the great re-arrange

A week ago Friday we began the Great Re-Arrange. I was really frustrated with our house arrangement and since buying a new one is not an option we decided to rearrange. Our house is a cape cod with two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms downstairs, this wasn't a problem until we threw Lily in the mix. For the last 13/14 months lily has been in our bedroom, which was starting to become a problem, she was getting up a lot at night and since we were right there she never could get herself back to sleep. Also with her in our room we were never in there since she was in there asleep a good deal of the time. Also our living areas were divided up, their were toys in Lance's room, in Lily's room (though her bed wasn't there, but my sewing machine was), in the living room, and in the guest/playroom (where my computer was). The house was always a mess and we never had a central location to hang out. I was desperate for change, I couldn't keep everywhere picked up or keep my eye on the kids, someone was always somewhere different. Option 1: just move Lily downstairs, it was the easiest, but I didn't like the thought of her being downstairs by herself and it didn't solve the divided work/play space problem. Option 2: move both kids down which was an option I had liked months ago, but began seeing problems and I was still a little uncomfortable about both kids downstairs. Also it didn't solve the living space issue, we needed more living space that was a combination of adult space and kid space. So we decided on Option 3: we move downstairs, lily moves downstairs and we turn our large bedroom into a playroom/den. Our old bedroom is the same size or bigger than our current living room. We are now in the playroom/guest room and though it is smaller than what we had we really only sleep in a bedroom anymore and don't need extra space. So all the big furniture has been moved and everything has its place except I have to organize the stuff that was in both closets and figure out what to do with my chest of drawers. I love the new arrangement and am thankful that I can sew, pay bills, or work on my graduate work in the same room as most of the kids toys. I miss our big bedroom, but this makes the most sense, we are using the biggest spaces for living spaces that we use the majority of the time, now I can hopefully keep the living room tidy and won't have so much picking up to do, but I'm not crossing my fingers, I do have two small children who can trash a house in no time flat.

apron projects

I have been working on completing some aprons for the craft show and this is what I have so far:

the vintage turtle apron, me the perfectionist is disappointed the pockets aren't totally in line, but I had already ripped the seams and redid so I didn't want to try again

love this one, though I don't think the picture does it any justice, so cute and fun

and my very favorite, it is Christmas birds and flannel and oh, I just want to make everything and then some with this fabric print

giddy

Where to begin. . .
Last Christmas I made some a few felt ornaments for Christmas presents. For some unknown reason I was remembering them this summer and started making some more to try and sell on Etsy. Someone locally saw them on Etsy and invited me to take part in a craft show next month in a city West of here. The craft show is a juried show where everything has to be approved beforehand. So last Friday I submitted my sample ornaments as well as an apron and placemat sample to my sponsor. I was nervous that they would not like my stuff, especially my apron since it was my first sewing project in a year and it wasn't my best work. Well I heard back today and everything has been approved. My sponsor said that everyone loved my apron, the one thing I was most worried about which just makes me plan giddy. Someone really liked my stuff, people might buy what I have created, WOW!! I am so excited! I have four weeks to get everything done, I am going to be a busy little bee. I don't think I would normally agree to a craft show except that I don't have to set up and sell everything, it is on consignment which is perfect for me because with two small children I can't drop everything and work a craft show. So despite being slightly overwhelmed with my to-do list, I am just so darn giddy that I have made cool.

weekend getaway

we had originally planned to go to the beach, but finding a place to stay was getting too complicated so we headed up to D.C. instead. though it wasn't as relaxing as the beach would have been, we had a great time. First thing we did was hit the trains, the metro that is and Lance thought it was so exciting. For even more trains we headed to the American History Museum where the boys pretended to be the president giving an inauguration address:
we saw the large trains in the transportation exhibit, Lance was a little afraid of the people statues everywhere. unfortunately you can't really see the train in the background since the lighting was so dark. Lance was quite taken aback by this new concept of trains indoors:

After the museum we walked down the mall towards the capital. Next weekend is some solar house competition and teams were getting their houses built, some were quite amazing and others were just plain ugly. This one was probably the size of my house:
I love the idea of this one, plants being the exterior:

This one was definitely my favorite, it reminded me of a house you would find at the beach or a lake:


I was amazed that these teams of people were building real houses on the mall, it gave real perspective to how large an area the mall really is.

We walked down to the reflecting pool by the Capital, it was quite pretty and relaxed before trekking back to the metro to go home.
Here is our standard two of us shot when Jeff holds the camera, he tried to get the Capital behind us, but our heads, well actually his head blocked it all.

Sunday we went to the zoo and had a great time, the best was probably watching the orangutan stop and poop while crossing over the walkway and missed a tourist walking underneath by inches, the guy was completely oblivious despite at least 20 people yelling at him to watch out.

The elephants were fascinating as well, Lance was quite cute the way he would mimic Jeff's stance and posture:

After the zoo we hit Tyson Corner and Crate and Barrel. It was a whirlwind trip, but lots of fun. There is so much to do in D.C. and I can't wait to go back soon.