Things are looking brighter around here.

Here are a few reasons why:

a. Stella gets her cast off in 6 days! It's been a looong four and a half weeks and Tuesday can't come quickly enough. We are so done with stinky sweaty casts.

b. We celebrated Mother's Day a bit early and got a new rug for our living room. It is not the one I posted about, but I love it just the same. It's big and soft and so very pretty.

c. A new rug means new curtains and pillows, of course. I replaced the old dark green chenille curtains that were left over from our house two houses ago with cream linen. A vast improvement, I think.

Next to be brightened are my roots. Phew. They are verging on scary.

Passport Office, here we come.

Even if we don't look particularly happy about it.

We had to get out of the house today.

I was about to go crazy.
Stella was put into her cast nearly 4 weeks ago.
Her doctor told us to stay home until she gets her cast off, but we've been cooped up too long.

So I loaded Stella into her huge spica-approved car seat and off we went.

While we were out, I decided that "bohemian" is my new summer look.
Then we met Mike for lunch and had ice cream.
And we were happy.

We still have a dog.

I guess we're going to keep him afterall.
Not that Mike and Mabel ever doubted it.
But some of us, ahem, might have.

He's pretty nice.

Mabel got a locket.

Why do I get the feeling that Mike was involved in the photo selection?

We harvested our first bunch of cilantro.

It smells like heaven.

I'm feeling changey.

Sometimes, after reading a blog or perusing a magazine, I get suddenly and extremely discontented with my house. Don't get me wrong, I love my house. Like, so much that some days I never want to leave it. It is my favorite place to be.

But sometimes I want to change it all.

My current case of the decorating blues is a direct result of reading the latest issues of English Country Living and Better Homes and Gardens. They are two of my favorite magazines, and these particular issues were so full of inspiration that I was ready to throw all of my furniture out the window and start over. (Or, in the case of Country Living, leave the desert for the much more bearable clime of the English countryside. Did I mention that it's supposed to be 100 here today? Heaven help me and my sweaty, casted baby.) That might be fun, but I think I would miss a lot of my things.

And so I have made a decision. From now on, I will only purchase things that I absolutely love. I will slowly (as my budget allows) replace the things in my house that I don't love with things that I can't possibly live without. Everywhere I turn, I want to see something special.

I'd like to start in my living room with the rug pictured above. My living room could use some lightening up.

It might be your lucky day.

Did you like that green polka dotted bag I posted about on Friday as much as I did? Well, a little etsy love is giving it away this week. Can you believe it? Go here to enter.

a project for a Saturday afternoon

Take one very blah t-shirt,
cut out the neck, shorten the sleeves, add some elastic
and a bow
and then go to a party.

I think the neckline could use some finishing, but I'm not sure what.
Any ideas?

I'm in love with this bag.

It's so fresh.

It can be found here.
I saw it here.

Easter candy was ruining my life.

So I did what anyone would do.
I sent it to work with my husband.

I already feel better about myself.

a perfect afternoon snack

wheat thins (especially the burned ones) and a good book

I am currently reading The Lightening Keeper by Starling Lawrence.
I am about halfway through it, and so far I think it is good.

Our T-baller

Stella's New Ride

Easter in Review

above: the cake I made for Sunday dinner. It's a nest, obviously. Our church starts at 1:30, but every Sunday we find ourselves scrambling to get out the door on time. Mabel was the only one ready early enough to get her picture taken. I think her new ribbon looked pretty on her dress.

below: The girls and I kind of matched. Stella also had a white dress with a matching flower for her hair. We had an egg hunt after dinner. I think Oliver was either too busy searching for eggs or eating candy to get a good picture taken. A good time was had by all. I hope your Easter was peaceful.

Easter

music to scrub your kitchen floor by

(At least that's what I was doing while listening.)

This is dedicated to Mike, who doesn't need Rogaine, but I would buy it for him if he wanted me to.

Easter Sunday prep means a trip to the ribbon store.

Even Oliver loves the ribbon store.

We got some pretty pinks for the girls
and Oliver chose a manly stripe just for fun.

Oh Yeah.

We got a new computer.

It's huge and very pretty.
Our old one (pictured behind me) served us well for 8 years.

We are now available to ichat, or skype, or whatever you use this handy built-in camera for
(besides making funny faces and using the weird effects in the photo booth).

So call us sometime.

Today is a good day.

We returned our library books before they were overdue.
Mabel is on a field trip to a real live farm.
Oliver has his favorite girl friend over.
Stella is keeping herself busy for a minute.
The weather is nice.
This afternoon we have a t-ball game.
And tonight we are thinking about going to the Easter Pageant.

We are happy.

I have a special place in my heart for all things Sundance.

It is one of my favorite places to be.

So whenever I get a Sundance Catalog in the mail, I devour it. Even the jewelry editions, and I don't even particularly like jewelry.

The Sabrina dress is my most recent favorite find. I wish they had a picture of the front of the bodice. And I wish it had sleeves. But I love the overall look. And that it is linen. Hmmm, maybe I can make it. It might be time to break out my pattern making textbook from college. (I don't think I could wing this one.)

Just as soon as my baby gets out of her humongous cast.

28 Days

Stella will be in her cast for 28 more days.

Longer than I was hoping, but oh well.

What can you do.


You can make a paper chain countdown, I guess.
That's what Oliver and I did during quiet time today.
It's more for me than Stella.


28 days doesn't look as long as I thought it would.

That's a relief.

My husband is a genius.

But you probably already knew that.

He built this chair for Stella.

With his own two hands and lots of random things we had around the house.

It's a life saver, let me tell you.

Babies in spica casts can't bend or walk or move.

It's a major drag.

In her "power chair" as Mabel calls it,

Stella points where she wants to go and we obey with a push.

It's not that different from before she broke her leg, I guess.

She's always had us all wrapped around her little finger.

We're hanging in there.

Barely.

Almost one week down.

Crossing my fingers only 3 to go.

The only good thing about being in a spica cast

is having lots of room for signatures.

But I'm telling you, that's the only thing.