dinning room in progress

For my final post of the month, I thought I'd share our progress on the dinning room in our house. I was going to wait until I filled those empty frames with pictures and or art, but honestly that might take me a while. I'm on the hunt for something to go between the bookshelf and window for extra dinning storage or for serving drink/snacks on when we have guest over. Feel free to share ideas. I would have share more of this room however currently my husband is using the carpeted area as drum set storage and golf bag storage.  

June Reading

Corduroy by Don Freeman will always have a special place in my heart. My Mother read Corduroy to my sisters and I when we were little, and now I'm reading this book to my own kiddos.

It is a sweet story about a little bear who lived in the toy department of a big store. Day after day he would wait for someone to come and take him home. One day, a little girl came into the store and asked her Mother to buy Corduroy. Sadly, the Mother said no, and that "he's lost the button to one of his shoulder straps." Curduroy didn't know that he had lost a button, and this realization sets him off on an adventure to find the missing button.

Lisa, the little girl does come back for Corduroy and buys him. She takes him home and fixes his should strap saying "I like you the way you are but you'll be more comfortable with your shoulder strap fastened." I love this. The story ends with message of unconditional love, the beauty of home and family.

summer romper

It's an awful picture of me, but it was getting hot, the kids were fussing and I needed to wrap up this photo shoot ASAP before I melted. The summers here in Arizona are brutal! Comfortable, light weight clothing is a must for this desert climate. This little romper took longer to make then I would like to admit. However, I'm happy with the final product and know what to do different next time. 

I often get impatient with myself. It's hard not to compare my sewing skills/projects to what I see on IG, pinterest and from friends. This romper project was labeled "easy" and it still took longer than it should have. I have to constantly remind myself that I haven't been sewing that long, and it takes time to build up the skills necessary for more advanced projects. Until then...the seam-ripper has become my BFF.  

happy 3rd birthday to my sweet baby Alara

My sweet baby Alara, who really isn't a baby anymore, turned three today. We celebrated over the weekend in California with family and friends. It felt amazing to be back in California. The weather was warm, but perfect compared to what we are all experiencing in Arizona. Alara asked for a purple breakfast Sky party, and between Dadi and myself I think we delivered.

After brunch, the kiddos and a few grown-ups painted some beautiful art. I think everyone did a fantastic job. I loved watching these kiddos get creative with their art. Kid art is the best.

A big thank-you to Alara's Dadi and Dada for allowing us to host this party in their backyard. And to all that came out to help us celebrate our sweet baby Alara - Thank-You! It takes a village and I'm so happy that our village is strong and full of loving people.

On our drive home, Alara slept hard blessing us with peace and quiet for most of the drive home.

Until next time.