The Week In Review

These little monkeys have been keeping me on my toes of late.

Ryder was never one to be too adventurous as he learned to walk, 

so keeping up with Lynden has been a learning curve for me.

There's something pretty fun about two mischievous boys though...

With it being baby shower season around here, 

I've finally gotten around to a few more little sewing projects. 

I'm absolutely loving my new sewing machine!

And Lynden hasn't quite figured out how to model my creations successfully yet, 

but we're working on it.

 And then on Friday we packed enough snacks to feed a small army and headed to our church campout a couple of hours away - just for the day.

Ryder had a blast swimming with his little friends. 

 Lynden kept me company nearby...

...and opted for no nap, even in the comfort of the hammock. 

Our day ended with dinner and s'mores.

And these two were asleep before we even made it out of the campground.

Here's to a few more fun summer adventures before Baby #3 arrives!

My Latest Project

Sometimes it takes having my hubby out of town for a 

few weeks to motivate me to get started on a new project. 

Especially something as time consuming as a new quilt.

So, with quiet evenings, minimal meal prep, and clean up, 

I got to work on Lynden's new big boy bed quilt.

From cutting and piecing to assembling - it went pretty quickly.

Especially thanks to my beautiful new Bernina sewing machine.

Happy birthday to me from my sweet in-laws!

Now all that's left is the actual quilting.

But first I need to decide on a fabric for the back. 

I'll be sure to show off the finished product once it's complete.

But with my honey back home and family coming into town this weekend, 

I think it'll take a back seat.

How else do we entertain ourselves on these sunny summer days?

Daily walks.

See?

There's my baby bump!

We're always keeping an eye out for lizards, rabbits, and 

any other fun desert creatures we might encounter.

Here's a little lizard friend. 

You could see exactly where his tail had come off and was regrowing.

How's that for a natural science lesson?

 And these two cuties just can't get enough playtime with each other.

So thankful for brothers who are best buds. 

It always helps to cool off with popsicles too!

The Never Ending Project

About 6 months ago I started thinking about what to do for Lynden's first birthday. 

I wanted it to be special and one of a kind.

Many hours on Pinterest later I settled on making him a quiet book.

I found tons of ideas and templates, 

I found a local small business to buy my supplies from, 

and then I got started. 

And now, over 100 hours later (and nearly two months after Lynden's birthday) I'm still at work.

My first two pages took the longest. 

Everything is sewn by hand.

This barn houses 5 different finger puppet farm animals.

The accompanying page gives a space for them to play and have a story told. 

Next was the rainbow.

The colours can be unsnapped and reattached and the cloud is a pocket to hold 

everything when not in use. 

My most recent page has these shoes. 

Everything needs to be sewn down still, then

I need to run out and grab a pair of laces for them.

 And now that I've put all this work into it (with only 4 pages to show), I've come to the conclusion that it's really more Ryder's level than Lynden's. 

 Ah well, I guess that will buy me a little more time to finish a few more pages. 

This truly is a labour of love.

 I'm not sure why all of my projects seem to have this unending quality - but already I'm thinking ahead to the next one:

a new quilt for Lynden once he's promoted out of the crib. 

I'm thinking the next 3 months are going to keep me pretty busy!

Baby Fun

I'm can't think of anything sweeter than a new little baby! While I'm enjoying my big and little babies, I'm also looking forward to helping a sweet friend (and fellow Navy wife) welcome her first little one. 

In spite of my endless 'to do' list, I took a little break to make a few handmade gifts. :)

Here's the finished product. A reversible bib and natural maple teether with nautical prints. 

Bunny Eared Teethers

Reversible Bibs

Thanks Pinterest!  

I'll be making some for Lynden next. 

And because I had so much fun making these ones, I went ahead and bought a whole bunch of certified organic cotton and flannel to make a few gift sets for my Etsy shop as well.  You may not hear from me for a while.... ;)

My Latest Pinterest Project

With a little extra time these last few days, I've been able to get started on a new project that's been on my mind for a few months already. There are a few spots on our dining room table where the finish is worn through, so placemats are in order. 

I chose some brightly coloured fabric to match my Fiesta dishes last month when a friend was in town. This week I finally got to measuring, cutting, and sewing.  They're not quite finished, but my goal is to finish them in time for Braden's birthday dinner this weekend. 

If any of you crafty readers out there are interested, I found the VERY SIMPLE tutorial on Pinterest. Here's the link. 

We also said goodbye to the 3 roosters we got in our batch of chicks. I was worried that the neighbours were going to say something about their early morning wake up calls (yikes!) and so we passed them along to go live in the country. 

Ryder was excited to get some treats and 'creature stickers' from the cousins. Oh yes, I also got back the car keys I left in Canada.  Oops! Thanks Jo!

These two sillies are just their typical selves. There's nothing quite like brotherly love. <3

We've made a couple of trips to the library recently to take advantage of some of the summer reading club programs. Brings back memories of biking to the Mt Lehman library for Nancy Drew books and Tintin comics all summer long as a kid. 

It makes my heart so happy to see Ryder loving books. George is a current favourite and he was given this book at the library as a reward for all of the books we read at home last week.

And of course my baby just keeps on growing. Look at the little guy holding his head up so well!  Some days this is how I can best get my work accomplished, and I don't mind. :)

Projecting

I've been at it again - working on a new project! The last quilt I made was for airplane themed for Ryder's new bed. I have finally gotten around to starting my next one, just a throw size, made with super soft cotton flannel.

Needless to say, 'every spare minute' for this mother of two doesn't equal a lot of time. Today I finally finished the top and need to make another trip to the fabric store before putting my layers together, so I have a few minutes to catch you up on what we've been up to this week...

On Sunday, after his nap, Ryder dressed himself and found an old cold cup of coffee to take to his Daddy in the shop. <3

On Tuesday we visited another friend who has a farm with all kinds of beautiful animals. Ryder loved seeing the cows, sheep, pigs, dogs and cats - but mostly the tractor. This little boy loves to 'drive.'

Lynden has developed a very sweet and mellow personality since the first few weeks of fussiness.

 I attempted to begin my first starter and bake homemade sourdough bread. It looked pretty, but only tasted ok fresh since after more than 7 hours of rising it still came out very dense.

 

And then tonight, Ryder helped me make a big batch of stovetop popcorn to enjoy while we watch an old Disney movie. I'm enjoying these sweet days with my boys!