Looking around my kitchen it should have been obvious...

another plant, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

white shelves, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

utensil pot, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

plants from Matthew's birth, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

view down the stairs, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I need to start collecting plates!

here's the start- a serving platter, a large plate and a cake stand.

IMG_3735, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and here's a detail- showing their real beauty...

white plate detail, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Wandering Waif Collection GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!


How cute would this little outfit look on Sophia next year at Fort Days?

Too bad I don't ever win things.... except that one time when I was 4 and we were at an Easter egg hunt. They were raffeling off 2 stuffed animals and I told my parents "I'm going to pick that one". They tried to explain to me that I'd have to win first, and that it wasn't likley- but I was certain I'd be taking the pink bunny home with me... and I did- so maybe I should apply the same strategy here...

This outfit IS GOING TO look so cute on Sophia next year... :)

1 month

1 month, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia at 1 month:
9 pounds 9 ounces (50th percentile)
22 and a half inches long/ tall (75th percentile)

and no- she doesn't usually sleep on her belly- just for a cute picture occasionally. :)

Sophia Can...

konked out, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

pass out with the best of them!

The past few days this is where she prefers to nap in the afternoons, if not being held.

I love how totally out of it she looks in this picture...

Matthew can...

i can open the fridge, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Open the 'fridge.

good golly- that means he's got to learn to identify different products and retrieve them on command- or just learn to make sure the door is always closed when he's finished in there...

$3 window mistreatment

$3 window mistreatment, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Inspired by Nester, here are my $3 window mistreatments... $6 for the pair.

I'd wanted to put something on our kitchen windows for a while... my sewing machine doesn't like me though, and then the baby was born... how on earth was I going to sew a "curtain" under those conditions? (think I can cram any more links in there??)

Using free fabric leftover from a school project (a group of us were put in charge of designing a porch area for... some event here in town- I was somehow put in charge of sewing up all of the pillows and cushions), a glue gun, fabric tacks, 'L' brackets, and wood that was here at the house- I created these in a day.

my mistreatment tools, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Granted the fabric isn't exactly what I had in mind... I'd wanted something that had a white background- with designs in red, blue, green and yellow/orange (never could find it)... I still like the mistreatments quite a bit.

little how to:

I glued the hem with hot glue

nailed the fabric to a piece of wood that was 4 inches wider than my window, folding it like a present in the corners

screwed the "L" brackets to the wood

screwed the treatment to the wall

escape artist

escape artist, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia is an escape artist.
We got this blanket from a friend as a baby shower gift. It's a great swaddle blanket and we used it a lot right after we brought Sophia home from the hospital. She was sleeping a little bit too much though, and not eating enough- and since we needed her to be awake more often to eat, we quit using the miracle blanket during the day and decided just to use it at night... Sophia cracks me up, because even through she's wrapped tightly, in the mornings she looks like this.

Matthew, Memaw and the monor-bikulkulkul., originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

In other news...
Matthew told us this morning that he and Memaw (and Mommy too) had a cake and ate it all. That must have been a good dream.

baptismal gown

IMG_3549, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

My sewing machine is on the fritz- and while it could be a user error, I'm suspecting it's the machine... I've tried EVERYTHING I know how to fix it... any how- since my mom's machine had wonky stitch length, and since she hadn't used it in quite a while and couldn't find the instruction book... we ended going to my aunt's house to make this dress again- though slightly modified.

IMG_3560, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

It's much longer than the pattern originally specified- but that's because it's a baptismal gown...

IMG_3558, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

the top was made from fabric leftover from my First Communion dress

IMG_3536, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

and the bottom was actual fabric from my First Communion dress. It was a difficult decision to use the fabric from the dress- a dress my grandmother made for me. But in the end, it makes this little dress more special and uses something that would otherwise have been sitting in the closet turning yellow, never to be used again because of it's frilly-nes and outdated style.

Life Rules

shopping incognito, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Life rule #1

When shopping in the grocery store- shop with a cool disguise so all of your admirers will pass you by as just another shopper- you'll get your shopping done a ton faster that way...