because i want her gold pants

And because everyone needs a little cheese on a Friday night.

the little professor

I took to really really missing him.

I missed my little professor. I missed the daily lessons he gives Amelie on his new chalk board. I missed his boney little body snuggled up next to me on the couch. I missed his art projects that make a huge mess.

The flip books. . .

The solar system on the ceiling in his room.

He colored each planet and then I cut them out. He made sure I put them up in order. He even insisted that although Pluto is no longer a planet, it's still a thing, out there, floating around, so we put it up in the far corner. His light, of course, serves as the sun, and the stars glow in the dark.

I slept in his bed Tuesday night. I couldn't seem to fall asleep and so I wandered down the hall and into his room. His bed seemed so inviting. I feel asleep holding his Uglydoll looking up at the night sky.

I missed the little professor. The next morning I got in the car and drove to be near him. Funny how a mother needs her children as much or more than they need her.

rush hour

The boy is away at art camp this week. I thought I would love having him gone. Really I did.

But I'm missing him and feeling all anxious and funky.

The house was so quiet today with him gone. The baby was sleeping. My chores were done. It was too hot to work out at my bench doing jewelry. So I busted out the paints. I had my own little art camp right there in the kitchen.

I call my creation "Rush Hour". You can buy it here if you are so inclined.

sleep

Why is it that they fight so hard to stay awake when they are miserably tired? How is it that something so precious and sweet can make me so miserably tired too?

just say campy

In my book, the very best birthdays aren't the big over blown celebrations involving blow up bounceys and expensive entertainers. No, no.

Birthdays are done better on a smaller, more intimate scale.

Sometimes I think the days of homemade birthday cakes are long gone. I feel so lucky that as a kid my mother made me campy little birthday cakes, perfectly, imperfect. Like the Raggedy Ann cake that will live in my memory as the best thing to ever come out of my mother's kitchen.

Jo invited us over to celebrate little Sam's first birthday. She asked, in that British accent of hers that gets me every time, if I would bring some cupcakes for the party.

I was shooting for campy. I wanted perfectly, imperfect. I was hoping to create nostalgia and not just a huge mess.

They were a hit.

Oh the things a person can do with plastic cocktail accessories!

All the children had a cupcake. Some had at least three that we know of. And then there was Sugar Daddy, so named for more than one reason, he had one too. Earlier in the day he had put dibs on the pink and purple one with the chesty mermaid on top.

It was a wonderful afternoon, celebrating a wonderful child that holds a special place in my heart. Happy Birthday Sam!

P.S. If you think you might like to make the cupcake cones for an upcoming event, beware, they are a bugger to transport.

lab partners

Ryan Meis and Sarah Labieniec live in San Francisco. They don't know this, but I love them, er, I mean, I love their brains, or rather, their talent. Oh for Pete's sake, I love their work.

Looking at their art makes me want to be a Parisian. Well, not really. Just skinny with a French accent.

Their company is called Lab Partners. Cute, don't you think?

They did a series of paintings I particularly like. It's called Hunt & Gather. Here's what they have to say about it.

"Hunt & Gather is a series of works drawn from a mishmash of experiences at flea markets. To us, the flea is a festive event, one filled with both delightful curiosities and people. There is something tantalizing about arriving at a market with the hope that you might uncover some hidden gem amongst the endless rows of objects from the past. It is this fascination of a time far gone and the thrill of the hunt that draws us (and undoubtedly others) to continually return. "

You can find these two lovely people here and here. Happy shopping. Happy Friday.

I'm baking cupcakes for little Sam's birthday and going to Target with a gift card. Now that's a pretty good day in my book.

chicken little

I'll tell you why the chicken crossed the road.

The chicken crossed the road because she had PMS and the sky was falling. And she really just needed to get away from the cracker jack rooster and her two needy chicks for a bit.

She first went to Anthropologie and smelled the fancy soaps. Then she went to Paper Source and smelled the ink on the letterpress cards.

After about an hour she missed her cracker jack rooster and needy little chicks, especially the littlest, and so she went back home and ate some really good blueberries with her family.

And that, my friends, is the definitive answer as to why the chicken crossed the road.

psst

It started last Wednesday. The little whisper in the back of my brain.

"Psst! Hey you. Yeah you. Don't you want to go out to your work bench? Don't you want to make some jewelry? Those great topaz stones are just sitting there collecting dust. Come on. The baby is sleeping. Come on out and work for a bit."

I told myself I was going to stay away. I wanted to give the baby my full attention. No working until August. The Fall collection could wait.

But I just can't seem to do it. I miss Joan. Joan of the Anahatna art. Joan my muse. She gives me such inspiration as I sit there contemplating beads and life.

I had to make Jenny some earrings for her birthday. That's what she asked for and well, she is my right hand girl and I like to take good care of my people.

So I fiddled a little and then I thought- what the hell?

And that is how I ended up, back at my work bench, pounding away, listening to Josh Ritter and talking to Joan on a very warm day in July, exactly eleven days before I said I would return.

And you know what? I'm happy about it.

this boy

This child of mine is getting too big. His hair is turning lighter from the sun. He is getting more freckles.

This child of mine likes worms and superheros and he likes to call me "dude", which I think is pretty funny, except for when he is in trouble.

This child of mine, loves his little sister almost as much as I do. He spends hours drawing everyday, and sometimes he makes lists of people he wants to spy on.

This child of mine tried so very hard to be patient on the ride home from St. George yesterday, but when traffic added a couple of hours onto the drive, he cracked. Tears rolled down his freckled cheeks and it broke my heart because I couldn't do anything about it.

So I took a photo out the car window of this great sunset.

My boy finally feel asleep when we were just minutes from home. I put him to bed without brushing his teeth and whispered to him that tomorrow would be a better day. I plan to make good on that.

sugar and spice

Hello there.

I'm reporting to you today from the surface of the sun, better known as a little town, a few hours outside of Vegas called, St. George.

What, you may ask, could bring me to such a place when the temperature is such that your underwear feel like Saran Wrap? Only one thing could get me here.

The Hardman Family

You know when you see a photo of a amputee crossing the finish line of a marathon or a blind person graduating law school? You know that look on their face? Well here's my photo.

We did it. After years and years of struggle, the Hardmans and the Meekers finally have our babies. Emmie was born three weeks after Birdie. Jill was also at the birth of her little girl. It is so nice to have a friend that knows exactly what I've been through.

I'm not sure if it is okay to select your kids friends for them. In fact, I'm kind of opposed to it. BUT, there's just no way around it. Emmie and Ellie are two peas in a pod, sugar and spice, Ying and Yang, salt and pepper, and well you get the idea. They really don't have much choice in the matter. They will be best friends.

Thom and Josh decided to be friends all on their own, with no coercion from their parents.

We are spending all our time this weekend, indoors under the air conditioning vents. The children are playing in the basement and we are sitting around talking and laughing. This works for us. Our friendship is based on finding happiness in misery. We met during law school.

I so wish they lived closer.

indications

Reason number three hundred and sixty eight I know that Birdie was always meant to be my child: feet custom made for flip flops. She's a California girl through and through.

I can't believe she is already two months old. The hair she was born with has fallen out and the new hair is coming in. It's still a little reddish, which happens to be reason number one hundred and four that I know she was meant to be mine.

I have a few things I forgot to say to her birth mom at the time of her birth so. . .

Dear B.,

Thank you for being so great. Thank you for getting great prenatal care. Thank you for being so gorgeous and passing along your fabulous genes. Thank you for giving Amelie her sweet nature. Thank you for letting me cut the cord. Thank you for letting me be the first to hold her. Thank you letting my entire family come to the hospital and meet you, even though you just went through labor and probably would have rather been left alone. Thank you for sharing your birth story with people so that other families might be able to receive the blessings of adoption. Thank you for being so normal and fun. Thank you for every pain and push you endured during labor. Thank you for being my friend.

Oh and thanks for cooking up a baby with flip flop toes. That was a nice touch.

I'm sure I'll think of more things to say later, but for now, kisses and hugs from all of us.

April

clark

I bet you didn't know that I am married to Clark Kent. It's true.

Sugar Daddy had lasik eye surgery but he still needs to wear reading glasses. I think he is incredibly sexy when he reads, thus, he makes sure to read in bed.

I do love anything retro. Oh yes I do. And my husband aims to please.

Ben was diagnosed with "Law School Myopia". No joke. That is really the name. The guy reads like a banshee.

He has recently found that his eye surgery didn't give him the perfect vision he wants, so today he came home with new glasses.

When he came in the house I thought I had been caught in a time warp and ended up in the 1960's. I think he might secretly be working on cracking the case of the assassination of President Kennedy. He murmured something about the grassy knoll during his nap.

the perfect gift

One of my most favorite gifts Amelie has received are these little book plates from her Aunt Julie. Aren't they the sweetest?

I worked in children's books for a few years before we had Thomas. Needless to say, most of my paychecks went back to the store. I have a collection of hundreds of children's picture books. I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to finally have children to read them.

Julie got Amelie's book plates from a store on Etsy called Oiseaux.

Here's some more of my favorite designs available.

Julie is the queen of thoughtful, original gifts, a talent I dearly wish I possessed. I am usually left stumped and befuddled when I shop for others. Is it better to give than recieve? Not when Julie's buyin'.

apron bib pattern

As usual, I should have just posted the pattern with the original post. Hope everyone that wanted it can find it here. I wish I could email it to everyone that asked, but it would take all day, and the boy wants to go to the pool.

Thanks everyone, for thinking my invention is as cool as I do. Us moms need a pat on the back every now and then!

Click on image and print out at full size. It should take up an entire sheet of computer paper.

and

AND, for those days when the spit-up just keeps on comin', I give you:

The Apron Bib: a full coverage invention.

Aren't baby necks just the cutest?

If you are wowed by my invention, email me and I'll send you the pattern. It's easy peasy, as only my sewing can be.

It turns out that Miss Birdie likes to model.

She graced me with more smiles. I feel so honored. She's a stingy one, that girl.

a gaggle for the girlie

Little Miss Barfs-a-Lot has kept me doing load after load of laundry the past seven weeks and we all know how much I adore laundry.

Yesterday I snapped. I hauled out my sewing machine, which I inherited from Ben's grandma when she died. I think it was made in 1968. True story. It still works. Kind of.

I made Birdie a gaggle of bibs to sop up all the spit-up. I bet you didn't know that a group of bibs was called a gaggle.

That would be because I just made that up.

Anywho, I sewed for a good four hours and made enough bibs to last at least a week without doing wash.

I also sewed a couple for little Sam who has been sick these last few days and the doctors keep poking him with needles and the like. Poor Sam.

************************************

AHEM.

The winner of the Summer Photo Contest, by three votes, including Tommy B.'s, is Elizabeth who took the photo of the boy in the sand. The judges said that this photo most epitomizes Summer. Congrats Elizabeth. Please contact me about customizing your rings!