along with a coloring page. She then glued each one to a sheet of red paper and used some sticky felt to stick a lollipop on the front. Man, were we proud of her. That was a lot of work! It took her a solid week.

I can't think of a good title.

It was so warm yesterday (in the 60s) that we decided to pack a picnic and go fishing. I made up some tuna salad, packed some bread and fruit. We stopped and bought minnows and then headed to the lake. Well, it was really windy, our poles haven't been relined in forever (meaning they break when you try to pull on them too hard), and I accidentally left the tuna in the fridge. The girls stayed in the back seat of the car reading while Scott and I fished in vain. Can anyone say snowtubing? It did give me any idea for Valentine's Day - Scott is getting 6 rolls of new fishing line.

Dawson County is doing a free wedding/vow renewal this Friday, February 13th at the courthouse. I love Friday the 13ths (and my husband) and was really excited that we could do this. Sadly though, Scott will probably have to work. Bummer.

I sold three paintings in the last ten days. That is exciting. I do get sad to see my girlies go but I know they are going to good homes. I've been listing the last of my new hats until fall. After that, I am concentrating on getting some hand-dyed vintage slips listed. I did two that are the most gorgeous shade of purple. If I can get my hands on some neon yellow dye, I will be a happy girl.



My shop really has never looked prettier. I am working on getting a small ad together so I can advertise on some blogs. I haven't done must of that since I opened. Most of my off-etsy promotion has been on facebook, myspace, and twitter along with some prize donations for blog contests.

Scott is off squirrel hunting this morning. I am cheering for the squirrels.

Thinking Toward Spring

So I have slowed down with the hat making lately, mostly with my eye focused on warmer weather. I am trying to work on items that I can stock in warmer weather since demand for hats is low in the summer. One of my favorite new iems is this messenger bag. I picked it up at Goodwill in Athens and I had plans for it immediately. I had picked up several bags of vintage lace and other trims from a wonderful shop on etsy called . I hand-sewed several rows of the lace to the front of the bag and added a signature neon poppy. I had all of that neon chiffon leftover from the girls' holiday outfits so I've been cranking out these poppies. They make the prettiest hair clips and pins.

I've posted a couple new pictures of the girls. The close-up of Lucy is once of my faves.

My car is still out of commission. Until we get our tax refund and get the new transmission, I will be driving Miss Vicky. Her power steering is iffy so I've been really limited my trips to the Y or the library.

I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook. Its been really fun to reconnect with folks from the past, even folks I didn't really connect with at all from high school.

Cheap Fun

 
 
 
 

Saturday was so warm and we had to get out of the house. We headed down to Buford to the Fish Hatchery to feed the fish, do a little hiking and fish the family pond. The hatchery guy was really nice and gave the girls a bucket of feed to feed the trout. We then hiked over to the family pond and didn't catch a thing. Still, it was nice to get out of the house.

Flower Power

 
 
I recently donated a hat to a silent auction benefitting a local pre-school. Fern models it for me before I send it off.

Sadly, I am having to part with my beloved lunchbox collection. They are just taking up too much room and I haven't actively collected them in a while. I will be listing them at http://electricbluebird.etsy.com and my vintage/supply shop at http://allskate.etsy.com.

We doing a good bit of spring cleaning in order to get Della Fern her own room. Since we don't have a basement or a garage, storage is a big problem. We just have to get rid of a lot of things. I am fine with it because we have way too much 'stuff' as it is.

This past weekend, we visited the Gold Museum in Dahlonega, Georgia. It was quite interesting. I look forward to doing more local site seeing once it warms up. We are actively planning our first camping trip as a family and I am sooooo excited!

My Husband the Artist

Scott will tell you he doesn't have an artistic bone in his body but that just isn't true. I woke up this morning and found this...

Bottle of Canadian Mist: $12
Sharpie: $2
Spaghetti Squash: $4
Your husband's artwork: Priceless

Happy new year and all that! I am looking forward to an exciting 2009. I am excited about so many things this year. I am excited about camping! My parents gave us a huge family tent for Christmas and I am so excited about us finally all going to a state park for a few days. We are lucky to live near several really great parks (Unicoi, Vogel) and I think the girls will really enjoy it. Lulu in particular loves the outdoors. She just finished reading a book about the 50 state flowers, and managed to identify a (faux) magnolia in the doctor's office.

I am also excited about my etsy shop. I am painting more and I really enjoy it. I am looking into doing some prints, maybe t-shirts with my artwork. I also plan to do more sewing like pillows and the vintage slips.

And I am excited about hitting the gym again. Its been spotty the last couple of months - either I was sick or Fern was sick and unable to be in the childcare. Now that I have discovered the guilty pleasures of the Real Housewives of the OC, its all good. I can do an hour on the treadmill with no problem. But I also want to get into yoga. I just wish the Y had regular yoga and I didn't have to suffer through the Christ-centered stuff. So not my bag. No offense, but this Buddhist-leaning non-Christian wishes it was the plain old yoga without the bible lesson.

Cheers for 2009!

I've been tagged - one word answers.

I am a tag virgin. This is my first one!

Where is your cell phone? car
Where is your significant other? kitchen
Your hair color? auburn
Your mother? creative
Your father? smart
Your favorite thing? happiness
Your dream last night? none
Your dream/goal? happiness
The room you’re in? livingroom
Your hobby? electricbluebird
Your fear? illness
Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
Where were you last night? mall
What you’re not? patient
One of your wish-list items? tattoos
Where you grew up? Atlanta
Last thing you did? mail
What are you wearing? black
Your TV? off
Your pet? DH
Your computer? crap
Your mood? up
Missing someone? no
Your car? shithole
Something you’re not wearing? mask
Favorite store? yarnstore
Your summer? blazing
Love someone? yes
Your favorite color? pink
When is the last time you laughed? today
time you cried? Monday

I will be tagging bonnie at http://clayandchocolate.blogspot.com .

You might be a redneck...

So we scored a free trampoline from a guy who works with Scott. It was unassembled and dirty so Scott set it up in the yard and scrubbed it down. The mat was still wet and Scott didn't want to take it apart again so we figured we would store it across the road on our neighbor's property so we could work on it without the kids seeing it.

It was much too heavy and cumbersome to walk across the street, not to mention I was sick and Scott's back was hurting. So, we had the bright idea to drive it across the street. I mean, who needs a truck when you have a 1986 Crown Vic Ltd?

I laughed so hard when we finally got it on top of the car that I tinkled. The things you do for your kids' Christmas....



We took the girls to the mall last night so they could discuss things with Santa. Lulu had a nice long talk with him but DF was scared of him and would only laugh and high behind Scott while muttering 'piano'. So while I didn't get a picture of the two of them on Santa's lap like I wanted, I did score some very nice photos of them while they rode the miniature carousel.

The Holidays and Birthdays

The holidays are in full swing. Thanksgiving is behind us. I am done with our shopping for the girls. Lulu is getting a pink boom box, a 3-CD set of 80s tunes (hey, if I have to listen to it, it better be something I like), a retro shirt with roller skates on it, a book about fashion design, a scrapbook, and 7 rolls of colored duct tape.

Yep, you read correctly - 7 rolls of duct tape: red, pink, yellow, blue, silver, purple, and green. One day while staying with my in-laws, she managed to take some plain old duct tape and turn it into a crown. I was blown away. I heard her say she wished it came in different colors. SCORE Mama! I am not giving her any books or instructions - the child is creative enough to make stuff on her own.

Della is getting an electric keyboard, some bath paints, some clothes (she loves getting clothes), a book, and some My Little Ponies to go with the MLP Amusement Park she has been amassing piece by piece.

From Santa, the girls will be getting a trampoline. We have folks against it, somewhat understandably. We do plan to find one with the net and the pads. It will be considerably different than the one that Carrie Marxmiller had when we were little.

While I am here, I should mention that I had a wonderful birthday courtesy of my BFF Christine. She planned a Girls Night at Wild Wing (THE ONLY local hot spot). It was well attended by many of the Real Housewives of Hall County - Karen, Teal, Kate, Vicki, Tina, me, and Xine. Wings were eaten, drinks were drunk, and young, hot waiters were oogled. A wonderful time was had by all.