when the cat is away the mice will play... and tie dye!

Jay has been gone all week long.  Last year on these long trips he takes I would feel miserable.  i would get bored and antsy and pretty lonesome.  Now that C is basically a little human being (let's face it, last year she was kinda like a boring burrito) she is so much more fun!  We really had a great week filled with playing, pooling, meeting up with friends and of course crafting. C got to spend some time with her besties this week...

We got to have a front porch dinner picnic after a big storm went through and we lost power, yes that is a cold can of beefaroni that I served my child (she ate at least 3/4 of the can!)

And of course I did some major crafting.  I worked on a couple projects for my new classroom that I am getting next year.  You will see the pics when they are finished.  I also made C some 4th of July apparel.  What good US citizen does not have a nice tacky shirt to wear on the 4th?! (of course her father and myself will not be wearing one, but babies can get away with anything!)

So for C's 4th of July outfit I got some cheap tie dying materials...

Tie Dyed three shirts using different methods (I hadn't done this in a while, so I was a little rusty with the process)...

Chose my fav...

Then wanted to try a technique I had seen on pinterest.  I had seen some cool shirts that had been written on with a bleach pen.  Well it turns out that a bleach pen costs about 5 dollars AND I am super cheap, so I made my own.  I used q-tips dipped in bleach to make stars over the tie-dye and it seemed to work just fine!  I can see how if you are wanting to do something with sharper lines, the pen would be helpful, but this worked for me!

So we had a successful week, stayed busy and the cat is coming home tonight (yeah!) plus we are all ready for the fourth...tacky baby t-shirts, shades and of course some glow bracelets!

-melissa

cover up!

As in all things in life, as soon as I figure one thing out it changes.  This primarily deals with C.  These are things that I am confident of: C is going to love the pool and beach.

It is my job to keep her warm.

She most likely will not let me wrap her up and cuddle with her in a towel after getting wet.

We are going to be busy this summer.

I need to get my junk together.

My plan was to make her a SUPER cheap, easy and cute cover up.  One of my favorite blogs is made by rae.  I have made several things using her patterns including this adorable bonnet.  So I purchased her online pattern, and whipped one up.  If you have never made clothes before this is a great first attempt.  It came together easy, she provides excellent directions and it is a quick two nap project.  I also really like how customizable her patterns are.  She provides options for short or long sleeve, hood, lined hood or no hood, full wrap around tie or half attached tie.

For C's cover up I used two towels from Walmart that cost six dollars each (you could totally do it with one towel) and for the border I used some left over binding from the beach quilt that I made last spring.  The pattern comes in three sizes and I chose to make one that I knew would be a little big, but maybe would fit her next year.  It stayed on fine and she could still walk and play in it, while keeping away the shivers!

-melissa

Dear Beach...

You look a lot different than where I am from in Virginia.

I haven't seen you in a year, so at first I was a little leery.

My Tiki told me all about how fun you are.

The water was nice, but the sand was much more fun.  You know how I love to dig.

One of mommy's friends told her to bring a pool.  Nothing better than playing in the shade, in a pool on the beach.

Mommy had a great time at the beach.  She loves it there.

I never really understood how the water goes away, but then comes right back.  Maybe next year.

This blanket was made for the beach and so of course we had to get our yearly picture on it!

Daddy and Grandpa enjoyed the shade more than catching rays like mommy and Tiki.

But, we did so much more than play at the beach!  I got plenty of wagon rides.

Played in the pool!

And tried out all the major summer fashions.

One day we even got to see tons of different fish at the aquarium!

We saw weird ones.

And ones with pointy noses.

I even got to pretend I was one!

At the end mommy shoved this hat on my head.  She thought it was funnier than I did.

It was really fun!

I played so hard that a couple times I tried to put myself down for a nap on the back porch.

Thanks beach for letting me come over, hope to see you again soon!

Love Always, Charlotte Gray

65 weeks old...or 15 months for you traditional people

Before Charlotte was born, I would joke with Melissa and tell her that I was planning on counting Charlotte's age in weeks for her entire life. You know when kids are just born and you say, "oh they're 5 weeks...or...they're 11 weeks now?" Well I think most people stop after about 12-14 weeks and move to months, but not me. If you ask me how old Charlotte is, my response will be "she's 65 weeks." In honor of her being 65 weeks old we have prepared 65 pictures...just kidding. I think it's only 26, but either way, enjoy the Charlotte goodness. She is growing up way to fast.

-jay