adding some color

Estella and I have new shoes! I haven't had a new pair of sneakers since my honeymoon and Estella has outgrown her little pink Converse, so we both have new, bright, colorful sneakers.
I'm sorry to say that I missed most of yesterday, and I'm really bummed because it was so gorgeous out. I tried to be outside for a bit in the morning, but I ended up inside until the afternoon...I had a killer migraine. I get them fairly often, as most of you know, but I consider most of them to be functional migraines, but yesterday my head had a different plan for me. So, I spent the majority of that wonderful day inside on the couch, in bed, or with a bag of frozen food on my head. I hope the rest of you were able to enjoy it more than me! Luckily Walter was around so he and Estella were able to spend the whole day outside playing and working.

And of course, today it's kind of chilly and rainy...so we went to the natural food store and got some food for lunch,

And I went and got some flowers to plant around the front porch...a bit of badly needed color around the house.

We've been getting a fair amount of outside work done in the last week, and things are starting to feel more like ours...and we still have the whole summer ahead!

I can't believe Walter only has three more weeks to go! We are busy getting ready to wrap up the year...he's busy with school work and me with craft and house work. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the amount of things I have to do, but I'm trying to get at least one thing done a day and hopefully by the time Graduation rolls around we'll be ready to leave. I'm figuring that if it's stressful getting to vacation then maybe the vacation itself will be really relaxing!

over the slump

I think I may be over the end-of-winter hump that I was struggling to climb.

We've been outside enjoying the warmer weather and doing some work around the house. That's the problem with living in three different houses over the course of a year...you can't bring outside work with you...

We've moved Estella's sandbox over and will fill it with new sand today. We also built some raised garden beds.
It was no small task to find wood for the beds. Walter had to go all over creation to find cedar, but we found some and now have beds that will last forever and won't leak nasty chemicals into our food. We've only built the frames, and will probably stake and start filling them today. I'm excited to have a bigger garden this year and I'm hoping that my late start (in June when we get back from California) won't be too late for a decent crop. I'll just have to do larger starters this year and save the actual gardening for next year.

I also want to start planting some plants and flowers around when the weather gets a bit warmer but they may also have to wait until June. The house is so plain and generic, and clearly went many years without love, and i feel that some flowers and plants could go a long way towards making it feel homey.

Our trip is fast approaching, as well as Walter's Graduation, visits from family, and a few shows I need to be crafting for. All of a sudden, when I find the ambition to do one thing, I have a million others that creep up on me...that's usually how it works, right?

A few of you guessed birds on my last post but alas, they're fish:
And also some strawberries in the works:

I haven't completely gone off the deep end...the fish and berries are for a small part of another project, something new I'm sort of trying and working towards...

Also thought it was time for a new video...this one's mostly for you Californian family members...enjoy!

Easter Egg Bunny

Saturday we went on an Easter Egg Hunt and saw the Easter Bunny whom Estella refers to as the "Easter Egg Bunny."

She apparently doesn't have the killer instinct it takes to gather more Easter Eggs than all of the other children, but prefers to wander around picking up an egg, looking at it and then putting it back down and moving on. It was an event that was a little overwhelming for all of us...swarms of kids running around pushing each other down for the most Easter Eggs. Still, Estella had fun watching the mayhem and she was thrilled to see the Easter Bunny.

Most of the kids wouldn't get close enough to get a picture with him, but Estella was so thrilled to see him that she gave him a big hug and sat on his lap clapping her hands...she cried when we had to say good-bye.
She was thrilled with her Easter basket yesterday morning and insisted on carrying it around all day long. I couldn't get a very good picture of the basket since it was such a dreary day and I refuse to use the flash but it turned out really well. It's perfect for her because she's a bag lady of sorts and now she can carry the fabric basket around instead of the paper bags she's been so fond of.

She was also thrilled to find some stickers, toys and organic jelly beans in it. She was very willing to share her jelly beans with us when we asked which I thought was impressive since candy is such a rarity. I'm sure as she gets older she'll learn to horde her candy and won't share with me even if I beg...which I will.

We had a nice day together yesterday. Walter worked on a paper, Estella constantly made sure her Easter Basket was in sight and I looked out the window and whined about the fact that it was snowing, but at least we were all home with a day off!

I've also started a new project...a sneak peek for you:

So far so good, and hopefully I'll have more progress to share with you soon. The above is a small part of a much larger project so it may be a while, but it'll have to be done by August. (I'll share more about that at another time) It may be months before it's done, but I'm just happy that I've motivated enough to start working again...baby steps.

making changes

I rearranged the living room yesterday and now there is a ton more open space...no TV, but a lot more space. The television didn't really fit into my furniture arrangement, so I've done away with it. We really don't watch it anyways, so what's the point of having an eight thousand pound ginormous television ruining my Feng Shui? Really, the only thing we watch is the computer and random movies which we will still be able to watch with the projector.

So, to sum it all up, no more TV but a lot more space...which Estella has been enjoying.
She also helped me bake some banana bread yesterday.

She mostly stirred around the flour with a measuring spoon and then played in the sink, but she really enjoyed helping. She wants to help pour and stir and measure whenever possible since someone (I won't mention names so as to not point fingers) always lets her help make his coffee...now whenever I cook, she screams "pour sugar" until I let her help with some aspect of my cooking. It's cute that she wants to help, but not always quite so helpful.

Our first house is officially on the market. The sign is up in the front yard and we have our fingers crossed. We are still dealing with the neighbors about the driveway (don't even ask, because I don't want to talk about it...UUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!) but it should be cleared up soon and hopefully we will never have to deal with them again. I know it's a bad time to sell, but we need to do it in order to get the mortgage on the house we're currently living in so, #1 must go!

Anyone want to buy a house?

Mini Vaca

We had a really nice time in Boston last week.

We spent part of the day at the Aquarium checking out all they have to offer. The jellyfish exhibit was by far the coolest part.
Estella had lots of fun looking at all of the different sea creatures...she ran around yelling penguin, starfish, jelly and Stanley (which is the name of the fish in one of her books). It was very cute, and it will probably be a trip we make many times in the coming years. I can see how it would be fun with kids at all the different age levels.

We stayed in a really nice hotel right on the Long Wharf

And Estella was able to look out the windows at all of the boats coming and going.

We also walked around the Quincy Market/ Faneuil Hall area for a bit...Estella didn't want to walk around, she said she wanted to "sit, watch peoples"

It was a quick trip, but it was really nice to get away and have a little time all together with nothing to do but enjoy hanging out.

Estella has been learning to fold, and spends lots of time folding and unfolding washcloths, towels, and whatever else she can find.

We also bought a wardrobe of sorts for Walter's DJ equipment so now he can have turntables set up in the house at all times...he and Estella have been enjoying lots of DJ time with the new set-up.

Estella decided the best way to help me with the building was to climb on the my back, bounce up and down, and yell "ride horsey!"

I guess that basically sums up the last week. I haven't done any sewing at all. Partly because my machine was loaned out for a few days, and partly because I'm being lazy. I cleaned up my area yesterday though, and I'm hoping to get some sewing time in this week. It's time to motivate myself to get some work done and take advantage of these rainy days...once the sunny days come, sewing indoors will not be on my agenda!