Carnival!

I was asked to create a backdrop for the picture booth at our church annual Daddy Daughter Dinner.  The night had a carnival theme (which was really fun!) and this is what I came up with. There is a lot of white space in the bottom but since that is where the Daddys and Daughters posed you didnt see it. The photos turned out so cute! All the girls (ages 8-12) were so cute and excited to be on a date with their Dads. 

I felt like I needed to include a picture showing what it looks like with a real person in front, and since I didnt want to post other people without their permission, I included one of myself taken by my friend Julie (she is lucky the one of her didnt show up here!). I know I look totally lame but you wont judge me right? Notice my vain attempts to cover my big round belly with a carnival hat? Cute huh?

It was such a fun night filled with carnival games, hot dogs, and even cotton candy! 

Hand Picked

Today we hopped in the car and headed Butlers Orchard to pick some delicious, red, ripe strawberries. 

The workers

They worked hard with lots to show for it.

I think he ate as many as he picked!

We left with pink fingers and shortcake in our future!  

I have started!

I have started the quilt I am making for Avery. Im using a square called Wonky Star, which I think is a great name! The block isn't too hard to make, but it has a lot of steps so it will probably end up being a "good luck in college" quilt instead of a "you're moving to a big boy bed" quilt. Either way its going to look super cute! 

You can find the tutorial on this super cute blog here: http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com/2009/02/wonky-star-tutorial.html

The need to craft

While browsing the local JoAnn with my friend Aunt Spicy, I came across this great dinosaur fabric. I knew Avery would love it but I wasnt sure what I would use it for. Last night I was feeling the need to craft. I wanted something super easy that I could start and finish in one sitting. I decided to make a pillow case for Avery. He has been super sick all weekend and was happy to have something fun to sleep with (and I was happy for some incentive to get him sleeping in his own bed!) The accent fabric is this great polka dot from Walmart! I think it turned out pretty cute. Pardon the wrinkles, he already slept on it!

Future Pilot

Andrews Air Force Base annual air show 

We had a great time! We were all sweaty messes by the time we left but it was worth it.

Below is one of the Thunderbirds jets, they fly F-16s and they put on a great show! Avery was a little nervous about the loud jets but he still loved it. Behind the F-16 is the most awesome plane ever, the F-22! (I know Im a dork) 

Chillin in a real plane seat! (I was trying to crop out the dorky kid sitting next to Avery but he stuck his elbow in a the last second!)

A rare picture with us all together. Notice the extreme roundness of my belly, someone help me!

Avery was so big climbing in here, the pilot took this picture for me. Its one of my favs.

Avery could have stayed in the planes all day! Not me, they were pretty stuffy. 

Loved the huge choppers!

This is from the air show 2008, I love to see how he has grown! I remember thinking how big he looked when I took this picture, now he looks like a baby in it!

Cant wait to get started!

Soon we will be moving to a bigger apartment and adding another child to family. I have been looking everywhere for cute bedding for Avery in his new big bed and crib bedding to match. Unfortunately there is nothing out there that I like! 

So I have decided to made some simple bedding for the boys out of this adorable fabric.  When I found it I sent a picture to my friend Aunt Spicy to get her opinion (she is amazing at making quilts).  Turns out she just happens to be making my little baby a blanket out of this very same fabric! It is meant to be. 

I am excited to get started but Im still trying to decide on a pattern for the big quilt. I may try to enlist Aunt Spicy to help me make the same pattern as the baby quilt (and I would promise to be her best friend! But that may be more of a deterrent!) 

Wish me luck! I have a feeling Im going to need it to actually finish this project!

This fabric line is Robots by David Walker

Snow Bunnies

This is a painting of my parents in the mid 70's. My favorite part is that I used to wear those mittens and the hat my mom has on whenever it snowed when I was little. The mittens are white leather with rainbow stripes down the side. My dad still has that coat (I know because I tried it on 2 weeks ago), but to give him credit, the coat is still in really good shape and its super warm.

There are pictures of this painting in 3 different stages, I loved each of these stages. There is something about a half done painting that I have always loved.  Im pretty happy with how the final turned out except for one thing. Sorry dad, your face is a little funky! I really like the background ski slope and how their skis look in the snow.

Oil On Canvas

8x10

by Autumn

Seriously, 22 hours!!!!

Beware: this is the longest post I have ever written. 

We just got back from Arizona where we had a wonderful time visiting family and attending Brad's youngest brothers wedding. Usually the flight from DC to Phoenix is not too bad, even with a layover its not even a full days journey. Well this was quite a bit different. After this experience, I may never travel again. Here is our tale:

Attempt 1

We chose to fly out of Baltimore Airport this time, it was cheaper and the flight times looked good. My good friend Carlota took us to the airport early on Friday for our 7:30 am departure. Everything went smoothly, the lines were short, the seats on the plane were good, no problems. Then the pilot came on "Hi folks (why do pilots always say "folks"?), seems we have taken a rock in the engine and need to buff it out before we depart, it will be a few minutes". Turns out the problem was bigger than they thought so they had to take the plane out of service. We had to get off, get our luggage and then stand in the slowest line possible to re-book another flight. We were supposed to layover in Chicago so now there was no way that was going to happen. After much negotiating by Brad to the ticket agent, we arranged a 2:45 pm flight out of Regan National though Chicago to Phoenix. So we hopped on the bus to the metro back home to hang out for about an hour until we had to head to Regan. As an added bonus I threw up the whole time we were home, gotta love the timing! 

Attempt 2

We made the 2:45 flight and got to Chicago with no problems. Our layover was short and we got right on the plane headed to Phoenix. All was going well. Our pilot even had a mullet and lots of gold man jewelry- sweet! We started on the runway to take off, we were at full speed ahead when the pilot slammed on the breaks and pulled off the runway, "Uh folks, seems we have a engine light on and we have to have it checked out". We headed back to the terminal and waited. We were told the plane was being taken out of service so everyone had to get off. We spent the next 6 hours in the Chicago airport waiting to hear if we were going to get another plane or if we were going to be stuck there in the airport all night. Luckily we got another plane and loaded back up. 

Attempt 3

We boarded the 4th plane of the day and luckily, the flight to Phoenix from Chicago actually happened. We made it there 11 hours after originally planned. The trip concluded with a 2 hour drive to Prescott with one stop at the QT. (Side note: I LOVE a good convenience store! But that will be for another time.) We got to my parents house 22 hours after we left our apartment. It was a LONG stressed filled day to say the least.

Attempt 4- the return

This flight was scheduled as a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Baltimore. This gave us hope that things couldn't possibly be as bad as the trip to AZ. We arrived at the check in kiosk but there was no sign of our reservation. I started to panic. We talked to the very nice ticket agent and he told us that since we didn't make the Chicago to Phoenix connection on the way there, our flight back was cancelled. (for the record, when we rebooked we asked about our return tickets and were assured they would not be affected at all). The agent put us on the "stand by" list and off we went. We got to the gate and it seemed there were tons of stand by passengers waiting. After some very nervous waiting we got seats on the plane! We were the last three on. We were even lucky enough to all sit together! There were no engine troubles this time, thankfully. Kristen was there to meet us and we made it home! It turned out alright in the end but I was almost in tears and stressed out before we got on the plane. 

There were some good things during our long journey to AZ

• We didn't crash and die on an airplane with engine problems, they were found before we left the ground (this is serious, I am really grateful for this!)
• Good milkshakes from McDonalds in Chicago
• We were booked in Economy Plus from Chicago to Phoenix
• Avery was a total champ! He was so good the whole time (and there isnt a thing wrong with Starburst Jelly Bean bribes to get your 2 year old to sit still)
• We each got a $150 flight credit for a future flight for our troubles

Turns out all the hassle was totally worth the trip. It was one of the best and most relaxing trips home we have made. We even had a surprise the night and morning after we arrived. This is what we saw: SNOW!

The snow didn't hang around for long, and the rest of the time the weather was great, especially for Brad and his kite!

Loving this wreath

My friend Carlota made this adorable Easter wreath for me. She is so creative. I love the way it looks on my wall! Unfortunately there is no candy in these eggs, but that is probably a good thing!

Thanks so much Carlota!!

Chinese fashion, I love it!

I love how this magazine looks just like a magazine I might get in my mailbox, except for the not being able to read Chinese characters and all.  My favorite thing about this magazine is it reads back to front, what we would think is the back cover is actually the front (this is because that is how Chinese characters are read, not left to right like English). I love this because I always read magazines back to front, my mom does it and I always have always done it that way too. The paper is also really thick and glossy, perfect!

I wanted to show you all some of the pages inside so you can see how cool it is. 

You saw the cover in the last post, so crisp and clean. I wish I knew what the name would be in English.

Tiffany's is just as beautiful in Chinese

This little tutorial cracked me up. It shows how to curl hair with a curling iron. What is so funny is how detailed it is. There are 5 steps just showing how to roll the curling iron up your hair! 

These outfits look so cute! I think I would wear them all. 

Any guesses what the dialogue bubble says?

I have had fun flipping through this magazine the past few days, even if I have no clue what it says!!