it's thursday

*i think i will start posting my favorite pictures of the girls on thursdays.

*thanks for the work out ideas.  when i hurt my ankle in january i got out of the workout groove for a while and if is so nice to be back into it.  it's amazing how much better you feel when you work out and eat good.  have i mentioned i have not had a piece of candy in almost a whole month?

*thanks for the compliments on the quilts. the ones my mom quilted she did on her regular old sewing machine, she just drew the lines (actually she eyeballed the first one- impressive!) and then sewed. it's really actually pretty easy.  i just sat at the machine and did swirvy lines that i wanted to look like seaweed.  if you want to make your own quilt- i always pass along my friend kelly's baby quilt tutorial, it's great. and also heather bailey's quilt binding tutorial is easy to follow.  

* we are going to san diego next week. luke has a map nerd conference to attend and so we are along for the ride.  should be fun.  it will take my mind off the fact that my family is going to lake powell and i am not.  boo.

*ivy, although cute, is a whining machine the last few days.  it is driving me crazy.

*i need to go pack.  

*ivy is crying.  velzy is sleeping.

*i have been daydreaming of days spent at waimea and pounders getting womped with all my bestest college friends for the last couple days.  daydreams inspired by this (click on the picture for more pictures).   

taking some classes

mermaid pose?  pilates is cool.

i have been exploring some new classes at the gym lately.  today i went to a step class, which was funny- i struggled at the transitions and am sure i looked like a nerd but it was fun.  then i went to a pilates class- it was my first one and it was awesome.  i am so inflexible it is not funny but i felt like it was a great work out.  just did some searching and there are some short workouts on youtube that i think would be great to do after the girls go to bed at night.  

all of this has made me renew my goal of becoming an instructor for "aerobics" classes.  i would love to teach kickboxing and a body pump, and if i get it figured out even pilates.  just add that to "the life-long to do list."

anyone got any good workouts to pass along?

it's 98 degrees outside- lets talk about quilts!

so, i finally finished one of the two mermaid-ish quilts that i have been working on for too too long last week.  it my first time doing the binding by hand and it took a little while longer, but i like it.  i made if for ivy.  today velzy threw a fit because she like ivy's more with the blue (hers has pink, orange, and brown). she has this problem where whatever ivy has, she has to have. it's really really getting annoying.  poor ivy can't even put on underwear with out hearing "i was going to wear those!"  so this one might be put away for a while, maybe till it's cool outside and we actually need to use it?  that seems reasonable.  but there will be one that looks just like it in my etsy shop soon, hopefully!

 

and i have to post these that my mom whipped up in the last 2 weeks for some wee lil ones that were just borned to some friends.

we dig stacked coins quilts:

and who doesn't love sailboats?

i am sweating just looking at these.

gotta love a long weekend

hi.

and of course there were the fire works, bodysurfing in cold cold water, two bbq's worth of good food, deciding that i need a "laguna beach for life" tattoo, the purchase of a new surfboard, glow stick necklaces, various accidents by ivy, tide pools with uncle don, pancake breakfasts, a 5k, homemade ice cream and so on and so forth.

i love a long weekend.

have a happy fourth

currently obsessed with:

how could you not be- right?

velzy is up for anything.  she is always ready to have a good time, she is my yes girl.  i can't really think of a time when i asked her if she wanted to do something and she didn't say yes enthusiastically.  i think she has a photographic memory- maybe all three year olds do?  she remembers the most random things from so long ago.  it's interesting what things make an impression on little minds.  but then again, she can't remember the letters of the alphabet, so maybe she doesn't have a photographic memory?  all of the sudden, she talks like a big kid using phrases that are so funny to hear coming out of a little mouth.  she is a great big sister/mom to ivy.  she is turing into a fish (floaties around her arms always), jumping in (over and over and over) and swimming with the eleven year olds at the pool.  she loves to sing and thinks she is ariel, constantly trying to sing like her, it's hysterical.  the new way to occupy her in the car is wee sing cd's-  she will sing 50 (no exaggeration at all) songs at the top of her lungs while we drive to her grandparents house.  i hear "wanna play a game?" all the time, the girl loves games.  and if you give her a smile you are sure to get one back, which makes my day.

 and then there is ivy,  who i have been trying to get a good picture of for a while.  the girl is seriously beautiful, but when i get out the camera things do not come together, she looks away or makes funny smiles.  but i will keep trying.  ivy makes me laugh.  she does the randomest things at any given time that make me smile.  she sings a lot also- it's perfect, she usually starts singing "i am a child of god," "i love to see the temple" or "we are a happy family" at tense moments, like she knows it is what i need to hear to cool me off.  she loves to get into things and makes everyone nervous when we don't know where she is or what she is getting into.  she loves her baby dolls.  "i wanna watch you" is what i hear at my feet whenever i cook anything so she sits on the counter and helps a lot.  her legs (which are not so chunky anymore- sad!) are so cute and hairy.  she loves to run around naked, but also loves to pick out her clothes and get dressed in the morning.  her thumb tastes like strawberries, and she is willing to let you taste it.  she is also a fish, but refuses to use any type of floaties, and has to have you hold her so she can swim and loves to be thrown between people in the pool.  she is still the snuggliest girl, and always makes me feel like a good mom.

and that is all i can type, they are waking up.  time to go swim!  

a good read

when we go to the library i pretty much just let the velzy and ivy run wild (yes, i am that mom.  your not surprised are you?) they are so excited to see the fish tank and elementary students mission projects and thousands of books i just can't hold them back. ok, i do try to keep them calm, but i let them run around kids section and pick whatever books they want.  as a result, we get some pretty funky books in our bag.  sometimes we get winners and we have had some huge duds.

a few weeks ago, velzy picked a book titled the pink refrigerator by tim egan.  

it rules.  i clap when i am done reading it.  the first time i read it to velzy she said "i didn't like that one too much!"  and i told her it was the best book ever!  and now, it's her favorite (what if it was always that easy to get your kids to like things you like?).  

it's about a little mouse guy who's motto is to do as little as possible and he sits and watches tv all day.  one day he discovers this pink regrigorator in the junk yard that has a new note on it everyday and inside is everything you would need to to the noted activity- make picutures, read more, plant a garden.  then one day the note on the fridge that says "keep exploring" and there is nothing inside.  he is sad and goes back to sitting on his lazyboy.  then, in the middle of his favorite show he gets up and packs up all his things and goes out to explore the world around him, leaving a note on his door that says "went to find an ocean".