Happiness. Lately. (Vol. 2)

Happiness.  Lately.  July.  My monthly collection of "Happiness" - appreciating God's goodness in the little things and seeing his grandeur in the simplicity of my life and "Lately" - what I've been into and up to (books, music, food, great finds, etc...)

(And hey, it's a link-up now!  Head to the bottom to link up your own Happiness. Lately. for July.  Hope you'll join me!)

Happiness is...

Some of our Australia family here for a summertime visit!!

The gift of "Flat Bear," made from Australian sheep's wool - the coziest, cutest teddy bear I have ever cuddled with.  (I mean, James.  It's the coziest thing James has ever cuddled with.  It's not like I bring it to bed with me or anything...)

Clare hair at the playground...

The best next door neighbor ever, who comes over to trim his/our bushes and doesn't mind when the kids swarm around him to chat and "help".  

Cut mint blooms at the kitchen sink... (trying not to be too upset that I lost the mint plant when it flowered) 

Aaron's Lowest A1C ever!!  (I was almost doing cartwheels in the endocrinologist's office.  Almost.) 

Refreshing summertime cucumber lemon water...

Lately, I've been...

Making a Christmas gift list of crochet and sewing projects so I don't lose track this year. (Tiffany inspired me.)

Exercising.  Need I mention that I *hate* exercising.  But I've been trying to stick with it.  And I'm doing pretty well because I can keep my mind off of what I'm actually doing on the elliptical by reading or watching "Veronica Mars" on Amazon Prime.  It's even better when I get to walk with a friend.  In addition to plain old aerobic exercise and eating well, I've started the Tupler Technique therapy program to repair my diastasis recti (care of being mostly out of shape for five pregnancies.)  So far, it feels great, however I'm very intimidated by the fact that the program is 18 weeks long.  Can I make it to the end???  I registered with a local Tupler licensed teacher to increase my odds.  I'll keep you posted!

Reading:

In addition to the reading I mentioned last month...

Perelandra, second book in the C.S. Lewis space trilogy

Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell  - a young adult novel highly recommended by Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy.  She loved it so much, and she's so classy, I'm going to try to get through to the end, but YA fiction is not my thing and so far this book seems to confirm that.  

Reading with the kids:

Extra Yarn, Mac Barnett.  We LOVE this book :)  (if only Annabelle was a crocheter instead of a knitter ;) )

Beauty and the Beast, Mary Pope Osborne - we read this then watched the Disney movie on a rainy day =)

Creating:

(speaking of extra yarn) Pink ombre mittens for Ruth... 

... as well as many other things which I will not mention here because they're either birthday gifts for someone who may be reading, or I'm hoping to give you a show and tell post in the near future!

Planning / ordering for the new school year.  As always, I love the promise and the "newness" of a new year, but I'm a little bogged down right now wading through a sea of spelling programs...  Once I get that sorted, I think we're set.  Exciting!

Winning the war against fruit flies with this apple cider vinegar trick... 

(it really works!)

Finally, I was asked to participate in a blog hop to promote the release of a new book by crafter Mariska Vos-Bolman.  The book is called Sew Cute to Cuddle: 12 Easy Soft Toys and Stuffed Animal Sewing Patterns.  I'll be publishing my contribution next Friday.  I hope you'll get to check it out!

So there you have it.  My happiness.  Me lately.

What have you been up to this past month? 

Nesting in Technicolor

It started after all my Christmas crafting was done.  Nesting in high gear, I mean.  This third trimester has been like none other.  In the past, nesting for me has meant lots of cleaning around the home (with a very brief foray into painting wooden things when I was expecting Clare.)  This time around, I still want a clean house, but I just don't want to be the one to clean it!  During this pregnancy I've been unusually attracted to color, and my recent nesting has been about how much I can sew and crochet before the baby is born... and how colorful I can make it.

Some projects are still in the works, so these are mostly just cheery, colorful sneak peak pics of the big things I've been working on:

I'm crocheting this throw blanket according to this pattern from Whit's Knits.  But since I wasn't going to spend the $800 for the same wool yarn that she used (insert spitting out of coffee in shock here), I just started using whatever soft acrylic yarn I had on hand and have bought additional colors to round it out. I can't wait until it's done!  It's my first large scale crochet project.  

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I started crocheting the above blanket after a short-lived sojourn into crocheting baby clothes...

I got one bootie done and quit.  I realized that (1) it was super tedious and time consuming, (2) they were blue and we don't even know if it's a boy or girl, and (3) boy or girl, s/he would grow out of whatever I made in a matter of weeks... so, it wasn't worth it to me to spend the time and mental energy on little slipper and sweater patterns.  I'd rather stick with blankets that can be used for as long as they hold together (!) and hats that are simple to whip up and don't require a lot of squinting at patterns and watching bizarre crochet stitch tutorials on youtube :)  So, feast your eyes on the this lone blue bootie, because I don't think I'll be making any more...

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This quilt started out as a non-rainbow doll quilt.  But once I got rolling, I realized I had so many scraps of fabric I could make it much bigger.  And I happened to have a crib size batting hiding under a pile of stuff.  So, now I'm in the middle of a Scrap Bag Rainbow Crib Quilt.  If we have a girl, this is hers. But I'm still not certain how I'll feel wrapping a bouncing baby boy in this beauty.  If we have a boy, I may claim this for my own - a lap quilt for while I read and crochet???  (I'm starting to sound like a little old granny... it's too early for that!  help!)  The thing I love about the front of this quilt is I can remember almost all the original projects that the scraps are left over from!  

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And this is the only project I've actually finished recently...

needs to be ironed apparently.  sorry about that.

Once I realized that I was crafting a lovely baby quilt that I may not actually use with the sweet baby we'll soon be holding in our arms, I started to panic.  I set the rainbow quilt aside to put together a smaller quilt (it's about 35" x 35") that's a little more appropriate for a boy.  This is another one I managed to complete using scraps and fabric from my stash.  Most of the blocks on the front were left over from the crib quilt I had made my nephew in the fall, and the animal print I used on the back - well, I've had that forever and figured it was time to stop "hanging on to it" and just use it. 

I cheated a little on this quilt, but I'm proud of my thriftiness.  I didn't have any batting for it, but I did find an unused, thin fleece blanket that I had bought years ago for a different project.  I used it for the batting with much success! The weight feels great, and although I real quilter may balk at my shortcut, I feel like I ended up with a decent quilt for tucking a little one into his car seat or bassinet!  

* * * * * *

It's my hope to spend some time crocheting in the hospital (because they might not look too kindly on me hauling my sewing machine in!)  I have fond memories of creating little hats for Clare while she was laying on my lap in our hospital room and I've been daydreaming that it will be the same this time around.  I'm fairly certain that once we're back home my crafting time will be severely limited - replaced by the infinitely more rewarding duties of nursing, diapering, cuddling, and caressing.  But if I finish any other lovely projects, I'll work on getting some pictures up here!  (I think I can guarantee pictures of the  new little one nestled in these blankets, if nothing else!)  

A Few of My Favorite Things (My 100th Post!!!!)

Just celebrating my 100th post by sharing a few of my favorite "things"...  

Our 17-week old!! (due in January)

(ps - Russ is really at the top of my "favorites" list, but he was at work and missed the mediocre photo shoot.)