Friday, July 29, 2011

she's alive

and she sews!

so, folks,
guess what i did tonight?

that's right,
i dusted off the old machine
and gave it a go...

i mended two pairs of underwear
 and a t-shirt hem,
took in a pair of shorts,
converted a pair of tights 
into hemmed footless tights
and...

< wait for it >

i finally made myself a clothespin bag!!!!

i more or less used this tutorial.
and i am SO pleased with how it turned out.
take a gander..

before 
(a pillowcase i found a while back at value village for $.99)


after
(happy dance, happy dance)

when it was all said and done it only took me an hour!
(okay, like three months and an hour...go procrastination)

note to self:
i love sewing and must do it more often.
that is all.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

new camera

we got a new camera.
it's super cute.
looks like this:
(only bigger)
it's a canon powershot elph 100
and it takes amazing pictures!

like this one

happy sunday!

Friday, July 22, 2011

what neills do part 5

with the kiddos safely off 
to their grandparents' house,
hubs and i had 24 glorious hours of 
peace and quiet 
to celebrate our 9th anniversary!

dinner at the cheesecake factory
sleeping in (!)
homemade waffles for breakfast
(with strawberries and whipped cream)
the local farmer's market
raspberries and flowers


and then our camera gave up the ghost...
ah, well...new camera for our anniversary :-D

Thursday, July 21, 2011

what neills do pt 4

after family camp
i got a taste of what the fall will bring
when the girly-girl and the boy-boy
attended a week of summer bible camp.
moo-moo and i spent five 
lovely, quiet mornings together.

the boy-boy finally decided that he could
 ride a bike without training wheels,
albeit a tiny bike.


the girly-girl cut her own bangs 
(then mommy trimmed them up).
cutie patootie.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

grateful list


61. the trees outside my window
62. kid snuggles first thing in the morning
63. change
64. comfortable silence
65. gleeful noise

image credit

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

what neills do pt 3

and now my favorite thing
FAMILY CAMP!

so many wonderful memories,
so little time!


a whole gaggle of kids

some frisbee golf

canoeing


a bluegrass band

face painting

a western hoe-down

horseback riding

covered wagons

craft time

swimming

besties


and family!

we're already looking forward to next year!

Monday, July 18, 2011

what neills do pt 2

the next week was even more packed
and not quite so conflict-filled (yay).

we celebrated independence day with some friends.



and the next morning...
the kids slept in until 9:30am!
hallelujah!

the end of the week was the best yet...
FAMILY CAMP!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

what neills do pt 1

since there has been radio silence for awhile
(you know what i mean)
i thought you might like an update on 
what's been happening at our house.

so, this week will be update week.

the first week after school got out
was filled with all kinds of fun.
playdates and pigs, gymnastics and swimming.
and, mostly, sibling conflict.
it's not easy adjusting to a new routine.

we started using a great website:
www.goalforit.com
check it out.

and that weekend we had a visit
 from my dad and stepmom.






we had a wonderful time,
despite learning that i do, indeed, 
still become carsick in the back seat.
(don't worry, it was just nausea, folks)

and so week 1 of summer 2011 flew by!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

silence

hello.
you may have noticed that it has 
been rather quiet around here.

with all the kiddos home for the summer
my life has been rather full
and somehow blogging just hasn't happened.

we've all been a bit off routine
and quiet moments have been few and far between.
image credit
that makes for a fun, but also tiring time.

this moment is a time of relaxing.
the munchkins have been whisked 
off to their grandparents' house.
and we are in the middle of 24 hours of silence.

we went out to dinner,
watched a video,
slept all night without interruption.
and today...who knows!?!

 but at this moment i fully intend to
image credit
what will you do today?

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

9 years



the wonder of it fills my heart
 with gratitude to overflowing,
fills my eyes with happy tears,
fills my life with joy.

happy anniversary to
my sweetheart,
my best friend,
my confidante,
my partner,
my love,
the best man i know.