Mayfly

We had a wonderful trip to St. Louis. We took the Amtrak, and it was two hours late arriving. Yes, J, N and I were on the train for 7 hours. All I can say is my children are amazing. They were so well behaved and didn't moan or squawk the whole trip. When we boarded early in the morning, there were more than a few of those "Oh my God, no, don't let them sit by me" looks thrown our way. But several people came by and complimented me on how great they were doing. Mama was thoroughly proud.

My mural went well. I think it turned out nice, and Sharon, Brian's aunt, was very happy with it. It was so fun to paint for her. She and I gabbed away the whole time- she's one of those people that is so easy to talk to. I love her dearly. She's off to Italy tomorrow for a vacation. (She stayed in the villa a few years ago that we put in the mural.)

Friday evening we ate at a restaurant called The Crossing. It is in old downtown Webster. Good food, nice weather, and a few trains passing by. Who could ask for more? Brian came Friday evening after work in the car to join in on the vacation.

Maw Maw and Da babysat so we could spend Saturday evening with dear old college friends. Brad and Katherine hosted a small reunion barbecue for a bunch of us. Thank you, guys! It was truly great to hang out and catch up. And behalf of all of us, I'd like to apologize to the nice non-Truman spouses (Jamilyn's Tom, Dave's Jane, and Bill's wife who's name has left me. They got there late, and I had, um, consumed a few of these beauties.) Thank you for bearing with our old boring stories!

Sunday we went to Grants Farm, which is very entertaining and is free. They even give you a free Anheuser-Busch beverage at the food court! Free beer! I kid you not. Then later in the evening we all barbecued at Kim's.

And there was even more. Sheesh, weekends like these make you glad to be alive. But there's nothing like a trip to make you happy to come home. We all slept like rocks in our own beds last night. Click here to see all the Flickred pics.

Hope your holiday weekend was all you hoped it would be!

Posted by Alicia at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I'm still out of town, but I'm one of the last on the list to get this meme done for this swap. Here goes:

1. first apron (that you can remember): My work apron for the printshop in college. My mom made it for me and it is totally covered in etching ink, paint, gunk, etc. I still have it all packed up and put away. I no longer print. (sniff, sniff)

2. last (most recent) apron: I made myself a yellow half apron for Tie One On. Actually, it's my only apron.

3. dream/favorite apron: A full apron, super cute yet functional

4. dream sewing machine: I have no idea.

5. what do you put in your pockets? or what strange thing have you ever found in them? tissues, kid things like rubber lizards and matchbox cars, N's hair clips

6. condiment(s) you can't live without: Vinegar. We have a thing for it at our house, you might even call it a problem. Fat free Italian dressing- the all purpose marinade. Yellow mustard. Ranch dressing- to get the kids to eat their veggies.

7. do you wear more showy aprons or dutiful ones? Dutiful.

8. favorite cooking gadget: Nice metal spatula. Nice metal wisk. A very sharp paring knife from my brother-in-law.

9. cooking gagdet that promised the world but didn't deliver: Hmmm... I don't know. I usually take the simple route, so I never really tried many silly gadgets.

10. a recipe that you know by heart and any stories behind it: That cole slaw stuff with cabbage and ramen noodles. It's a picnic favorite around our house. The kids both love it. It has vinegar in it. See? We have a problem! :)

Posted by Alicia at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm off tomorrow on a business trip. I'm painting a mural in Brian's Aunt Sharon's new sun room. She has picked an Italian countryside scene, and hopefully I'll be able to do it justice. I'll take lots of photos. The kids and I are taking the train to St. Louis tomorrow, and Maw Maw and Da will be watching them while I paint Thursday and maybe Friday. I'm also going to sew my friend Katherine some of the very easy draft stoppers. Then we'll be making a long weekend of it, barbecuing with old friends, eating at the family-favorite Serra's pizza, and relaxing.

Obviously I'll be on another short blogging break, but I will be checking email. When I get back I am going to have to really get crackin' on two projects, my Tie One On smock and a little a softie for a swap with Tracy.

We've just been having the grandest weather lately, although it is supposed to warm up this weekend. But I don't mind at all. Just like my new friend, Hannah (who I met in person last week - she's just the sweetest little thing ever!), I too am a summer girl. I like the shorts and flip flops, the pool and sun, the smell of sunscreen, long balmy evenings, sweaty little shirtless kids. It's my favourite and my best, to borrow the words from Lola.

So, until I get back, take care. Have a safe and lovely holiday weekend!

Posted by Alicia at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I found this fabric for 50¢. Cute, no? Is it vintage? I don't know how to tell. I looks kind of 1970's to me. I think it will make a cute little dress for N from a simple pattern that Tasha sent me.

And this piano was $5. It is so sturdy and cute and makes that great plinky plunky sound that all tiny pianos should make. N played with a few minutes, and then I sat precariously on the wee stool and played for a good twenty minutes all by myself.

I watched my sister's youngest daughter, Jill, today. Here are the babies dining alfresco. The weather has been downright perfect for a couple of days, and I am finding it hard to go inside. See my MSL laying open on the quilt behind them? That's my spot.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Posted by Alicia at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Here is J (like his beard?) enjoying some after preschool raspberry sherbet. And when I say after preschool, I mean AFTER preschool. Today was his last day. I gave the teachers their little gifts yesterday and teared up. I hugged the director, and I got weepy. I just about lost it when they all left with their little faces painted and one of his teachers told him he looked like a train engineer with his beard. They know him so well. I held it together pretty well gathering up all of his things, but once we were in the car... yup. Cried like a baby. They gave us an envelope with a picture of his class and I can't bring myself to read the little note inside. Wait until the school picnic on Friday. I am going to be a basket case. I know, I know. I'm being a drama queen, but I can't help it.

I think the reason for this emotional overreaction is purely selfish. Yes, he's growing up. Yes, he'll start kindergarten in the fall. Yes, old enough to play little league and ride his scooter in the driveway alone. But it's not that stuff. It's that I love that place. I love the teachers and the director. The other moms. The playground. The church (and I'm not a church-goer). I've taken him there several days a week for two years and nothing but positive stuff has gone on there. I'm really going to miss it.

I asked J if he'll miss it. "Nope." And off he ran to kick around some dust.

Posted by Alicia at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

... I love the Spring.

My dad called us over and said to hurry and bring the camera. (He's been on the lookout for "blog content".) These are in the plum tree. There's three of them, if you can't see them well. The whole time we were looking at them the mama Robin was yelling at us from atop the fence. I'm hoping to get a few more shots of them as they grow.

And wee N seems to have inherited a trait from me. She knows the most inappropriate times to get sick. We finally got her over the sinus goo, with the help of two different antibiotics. She was snot-free for about five days. Yesterday she started running a fever and today she's feverish and Crabby. With a capital C.

Just perfect- We have a houseful of family coming tomorrow from St. Louis for the Royals vs. Cardinals baseball game plus a weekend of all-around family fun. So hopefully she'll be better in time for the merriment.

Also, Bag-O-Rama continues: I made one more bag, but I won't show pics until Brian's sister Kim sees it this weekend.

And then I am taking a bag break.

Posted by Alicia at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I'm in a groove. I stitched up this bag for my friend Kelley. The denim is from a shirt Brian tossed into the Goodwill bag, which I snatched out. The yellow is left over from this and this.

When I was about three, we moved to our new house, the house my parents still live in and from which we now live about two blocks. Kelley lived up the street. My earliest memory of her is her brother pulling her down the street in a red wagon. We went to school together from day one and remained friends the whole time. Sometimes close and sometimes not so close, but never once did I not consider her a friend. One year, her parents decided they were going to relocate to Florida. So, in innocent kid fashion, I gave her a Christmas ornament with my picture in it. Then they decided to stay. Years later, she still kids me that her brother and sister would squawk every year when someone pulled out that ornament. "Oh, come on! Do we really need a picture of Alicia on our tree?!" If I remember right, this is the picture. Yikes! I don't blame them! (OK, but look at the picture: take off the long blond hair and who do you see? This little boy?)

Anyway, Kelley ended up getting married and had two great sons. Time has passed, and she is now divorced and remarried to a great guy named Eric. Since her divorce Kelley has been going to college and just graduated with her Bachelor's degree. So she took an unconventional route, but she's come a long way. Way to go, sister! We are all proud of you.

In other sewing adventures...
I made this little travel bag for Patty, who gracefully runs J's school. I LOVE his preschool and tomorrow is his last day. The teachers are the most patient and loving women I have ever met. Seeing them handle the rough situations amazes me. J is fine. Mommy is having a bit of trouble saying goodbye.

Oh, and see my little temporary tags? I tried using my mom's sewing machine to stitch Mayfly on twill tape, but it didn't work very well. I ordered some woven ones from here. I'll let you know how they end up.

Could one entry ramble more or cover more subjects?! I think not.

Posted by Alicia at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Thank you, dear Jamilyn, for the cute little pad of paper that says "Compost happens."
You are so thoughtful. Do you know me or what?!

Thank you, Mother Nature, for making peonies smell so sweet, even if your little pollinator friends follow them into the house.
I'm trying my best to do right by you.

Thank you, Mom, for teaching me so much about parenting.
Really, you are the best.

Thank you, J and N, for making me a mom so I can try it all out.

Thank you, J, for doing so well at your baseball and soccer games on Saturday.
May this be the only weekend for awhile that two sport seasons overlap. Too busy.

Thank you, Brian, for taking two days to prepare and smoke the ribs for our Mother's Day Feast.
Yum. It really was a feast.

Thank you, Peggy and Terri, for being the two best preschool teachers ever.
You have made J's introduction to the world of formal education joyous and not so formal. Enjoy the little bags.

Thank you, Blair, for the instructions for the fabric flower pins.
So fast and easy, and the perfect finishing touch for the bags.

Thank you, bloggers and blog readers, for providing me with much-needed creative inspiration and encouragement.
You have taught me how different and yet alike we all are. Wonderful.

Thank YOU for bearing with me through all these thank you's...

Posted by Alicia at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Alicia at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jennifer just emailed some pictures of my niece modeling and I couldn't resist.
It was too hard to pick the cutest one- I included them all!

Posted by Alicia at 11:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Well, we completely survived the daddy-free weekend, but I am so tired. The kids and I actually all got along marvelously and had a busy and fun weekend. We jumped feet first into this new week and now it is catching up with me.

Saturday J had an EARLY soccer game, and then we went to the farmers' market with my mom. We came home with locally grown radishes, green onions, asparagus and some basil plants to pot. Here is a photo of N enjoying the live music. You simply can't appreciate her brand of dancing (twirling until she dizzily falls head first into something) unless you see it in person. She's got the music in her bones!

Later in the day we headed down to the Brookside Art Fair. J was mesmerized watching some kinetic sculptures by Jeffrey Zachman. Marbles rolled along the cages, up the pulleys into the baskets, and so on, reminding me of that old game called Moustrap. It was definitely the hit of the show for the preschool set. Unfortunately for the artist, none of these little boys seemed to have the several thousand dollars it would have taken to get one of these dandies home. That evening my dad, J and I went to the Wizards soccer game, so we didn't even make it home to pickup N from my mom until almost 10:30 p.m.

I did read most of my book, and although it is very sad, it is so good. I also got one t-shirt done for J with the freezer paper printing technique. I am hooked! It really is as easy and as instantly gratifying as everyone has been saying. It took me all of 10 minutes to cut out the frog and print it. I am thinking the possibilities with this are endless- I'm already making plans.

Posted by Alicia at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

See the capital letters up there? That's my way of typing sarcasm.

Brian is gone on a road trip this weekend to here. There are about ten guys that go together every year and they are all good guys, don't get me wrong. But they all squeeze into a few hotel rooms, and I'm guessing the activity list includes belching and farting and scratching, way too much beer drinking and eating of the greasy fried foods, crude jokes, rumpus and laughing, not so much showering and hygiene, and other typical male pastimes. Needless to say, the girls are not invited, nor do we want* to go.

*see the activities listed above.

Once the kiddies are in bed this house is ahhhh... quiet. Here are my big plans for the weekend.

So right now I'm still in the "oooo... it's nice and quiet around here" phase. Please check back Monday to hear about the "oh my lord, you kids are driving me batty, when does your $#@*!*% father get back?!" phase and see the results of my freezer paper printing attempts.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Alicia at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It was picture perfect nine years ago today. The weather was in the 60's with a gentle breeze and sunny blue skies. My best friend stood up with me in front of a small group of people that we love and became my husband. It was the best day of my life so far.

Nine years later, he's still my best friend and is the absolute best husband and father. Happy Anniversary, sweetie. Thank you for the delicious perfume. I love it.

Posted by Alicia at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

1. Pete's cold wet nose. (um, he's the dog.)

2. making money doing something fun.

3. saving the LAST cookie for naptime- all mine!

4. waking up late (well, 8 am) to a thunderstorm.

5. a new home for my apron.

6. a child's sense of style. why do we have to lose this?

7. hearing the kids laughing together.

8. meeting daddy at a park for lunch.

9. whole wheat toast with butter and honey.

10. sweet N not fussing with the hair clip.

Posted by Alicia at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I am thinking that since Beki had that baby yesterday, and I'm just today sending her gift, that she might be a little bit busy with important stuff like kissing and cuddling and nursing and gazing and probably won't cruise around online and see this sneak peak. Beki, if you're camped out in bed with a nursing baby and a laptop, STOP READING PLEASE!



I made her a little something that I saw in this book from the library. Most of the stuff in there is a little over the top for me, with all the silk and fancy embroidery and beading, but my simplified version of their little flower bowl with a pincushion in the middle turned out very cute.

I know it's a gift and I made it just for my new, sweet internet friend, but I had a really hard time wrapping it up to mail away. I think I might need one.

And then there's a little something for baby Ava, a little fabric covered sketch book for Lily, and a store bought bubble do-hickey for Alex. I feel bad for the daddies. Don't they always get left out?

Click on these pictures to see more shots on Flickr. Also, notice my new labels. They are simple office supply labels for the little things I make and for gift tags. I set it up so that I could tape them 4 at a time to a sheet of paper to run through the printer. Works like a charm!

Laura tagged me for a Ten Simple Pleasures meme so I'll try to get that up later, but I have Sexercise class tonight! Hee hee- it isn't really called that, I just like it. My friend Tobi started Makin' the Moves, a striptease workout class, and it is going to be featured on the news. She emailed to see if I wanted to attend tonight, partly so some of her regulars wouldn't feel pressured to be strippin' on TV and also just because it is so darn fun. I was in her "guinea pig" class. It was great. So if you don't hear from me tonight, it is because I'm off learning to get my sexy groove on!

Posted by Alicia at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

This is my yellow and white apron for April's Tie One On challenge. It's a day late. And aren't we always more than a dollar short?

It's my very first apron! (to own, not to make.) My kitchen is green and yellow, so the theme was perfect. "You've got to coordinate." My goal was to make something simple, clean and functional (boring?) and something I would really wear. I might shorten the ties a bit, so I can just tie it with a knot instead of bows. I'm not too into bows. The white fabric is from an old sheet, and the yellow was a gift from Tasha. All in all, I'm quite pleased.

Next months theme is a good one; I've already got an idea. Maybe I can finish during May this time!

Posted by Alicia at 1:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)