A First Birthday Present for a Boy

A friend's son is turning one and I needed a little something to give to him. I found this great tutorial, but it is actually designed for 2T/3T size and I thought that would be too big. I scaled down the pattern to 90% and I hope it fits! I also made a little fabric beach ball from this tutorial. These are so cute and a great softie for littles. I borrowed one of Abigail's teddy bears to model them for me.

A Summer Pick-Me-Up Gift

My darling husband ordered me some beautiful flowers. He ordered them before we were broke so that they would arrive in the middle of a "dry spell" and the timing couldn't have been better!

(the vase is from our wedding 6 years ago on the 14th of August)

This week has been trying for me, emotionally. The heat alone has been enough to drive me round the bend, but this also happens to be my darling daughter's time of testing boundaries. We've had a few battles and yesterday I'd witnessed her most severe fit... in a public place, of course. After getting everything under control, I had a cool shower and a hot cry. My David reassured me that I wasn't a bad mom and that this is a normal stage of development. He's great at talking me down "off the ceiling". Anyway, his beautiful flowers arrived today amidst the 28 degree weather (which, by the way, is a cooler day)

and they smell delightful! The colors are amazing and I am so blessed!

The Yummy Smell in My Tea Cupboard

I don't often drink hot tea in the summer, especially this year. This baby is making me hot enough without adding hot liquid to the mix. Because of this lack of tea drinking, I haven't opened my tea cupboard a whole lot. The other day, I did and was greeted by such a wonderful smell. I have a lot of tea, so I know it wasn't any one tea in particular, but the mixture of all the spices smells soooo good.

(just a note about this collection: there are boxes, bags and tins stacked 4 deep, there is tea from several countries and we've been working on this collection for almost 6 years)

Some of you may remember my little tea cart that I had my teas piled onto...

Well, with the introduction of a toddler, I had to move all those tempting pretty boxes into a closed cupboard. I miss having them out to see and for ease of choice, but hope to someday employ a lovely kitchen hutch to make a whole hot beverage centre.

(something along this line would be super!)

Of course, I hope to include a capaccino machine someday - though it's mostly for the steam wand feature. Why oh, why won't anyone make a steam wand separately?! Well, anyway.... someday. 

I've Missed You

Well, Hello! It feels like it's been forever! Well, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet or anything like that. It is summer and I am pregnant (5 months now) and heat and I don't mix well. Not to mention that I've had David home since the beginning of May and we've been taking every advantage of having family time! I have missed my little blog and my sewing machine (I haven't done any sewing in months and I'm finally feeling like it might be time to get back at it).

What have I been doing? Well, today I want to tell you about a mini date that David and I went on last month. We had a couple of extra hours with our sitter and decided that we would go and look at the Star Show Homes. For a bit of background. Growing up I lived in several trailers. I have fond memories of those homes and I think they're great for young families. Having said all that, have you looked at RTMs lately?! RTM (Ready to move) homes - the new version of trailers have come a long way. I am in some serious house envy here and this one, especially, has whet my appetite for some serious nesting!

The Camara

Now, buying a RTM is not the cheapest way to go. Discussing the pros and cons, we think it might be more economical in the long run to go this way than buy a 50 year old starter home and have reno issues within the first five years. That's just our opinion. Land is not especially cheap to buy either, but I figure if I am going to dream, then I may as well dream big. Now some of you may chuckle at the thought of buying a trailer as a big dream, but for a young family who's been apartment dwelling for quite some time... trust me, it's big!

The Foxgrove

David and I had a great time touring the show homes and browsing the website, but mostly just dreaming. What are you dreaming about this summer?


P.S. Welcome to my friend, Donna to the blog community! Glad to have you join us.