Another crafty dress!!

I made this dress from one of Kelly's old dress shirts.  The back of the dress was the front of the shirt, and the front of the dress was the back of the shirt.  The gathered sleeves were the top of the shirt sleeves.  The contrast fabric was a purple checked fabric I had in my old craft stuff.  It was so easy to make! 

I used this tutorial to make it.  I pretty much did it the same except I did NOT do knife pleated trim at the hem, I just did a simple fat ruffle. :-D  The whole project took about 2 hours. 

Mother's day gift...

Lexi has been working on a gift for her Amma for mother's day.  Since Amma reads this blog, I can't show you the end result, but I can show you some work-in-progress shots!

It is very serious business

Involving lots of paint

Did I mention paint?

And focus, lots of focus.

"I'm a hooker"

The other night Lexi was upstairs with me playing dress up while I got the boys ready for bed and Angela was downstairs picking up.  First she put on my hat, and ran down to Mama that she looked like Mommy.  Then she put on one of Ang's old t-shirts, and ran down to show off that she looked like Mama.  Then she comes in wearing like three tank tops, kind of randomly over her neck and her arms, and proudly declares that now she is a hooker! 
I request clarification, "What did you say?!?!" 
And she repeats, "I am a hooker and a dunker."
"Like in basketball?"
"Yeah!"

Lessons from the Radisson Community Sale...

So, Lexi and I drove down for the big annual Radisson garage sale.  For those who don't know, Radisson is a HUGE development in the north suburbs of Syracuse.  It's like a town unto itself, with walking trails, a pool, a private lake, etc.   And every year it has a spectacular community sale. 

Here is what we learned, in no particular order.

• 4 hours is about our garage sale limit
• Even with a skinned knee so bad that she could barely walk, Lexi loves a garage sale
• Even if you put on sunblock when you started AND wore a hat, 4 hours outside at midday requires a re-application
• Given her own money to spend, Lexi buys cookies.  Oreos, to be exact
• Apparently baby (or toddler) wearing is even weirder at a garage sale than elsewhere.  Lexi rode in the wrap for a bit after the knee incident and we got more comments that I usually get when I have all THREE kids with me.
• Every single baby boy in Radisson hit sizes 9- and 12- months in midwinter.  There wasn't a summery article of clothing to be had anywhere.  
• Rocks are awesome, always carry some with you wherever you go
• Walking trails make a very convenient way to get from the end of one cul-de-sac to the end of the next one, without going all the way around on the road.
• Radisson has about 10 bazillion cul-de-sacs.  That's an offical count. 
• Lexi is very fond of greyhounds and irish setters.   
• When garage sale-ing from 9-2 or so, pack a lunch. 

We also came home with an awesome new wooden easel with a chalkboard and a whiteboard for $3! Lexi is very excited about that, since painting is her new favorite hobby.

Museum of Play

A few weeks ago we went to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, and met up wit some family from Buffalo.  That place is amazing!  We will definitely be getting a family membership once everyone is a little older.  Lexi had a blast, she had older cousins to run off with, we had other family to take the kids, it was like a vacation for me and Angela.






Patrick chillin on the carousel

Lexi and Maggie on the train



On the streets of Sesame Street



Mommy and Lexi with the Sesame Street monsters

Me and Papa bear

Maggie snuggling a sleeping Ed

Easter!!

The following pictures are all from the Easter Egg hunt.

See the boots.  Lexi was playing in the sand.

Walking with Mommy, looking for eggs.

Sharing chocolate with Uncle Craig.

Ready for the bunny hop race.

Racing hard, and adding rocks to her bunny sack.

Helping cousin Jeff carry the prizes.

Papa, Ben, Lexi, and her new bubbles.

Emily and Darlene with the boys.  See the hair, no excuse to not know which boy is which.

A Day of Discoveries

Yesterday was a day of discoveries in our house.  It started when Angela was cleaning out the car and Lexi discovered the basket of Easter eggs from the big Easter egg hunt at the golf course last weekend, and therefore found all of her candy. 

Then later, Angela and I put the boys down on the floor on a blanket, and they both rolled over for the first time!!  Both of them did it belly to back.  Ben did it four times, I even managed to catch one of them on camcorder.  Ed only did it once.  Ben is almost ready to army crawl, and Ed is good at wiggling around, breakdancer style.  He seems to prefer to be positioned such that he can kick his brother in the head.  Oh, and when I was filming the boys rolling over, you can be sure that Lexi was right there on the floor with them demonstrating her rolling over skills.

Finally, it was a super nice day yesterday, so we had an early dinner down at the fish fry place on the lake, which of course always concludes with ice cream.  Lexi got hers on a cone for the very first time, and she found that very exciting.  She also handled it a lot better than either of us expected, and she was pretty excited to find out that she got to eat her ice cream "bowl".

Ben chilling outside.

Lexi "painting" Ben with water

Lexi showing off her kite and her flower seeds