A Visit Home

I visited my mother a few weekends ago, and had a chance to snap a few photos as Mom did her afternoon chores. These are, of course, also posted on my Flickr.




Once chores were done, we decided to make some tea to warm up. Mom had received a “flower tea” pot for Christmas, so she showed me how it works.
This is a “pod”, dried tightly together. Once steeped in boiling water, it will blossom into a lovely, tasty arrangement.





See? Isn’t that pretty?
Handmade Christmas Gifts, 2009

I made as many Christmas gifts as I could this year. In the header image and below are the tote bags I made for Ryan’s mother, aunt, and grandmothers. I’ll be making one for Mom’s birthday in May, I think! These are made using Simplicity pattern 2676 and cotton quilting fabrics; you may remember these prints from an earlier post. These were a big hit, and I learned a lot from making them.


For Keegan and Kadence, my I-wish-these-kids-were-my-nephews, I made Lumpysaurs!



These are based on the Unforgettable Elephant pattern in Sew Everything Workshop, by Diana Rupp; I added the head, neck, and tail to the elephant body. These are made of stash fabrics and stuffed with scraps, so they’re good for bopping brothers over the head, which is what they do with stuffed animals. I hear the boys loved them.
On an unrelated note, I saw Avatar today and loved it… Who knew ten-foot-tall blue people with tails could be so interesting, and so very, very badass? Incidentally, I will probably go see every movie Sam Worthington makes from here on out, because the eye candy factor is through the roof. The rest of the movie is pretty eye-catching, too.
Next up: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Sherlock Holmes.
Later dudes.
My Favorite Kids

I’ve spent two evenings this week with my favorite kids. Monday night Jessica and I played fashion designer with my closet, and trust me, you’re glad I’m not showing you her sense of coordinating colors. You’re welcome.
Incidentally, I’ve added blur effects to hide ISO noise; all these were taken in low light.
Jessica picks out a dress and shoes:

and proceeds to turn them into toys:

I love the pose in this next one; just wish it came out of the camera a little less blurry. Oh well; enjoy!

Yesterday I babysat for Keegan and Kadence so their parents could enjoy their eighth anniversary. Kadence sorted his Reese’s Pieces while Keegan worked on his Santa puppet (check out these reds and blues!):

These two have a great sibling relationship (and a stuffed Santa, if you look closely):

Oh, and they kinda seem to like me (probably because I gave them Reese’s Pieces):

Would you believe they posed themselves for this? Seriously, I look up and they are on the chair waiting for me (take the picture already, lady!):

Kadence giggles if you smooch him (Keegan took this one):

It’s things like this that make me look forward to having kids with Ryan someday. Not right now. But someday.
<insert contented sigh here>
On a Photography Kick

So, I’ve been on a photography kick lately. I don’t have fancy equipment, but my little point-and-shoot-plus-Photoshop-magic and my iPhone-plus-Best-Camera-app have been keeping me quite amused lately.
Here are some fun iPhone photos:




Wedding Day!

Hooray! Ryan and I got married!!! I know it was over a month ago, but now we have our professional photos (yay!) and you get to see them! Here are some highlights, all taken by Beth’s Photography, who also did our videography:

Lookit my pretty girls!

Meanwhile, the gentlemen discuss deep and serious topics.

Someone actually got Ryan and the ring bearers to sit still long enough to snap a photo!

Awwwww.

Part of my “bridal session”.

This cake was definitely not a lie.

The ring bearers were supposed to give their ring pillows to the Maid of Honor (my beautiful sister) and one of the Best Men (Ryan’s friend Chris). Instead, the boys gave both pillows to Ryan, and because it was so unbelievably cute everyone got a good laugh.

Here I am!

Havin’ a weddin’.

Eeeewwww cooties.

HEY GUYZ WE IZ MARRIEEEEEEED!!!!!1!
I posted additional photos on a Facebook album that I am just maybe, just maaaaybe, willing to share with you.
Hope you enjoyed these as much as we enjoyed being in them!