The Little Things

I have a new camera and I cannot for the life of me figure out what setting to use inside. All of my pictures end up looking like this-

Good thing my subjects are so cute.

I'm a big fan of giving kids the opportunity to work on a large scale. When I found this roll of paper at Home Depot, I had to have it. It's cheap ($10 a roll) pretty thick and 34" across. We spent hours today tracing our bodies on a big sheet of it. Red Fish even spent some time tracing her Daddy after he got home from work. If you are looking for Christmas presents already (because I am) this roll of paper is a good deal. If only I could wait until December...

The Diva

Red Fish is very into dressing up right now. We keep most of the toys in the family room and playroom because Red Fish will play with them when she is supposed to be sleeping. Apparently her closet has now become her new favorite toy box. When she is supposed to be napping she will come strolling out wearing 10 different outfits in about 20 minutes. She changes her shoes multiple times throughout the day. Last night when she was supposed to go to bed she kept sneaking out wearing a combination of wild outfits. When she finally fell asleep we went in to find her snuggling her favorite sandals.

and her closet looked like this.

11 Months

Miss New Fish is 11 months. I can't believe it is time to start planning a party already. The year is speeding past. It seems like New Fish has been changing overnight. She has gone from my tiny baby to this little person with SO MUCH PERSONALITY. She talks to me and points at things she wants. She has these sparkly little eyes that just light up when she is happy. Her eyes also betray when she is looking for trouble. She gets this look of mischief and determination that is unmistakeable.

She can walk really well now except she tries to go to fast and ends up falling down. She wants to keep up with her sister desperately. She dances by pumping her little fist in the air. She is already climbing on things and getting into EVERYTHING. I'm going to have to beef up my baby proofing.

New Fish knows exactly how to get a rise out of her sister Red Fish and seems to enjoy teasing her. The two of them are best of buddies and in constant competition now.

New still only has two teeth but she can eat just about anything anyway. She is getting pretty good with her sippy cup. I've finally stopped giving her a feeding in the middle of the night because she stopped drinking most of the bottle. (Yes, I completely realize that most people think I'm a sucker for doing it this long but I don't really care.) She still doesn't sleep through the night but I think we are finally getting close. She is just very different sleeper than her sister was.

I still hold her bottle when I feed her because it's one of the only chances I get to snuggle her. She wants to be held 24/7 but the snuggling isn't as common. I can't imagine our family without her anymore.

Random Wedding Pics

I didn't get very many pictures (especially of the bride and groom) because I was trying to stay out of the photographer's way and trying to keep my kids out of the swimming pool. So here are just a few random pictures in random order.

My Dad and New Fish dancing.

Red Fish busting a move on the dance floor.

My Mom dancing with Doo (Brother M)

Dancing with my Bockum and New Fish.

First dance

Sharing a cream puff

Some of the flower girls with M.E.

Mimi with New Fish

Lee Lee and New Fish

M.Eeeeeeee Doooooooo

The last of the T-fam was married today. Today my youngest brother got married to his love M.E. Watching him kneal across the alter from her and look at her with that much love in his eyes made me cry. (Although I'm a crybaby just like the rest of my family, so it was inevitable.) Today, I am in love with love. Red Fish calls them M.E. and Doo and so all week long she has been marching around singing M! E! Dooooooooo.

Summer Projects

Random flowers made from chiffon, ribons, zippers, felt, wool, buttons and beads. I have made more than this but I couldn't fit them in the picture. This has some of the different types I've been making. The red, gray and black one is my favorite. I'm definitely getting better at making these. It has swarovksy crystals (found on clearance for 50 cents) glued on the flowers.
These are for the wedding tomorrow. M.E.'s colors are coral, green and peach. One of these is for my hair and the rest are for the girls.

I haven't been saying much on the blog about the projects I've been working on this summer. Some of the projects have been to preserve my sanity. I've very suddenly become a crafter because creating fun things for no reason has become my new therapy. It's nice to make something that doesn't need to please anyone but myself. It's soothing when I'm stressed or pulled in a thousand directions at once. Since I am totally obsessed with hair accessories it has been especially fun to figure out that I can, in fact, make them myself. It is WAY too much fun.

Some of my other projects have been those grown up things that we all have to do at some point. The biggest project of the summer has been our backyard. We put in flower beds, a drip system, curbing, bark chips, trees and a ton of plants. The rest of the flower beds will be empty until next summer but I'm pretty excited about the way things are looking. I really wish I had a before picture of what all the weeds on the rocks looked like. It was ugly. The best part is I can check this off my goal list for the year. Woohoo. I love to check off things, especially big goals.

Art Group Day 9

This week we used air dry clay to make pinch pots and coil pots. It was really fun to see what the kids came up with. Every project was completely individual. I think my favorite part of this summer project has been seeing the kids gain the confidence to do something completely different from the rest of the group. I love seeing them experiment with the supplies.

Family Pictures From July

While we were at the cabin last month, Lovely N came to take our pictures

Two Fish with his Mom and siblings

The whole family

The grandkids- this was a tough picture to take. The kids were so DONE by this point.

Two Fish's brother V and his family

Two Fish's sister L and her family

Two Fish's brother W and his family

Two Fish's brother M and his darling daughter.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, New Fish (aren't they smiley?)

Sunday Afternoon Bike Ride

New Fish hates any activity that involves a seatbelt, helmet or life jacket. She doesn't like to be restrained in any way. I think the only thing she really likes that we have done this summer is hiking because she loves riding in the backpack. I'm hoping she will get used to all of it. Red Fish loves everything.

Blurry Pictures of A Normal Afternoon

Blurry pictures of two busy girls enjoying an afternoon of dress up.

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo- Boo

By Steig Larsson

Not very original. Too much sex, violence and bad language. I didn't quite make it to the end but I'm positive I know what happened. This is a good example of why I shouldn't read trendy books. I'm reading Eat, Pray, Love next because I'm seeing the movie with friends so I'm really hoping it's better but I've got to admit, I have low expectations. I suspect Oprah liked it and we tend to disagree.

Art Group Day 8

We did print making yesterday by building up the surface of our cardboard blocks with foam and pipe cleaners. Then we covered them in paint to make a print on a piece of colored paper. Next time, I want to find thicker foam pieces because the smaller kids had a hard time getting a clear print.

New Fish with glue covered hands. She is no longer content hanging out on the sidelines.

Creating the collographs

Painting the blocks