A happier Stella.

She's home.
That makes us all very happy.

I think she's already forgotten that she used to be able to sit up and walk.

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers.
She is on the mend!

My perfect Saturday didn't end so well.

Our Stella is in the hospital.

I was carrying her on my hip
as I walked down the stairs on Saturday when I slipped.
In the fall, her leg must have been smashed between me and the stairs
because now she has a fractured femur.

Mike spent Saturday night with her at urgent care and the hospital.
Her nearly full body cast was put on today.
Tonight she is having a hard time shaking the anesthesia.

We are hopeful that she can return home tomorrow her old self,
though a very highly immobile one for the next 4-5 weeks.

It's been a rough 24 hours.
Poor little lamb.

Mike posted a picture of her cast on his blog.
It's very very sad.

1,079 reviewers can't be wrong.

It's been a very lazy Saturday at our house. We've spent the day reading, napping, relaxing, and getting over our colds. It's been really nice. Add baking cookies to the list, and the fact that it's a beautiful day outside, and this just might be my idea of heaven.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

from allrecipes.com

I've been wanting to make homemade ice cream sandwiches for a while now. I thought this cookie recipe would go really well with the peanut butter cookie dough ice cream that has been sitting in my freezer. And boy did it. They turned out great. The recipe had 1,079 positive reviews, so I figured it must be a good one. It did not disappoint. I baked mine for a full 10 minutes, and plan to store the ones not employed in my ice cream sandwich operation in my air tight cookie jar, so hopefully they will not dry out, as that was the major complaint of most of the reviewers. They are crispy, soft, and positively loaded with chocolate.

Ahoy

I'm not sure what has come over me. Maybe it's the fact that I am in desperate need of a new wardrobe, with no money to spend on such a luxury, but I can't seem to stop sewing.

The other night we went to a friend's party. We were supposed to dress in "classy beach" attire. Well, since Mike and I were lacking anything matching that description, I went shopping and found sweet seersucker pants for Mike at Old Navy for $7. I love seersucker. It's so classic. Mike looked great, but would never in a million years wear those pants again. So I stole them. And made this:

It's my nod to the nautical. I used every bit of those pants I could, including the gray polka dotted pocket lining.

She's nearly all grown up.

Look who got her first official haircut.
(Well, if official means sitting on the kitchen counter while I madly snip away.
Because that's about as official as we get over here.)

Our ultimate goal is "the Mabel" as I like to call it.
It's what Mabel sported til she was about 3 and started making her own hair styling decisions.
See below.

There's just no cuter haircut on a little girl, in my opinion.

p.s. Happy birthday to the man who used to cut and style my hair.
I love you, Dad.

She can be bold.

I might describe Mabel as timid.
But not when it comes to her wardrobe choices.
I would be scared to death to pair that floral with those stripes
(not to mention her shoes, which you can't really appreciate in this picture).
I think I stopped giving her my opinion when she was 2.
She knows exactly how she wants to look

and she doesn't care one bit what anyone else thinks.

I love that about her.

Let this be a lesson to you.

Never separate a girl and her juice box prematurely,
as evidenced by the following highly dramatic photo.

I mistakenly thought she was done.
Don't worry, we got it back out of the fridge as soon as I snapped this picture and she sipped away contentedly for several more minutes.

I have a sore throat.

So I should be eating ice cream all day.
Right?

More Sewing

(and pressing -- my least favorite sewing-related task)

When I was 15, I had a cranberry velvet jumper. It was fitted and to the knee and made me feel fabulous. I loved that dress. I wore it so much that I plum wore it out.

This week I had the brilliant idea to make myself a new jumper. It only cost me $15 worth of fabric and one quiet time*. I think it's cute. And not at all nerdy or matronly or missionary-like (Don't you think jumpers get a bad rap these days?). I used this Old Navy dress we just picked up for Mabel as inspiration.


What do you think? Would you wear it? And are you as obsessed with paisley home decorating fabric as I apparently am?

*quiet time is when my kids either nap or read in bed for an hour or two. We all need a break from each other sometimes, you know?

Cousin Fun

Mabel and Annie reading before bed last night

We are having lots of fun with our Spring Training houseguests.
Mabel and Annie are currently singing songs together at the piano
and Oliver and Jack wish they were brothers.

It's been a good weekend.

We garden.

It was another perfect day here in the desert.
Mike spent the morning planting our garden.
Stella and I kept him company.

I don't know why I feel compelled to paint everything red.

It's like a disease.
Our back door is my latest victim.
It kind of makes me think of London phone booth.
I like that.

Spring Cleaning

I'm busy spring cleaning this week. Yesterday I touched up the paint on my baseboards. Today I am doing the windows and de-cobwebbing the outside of the house.

I used to watch my Grandma B sweep the outside of our house when she came to visit and I thought she was nuts. Hmmm.

We are having absolutely perfect weather, so I am trying to be outside as much as possible. Nice weather makes everything so much more pleasant (including picking weeds and playing with a rambunctious puppy). Our nice weather doesn't last long. Trust me, in a few weeks we'll be dying of heat stroke.

What's happening at your house this week?

So much for the doggy den.

We (and by "we" I mean Mike) will keep trying, but so far he's not a fan of his crate.

Did I mention that I'm not a dog person?
And my kids (who really wanted a dog) are scared of him?

This is going to take some getting used to.
But yes, he is cute.
In a puppy kind of way.

p.s. Please leave lots of advice.
Heaven knows I need it.

I rearranged Mabel's room a bit.

Stella approves.

This is when I really love living in Arizona.

The sun is shining.
The days are warm, the nights are cool.
And the air is heavy with the sweet smell of orange blossoms.

I don't know how it is at your house, but it is definitely spring at ours.

Come visit!

His name is Champ.

He's a good boy.