Boys and Boots

We went to the lake last weekend with some of our close friends. They have a little man a few months older than P, and these two boys are good buddies. That doesn't mean they don't scream at each other and grab toys and rocks and food out of each other's hands, cuz they do. We had a fun trip, very relaxing--even though none of us got quite enough sleep and the refrigerator/freezer went out while we were there. Nothing some coolers and a lot of ice (with beer on it) couldn't remedy! 

The boys thought it was great fun to knock heads with W and see his reaction.

Here I am with a very sleepy, P. You can sort of see how giant I am, P has to sit alongside my huge belly now.

Swimming feels great when you're pregnant. The wake up call comes when you start to climb the ladder out of the water, and you feel heavier and more clumsy with every step. I'm holding the life jacket down because I can only buckle into the men's extra-large now... in retrospect, maybe that should have been my wake-up call.

I made a baby boot this week. Yes, a single baby boot. I'm trying to get motivated to make the second one, but it's so warm here right now that it doesn't really seem necessary. I think it's cute! I also want to make some in a funkier color. How adorable would these be with little jeans and a plaid shirt or something?!

The pattern is from a shop that I like on Etsy called Two Girls Patterns. This is the second baby shoe pattern that I've bought from them. I like that they carry boy things too, although their little slippers and things for girls are darling. The patterns have great photos and if you've crocheted before, they should be easy for you to follow.  It's sort of hard to see them in my photos, but there are straight and braided cables up the sides (check out Two Girls pic below). So cute and fall-ish.

I love the gray and yellow, hopefully my second pair will look as great as those! Either way, these will keep chunky, baby feet all warm and cozy.

Vacation in Review

We had a really nice time visiting friends and family last week. I'm pretty sure P's face says it all! He literally went from truck to tractor to boat (which he calls "Bope") the whole time we visited and was completely spoiled by the grandparents and "Auntie Coco and Uncle Back."

We got to visit with friends and get the babies together, finally meeting C's Baby V, there's nothing I love better than a sweet smelling, solid chunk of baby boy! And guess what?! This group is going to increase by three before the year is over. There are three more babies due by the fall-two boys and one undecided :). I'm anticipating lots of trouble once all these boys are here and figure out they outnumber the mamas, good thing there is at least one sweet girl to keep them on the right side of civilized.

Oh, Curious George, we love you, especially at Chic-Fil-A...

And of course we love fried green tomato BLT's from Stella's...

And fun times with good friends...

And the best birthday cake in the world!! The same lady who made our wedding cake made this, it was amazing. Notice how Grammy is afraid P is going to burn his face on those candles.

I just realized half of my vacation memories are food related...but that's just the way it is I guess! Yours would be too if you had gotten any of this cake before we devoured it.

Where I've been the last two weeks...

So I've been quite the absentee blogger lately. Two weeks ago I was slammed with Easter orders on Etsy... fun stuff and lots more already on the cutting table for this week!

Then last week I left for a little trip to Charleston. The first few days, I visited with my 'book club girls." We all live in different cities, but we take turns choosing a book to read and a bottle of wine for everyone to try and then we meet up on skype group chat to discuss. It's a lot of fun.

It was a fun 'gal's weekend' (plus P and one of Emily's sweet girls). We did lots of talking and eating good food. Jane and Emily are both Mamas of two and it was great to be able to pick their brains about all kinds of things that they've already been through with their older children. I think it's invaluable to hang out with other families and see how they do things, it's not good to get stuck too much in one way of thinking (especially if it's something like "my way is the high way," I know I'm guilty of this at times).

It was a little chilly the first couple of days, but so nice to be out on the beach!

After the girls went home, my Mom and sister and her friend came down to meet me in Charleston. It was Chloe's spring break. The weather warmed up and was absolutely gorgeous!

We had a really great time, makes me excited to be back in KY in a few months!

Stay tuned for my upcoming Easter series, title TBA!

NOLA

I haven't posted in a couple of days because I have been so busy! Two of my very dearest, old friends flew down to New Orleans to visit me. We have been friends for 12 years, I am so blessed to have them! We had a great time, and packed in the activities. We walked around the French Quarter, toured a plantation, ate some lovely food and did lots of talking.

Here we are having a great breakfast and celebrating S's birthday!

Lake Pontchartrain! Gorgeous.

Here we are by one of the Pontalba buildings, you can see that C is sporting an adorable baby bump!

Mardi Gras masks in the French Market. Look how C and S are smiling mysterious little smiles, but I didn't ge tthe memo.

We had a really nice dinner at one of Emeril's restaurants. "Tiny portions, weird sauces." That's a quote from Gilmore Girls, but it doesn't really apply here. I just wanted to say it. The food was really interesting and the sauces were decadent and delicious. My favorite thing of the night was an "Escargot and Yukon Gold Fondue." It was served with slices of toasted French Bread and you scooped up the escargot and the amazing creamy sauce with them.

After Emeril's we took a little trip to Pat O'Brien's for....

A Hurricane for S.

Fun!

S and I were smooched on the cheek by some passing, middle aged inebriated ladies, who also gave us the beads.  

Then S had her fortune told. She is apparently going to fall in love soon...she's been married for 5 years.

We started off the next day with fantastic crispy, sugary beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Then it was off to the plantations. Here C and S are posing for senior portraits.

We put the camera on some roots and I ran to get in the picture.

Yes, me and C posing in a Civil War tent. I'm trying to look menacing but I just look suspicious.

Gorgeous! The trees are so much more impressive than you can convey on camera.

So fun, it was over too soon!

Impromptu Fall Mantel Makeover

So Baby P and I are visiting Grammy and we took a little trip down to the lake over the weekend. It was so much fun and we had nice weather. Can you believe husband W wants to cut off that sweet baby hair? I love how wild and wavy it is and it makes me sad to think of losing it!

While at the lake, I noticed that the mantel looked like this...

Everything else looks super cute, my Mom is good at rounding up cozy, interesting things for the cabin. But this mantel was just so EMPTY! So I started gathering some things from around the house. Books, lamps, placemats, fake ducks (actually there were maybe 5 to choose from), and some goldenrod from outside. There is tons of it blooming right now (Goldenrod is the state flower of KY, BTW).

The things I tried to consider were the many textures already existing (stone chimney and wood mantel) and the high ceilings (meaning lots of exposed chimney). The fish was not optional. Ideally it would be hung a little higher, but I needed help, a drill and a ladder so I left it alone for now.



I really like the chunky, unfinished wood mantel.

This is a neat textured basket that I found, filled with pinecones and walnuts.

The vase is just a plain, clear glass florist's vase. I wrapped a plaid placemat around it and tied it with a little piece of raffia. The chubby, little pumpkins were swiped from my Mom's dining table arrangement.

On the left is an old-fashioned oil lamp converted to an electric light. I put it on a stack of books to try to get some height. I found an old checkerboard that I stood up against the chimney, it helped the lamp and wooden duck stand out a little against the texture of the stone and added some visual interest. There's a small mason jar full of checkers behind the piece of goldenrod. On the right is a big basket of pine cones and walnuts with the vase of goldenrod and little pumpkins. Also on the right are two small, fake oars. I found them floating around the house and I think they were from a canoe shaped coffee table my parents had years and years ago. Again, I was thinking "Height."

 

This is not an elaborate change and it was definately not time consuming. I think it suits the rustic feel of the cabin and it's not overly symmetrical. There are some things I would change or do differently given unlimited supplies and resources, but it's nice to know that you can do a cheap, easy upgrade with what you can find around the house and outdoors. Puts me in the mood for fall and Thanksgiving!

No Sewing this week but there has been...

Lots of this: My sore bum can attest to the truth of that fact.

Lots of this. Our clothes are full of sand...not to mention the beach bags, stroller, suitcase, shoes, hair, ears...

Lots of this. It's been a great trip so far!