Weekend Recap

Things I didn't do this weekend:

• Go to the Crafty Mamas Bazaar at Milagros
• Paint our bedroom
• Sort through my fabric to sell (I will be putting some up on Ebay soon)
• Go grocery shopping
• Return books to the library, they are due today, so I need to go after work, I promised myself no overdues this year
• Get some window coverings for the basement made
• Do laundry

Things I did get done:

• Went to the park
• Played outside
• Went for walks
• Had family movie night
• Read stories
• Went swimming

All in all a very productive weekend.

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

It has been a whole year since I started this blog. One year doesn't seem that long, but a lot can happen in just a year. Look what happened to Cat and Aly:

Then (traveling the aisles of Fred Meyer)

and Now (on my aunt's beautiful couch at Christmas)

Fabric Friday - with update

In the Oregonian home section yesterday they had an article on what colors will be hot this year. The number one was pink, it was just named color of the year by ICI paints. Have they been talking to Cat? So as I was looking at fabrics I concentrated in the pink family and found this one that I like. I am not a huge pink fan but being a mother of two girls I have bought a few yards of pink here and there. I found this one on Cia's Palette. It is currently sold out so I guess they are right, pink is hot so far this year.

Update: I stumbled upon the site of the designers of this print, Prints Charming out of Australia. What is it with all of these talented folks down there, I am drawn to more and more Australian sites everyday. This fabric is one of the lines being produced by Free Spirit Fabrics who also puts out Heather Bailey's great prints. Like this one:

The Ogre Post

Scott took Cat to a new ballet class on Monday through the Parks and Rec. During the class each child was asked to pick an animal to be for part of the class. As they went around the class you heard “cat”, “dog”, “butterfly”, “lion”, and then you get to Cat who says “I want to be a big ogre!”
When I got home from work and Scott told me this story I asked Cat if she thought ogres were animals. She said “no Mama, ogres aren't animals but they would make the best pets. Oh, I wish I had an ogre for a pet.” I love that my kids are silly like this, not afraid to stray from the norm. I am sure when she said it she pictured Shrek living in our house.

Fabric Friday

Kristen Doran Design has just updated her site with the sweetest owl fabric.  I love it and since I am selfish like that I put in my order before posting about it online.  I mentioned her blog Cheeky Beaks on Monday when I saw her link to Publisher Textiles, and when I saw that she had this owl fabric going up for sale today I knew at once that she would be my Fabric Friday post.

 

All bags and prints are copyright to kristen doran design 2006

Let It Snow

Material Monday - Publisher Textiles

Publisher Textiles based out of Australia has some beautiful fabrics. I am guessing they are way out of my price range, probably more in the "if I win the lottery and take a trip to Australia I would buy this fabric" range. I found them through a link at Cheeky Beaks another crafty blog that I discovered, she picks out some great fabrics, and designs them herself.

I finally got back into my sewing room and organized a bit plus got some pillows done for the girls room. I ran out of the fabric I need to finish them up so I will have to put an order in for some more yardage (that last ones needs to be on sale before I buy it). I am hoping to finish the pillows and the rest of their bedding by next weekend, guess I better go order the fabric now.

Nintendo DS = Hip Mama or Hip Wife?

You know when someone asks you a question and an answer comes to mind right away but you really aren't sure if that is the answer the person wants to hear so you bury it back in and pull out a new answer. Or am I the only one? Well that is what I went through when I saw this post on Crazy Hip Blog Mamas.

Why would a Pink Nintendo DS Lite make me a hipper mama?

Here are a few answers I came up, all of them being true but not my first thoughts on the subject:

1. It is pink and electronic, my girls would flip and I think I was a total hip mama. Is there something in the little girl brain that equates pink to all things cool?
2. I have so been out of the loop on video games ever since Nintendo 64 or Colecovision. Does anyone remember Colecovision? That was about the last time I played video games on a regular basis. If I had my very own little video game system I could become so "now", so "with it".
3. It would give me that techno edge to talk to all the guys I work with about video games. I am literally the only woman working on a project with 20 guys. Feeling a little "in" with this group would definitely increase my hipness factor. Plus, they might take me a little more seriously when I discuss work topics. Also what is it with guys and video games? Although this does relate a little more to my answer below.

The best answer of all is that I would be become the ultimate hip chick in the eyes of my husband. Talk about something working better than lingerie to get a guys attention. It is probably one of the only things that is pink & electric, that would get him that excited (that is unless it came in a plain, brown paper box, but that would be something completely different). He wouldn't even care that it was pink. He would care that his smart, beautiful, sexy, and incredibly hip wife won it online. And let's face it, there is no one in this world other than our kids who can make us feel more beautiful and hip than our husbands. A hip wife = a hip mama = a hip lady.

Fabric Friday - Amy Butler Lotus

I heart Amy Butler fabric, I don't buy many of them, but I love them so much! She has a new line that according to her website comes out mid January. It is called Lotus and it is fabulous. I think I like her fabrics so much because she always puts out designs that I would love to have in my home. But the sad truth is I don't, I spend way too much time dreaming and not enough time doing. 2007 things will change.

A few of my faves:

Is she ready?

In our house the topic of most of our conversations (at least with my husband and I) have to do with Cat and whether we should follow the Portland Public School District kindergarten cut off age of five by 09/01/07 or push for early admission. At first we were going to push for the early admission but the more we talked and the more research I did (I tend to over research things) all signs seemed to point toward waiting that extra year and starting kindergarten in 2008. But then I talk to Cat and watch how she plays and how she is learning so much and how much she wants to learn and I do think she is ready. But is this just mama pride? You know thinking that your kid is the smartest, wittiest, cutest kid in the world? I mean sure there has to be some of that in there, but I really think she is ready. Is she really going to feel like the littlest kid in class? She is already taller than a lot of her preschool classmates so that won't be an issue. If you ask Cat what school she wants to go to she says kindergarten. We've read Ramona the Pest and all about her going to kindergarten and not being a little "nursery school baby". I just keep going back and forth on what to do. If we pursue early admission it means meeting with the principal, letter from her preschool teacher, and a psychological evaluation (costs about $300-500). I keep waiting for a sign to appear that says she is ready or no way keep her home as long as you can. I also keep thinking that no matter what we decided it might not be the optimal decision for her. I guess this is our first step towards screwing up her life in some way. Come on you know that all parents do that to their kids sooner or later even if they have the best of intentions. I think at some point you just need to forget what all the research says, you know your child best, and follow what seems right. But I don't know what that is yet.

A four year old mind at work

S was vacuuming the family room when Cat said "Daddy, what are you doing?
S answered "I'm vacuuming."
Cat thought for a minute and said " why, is someone coming over?"
She is turning into a little smart ass just like her mama. I'm so proud.

Cat and Aly at Vancouver Lake

Under Construction

I need to fool around with this site until I can figure out why it is not showing up normal in Internet Explorer. Can anyone help me out?

For now Life in Mama Land will be under construction.

Update: I changed the look around, again, but now it looks good in Internet Explorer and not so great in Mozilla. I think I know the problem but enough work for tonight, I am going to bed, I will work on it more tomorrow.

Error

What is up with my new look? Using Mozilla it looks great, using Internet Explorer it looks like crap. Maybe I need to update my Internet Explorer. Oh I hope that is it, because right now it looks so bad.

I will work on it tonight, hopefully I can fix the problem.

Please stand by for the regularly schedule program.

New Year, New Look, New Name

So I changed my site around a bit, made it a bit more girly. It was what I could do without hiring someone else to do it. I will probably tweak it a little more, but for now I am happy with it.

As you can see I changed the name as I talked about in my last post. Hopefully it will suit me a bit better. Oh who knows if it will be any better, but it makes me happy to see my name up there at the top of the page.

A few other changes you will notice, my picture in my profile, it is of me when I was 3. I love that picture, I look so happy. Hopefully it will inspire me to surround myself with things that make me that happy, like my family. Also, I will start signing my comments "Heather Bea" instead of the "HeatherJ" you are used to seeing.

I am so optimistic going into 2007, I feel that this will be a year of great changes, tons of inspiration, and lasting memories of my girls.

Happy New Year!

Oh, one last thing, I want to start posting more photos this year, so here you have my two girls. Are they super cute, or is it just me?