Why do I even have a phone?

So, I grabbed my phone earlier to see if I had any cute pictures to upload.  The girls will take off with my phone at times to take pictures and sometimes I just forget about some of the pictures I take.  When I picked up my phone, I noticed that I had a text.  From 5 hours ago.

This is not unusual.  It was from a friend at work and she knows that if she texts me, it will probably be hours before I respond.  I hardly ever have my phone in the same room as me at home and I never hear it.  I need like a fog horn or something attached to it.

Friday, I drove all the way back to work after I got home to get my phone.  I leave it at home all the time, too.  And I'm lucky if I plug it in to charge it. (Better do that now, in fact...)

There have been these little squiggly lines on the top bar of my phone for days now and I kept wondering what they were.  I realized today that my phone has been on vibrate, no sound.  For DAYS.  I checked... no missed calls.  I hardly ever use the stupid phone as a phone.

There are only 3 people I text regularly, and that's not regularly as in daily.  I don't play games on it.  I check Facebook sometimes when I'm waiting on the girls to get out of school.  Mostly, I take pictures and upload them. 

So here are some pictures... I may as well get my money's worth out of this stupid thing...


Zoe's big, dirty feet.  The cone of yarn with fluff on it looks like she's got a nuclear reactor behind her.  And yes, there is yarn ALL OVER MY HOUSE.

 
When was the last time you saw a see saw?  And yes, Isabelle's skirt IS on sideways.


I'm going to just tell you that keeping three swings going is an excellent workout.


Word!

Company's a-comin'!

Next week!

Ack!

My husband's aunt messaged me a few weeks ago to ask if we'd mind if she and my husband's grandmother stopped by for a few days on a road trip they were planning.  Of course, we don't mind one bit... We don't get to see his family nearly enough since they all live scattered across New England and we're in Arkansas.  I hadn't heard anything else about it, so my husband sent her a message to see if they had dates yet.

Well, after school today, Olivia kept talking about Gram coming to visit next week.  Next week?  I had no clue!  I texted Mr. Bill, and sure enough.... it's next week.  When next week, I don't know.  I'm assuming he just found out today.  I hate back and forth texting, so I'll wait to talk to him tomorrow.

I'm a total communications loser.  I don't like to talk on the phone, I don't like to text, I don't like instant messaging....  I don't even like to talk face-to-face sometimes.  I'm telling you, I'll be a 90 year old hermit one day.  Not an old cat lady though.  I barely like the one cat we have now.

Anyway... in addition to next week's visit from Bill's aunt and grandmother, next month my mother-in-law and her boyfriend are coming to visit.

We're just popular this year =)

Neither time will they be actually staying with us, which (I hate to say) is a little bit of a relief.  I certainly would never say no, but I had such anxiety when my father-in-law and sister-in-law came to stay with us for a few days last fall.  I'm way too introverted to be a good hostess.

Of course, as is the norm, my house is a disaster area.  I thought about going to visit my parents this weekend, but I'm thinking I'll be scrubbing floors instead.

Here are some totally unrelated pictures of the Dodo, hanging out with me while we wait on her sisters to get out of school. 

Maximum Zig Zag

Isabelle loves to model for me, but I realized today that Zoe hasn't shown off a dress for me in a while.  Iz was not happy about it, but she came out with us to be "model coach."  My kids are nuts.



The default pose.  That came from dance class and Isabelle rarely poses without throwing it in.  So, of course, so did Zoe.



If you notice, and you will now that I'm pointing it out, that the straps are too long for her, so I had to do some quick thinking and I just shoved the button through my double crochet and folded it over.



I didn't intend to make a maxi dress, but the Dodo is shorter than the other two.  I like it.  The other two dresses will be the same length, but it hits just below the knee on her sisters.



Unfortunately, the back is a bit wonky, but not as bad as it looks in this picture.  She's twisted kind of funny.  I wasn't really thinking when I made the bodice and I had to get creative with the closure.  I didn't make button holes - that would have been too easy - so I sewed some hair elastics onto it.  It works.  It overlaps more than I thought it would, so the skirt is a little bunchy.  I think the other two will be worked in the round to avoid that.  I just wasn't sure how much the cotton yarn would shrink and was too lazy to make a swatch. 



I think one of the next two will have a straight striped pattern and the other will have a granny square top.  Isabelle has a fascination for grannies.  She's going to be my crocheter, I'm sure of it.

We are lucky girls...

I finished my Zig Zag dress today but I want some good pictures of it on a body before showing it off.  I am so excited about it.  I've decided it will be our Easter dress this year... I have to make two more now!  I think the crocheted bodice will be different for each one, although I do like the ripple top an awful lot.

Mr. Bill, being true to his nature, got out to mow the yard today.  As soon as it even looks like the grass has grown the tiniest bit, he's out there.  I'd say he takes a lot of pride in the yard, and it's not that he doesn't, but I think it's more that he loves his "tractor."  The girls love it too, and they love to watch him mow.  I was inside listening to them cheer him on like he was a race car driver.  I noticed a change in the excitement and peeked out to see that he was letting the girls take turns "driving" the lawnmower.


Zoe takes a hands-off approach to driving.

After they each had a turn around the yard, he parked the mower and broke out the rope swing.  My kids can't get enough of this swing, and they like to go high.  You put them on a regular playground swing and they freak out, but they feel completely comfortable dangling from this rope.


Despite the look on her face, she's having a blast.


See what I mean?


Don't worry about her playing outside in that that frilly dress... it was a $2 find at the thrift store and she got paint all over it within 24 hours of bringing it home.


We should all be so carefree...


It is so easy to take amazing pictures of these kids.

And here is the funny photo of the day....




Bill is laughing because Zoe hit the tree while swinging (not hard, she even thought it was funny).  After looking at the picture, he pointed out that it looks like Isabelle is choking Olivia.... which is a very good possibility.  They love each other one minute, try to kill each other the next.  But isn't that the definition of sisters?

We're very lucky girls indeed, to have a good Daddy around.  I'm especially lucky to have him and 3 amazing, happy girls.  =)
 

Oh Little Sheepy Hoo...

So, last year I ran across the cutest hat ever on Pinterest...

Source: cascadeyarns.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Now, I don't knit much, and certainly not hats.  I wanted to make a crochet version.  I kept putting it off, waiting for Spring.  And here it is... practically Spring!  I've worked on it off and on for a couple of weeks and I finally finished it this morning.

So, here you go... my version of the Sheep Hat!





I think it still needs a little work before I try to write up a pattern, though.  Needs more bobble stitch!  LOL  And a fuzzier white yarn maybe.  Zoe loves it.... she hasn't taken it off yet.  =)

My Beautiful Dorks

Before I show you the awesome picture of my kids that I took today, let's talk about my cleavage.

I have been wanting to make a scrub top for a while.  I found a pattern on sale for $1.  I got the fabric.  I finally got around to cutting everything out last night and waited all day to get to my sewing machine.  I had to make sure all the laundry was finished first (last weekend I wasn't so disciplined).

Now, when I bought the pattern, I thought I had better get the one that was XL and up.  When I got around to measuring my chest, it said I could wear a L, but the smallest in the pattern was XL and I always hear that patterns run small.  Whatever.

I did not enjoy this project.  I hate sewing sleeves, as it turns out.  But I finally finished it up and immediately ran to the bathroom to try it on.

Holy Muumuu, Batman!



Looks huge, right?  Because it IS huge.  And WAY too low cut.  I look down and all I see is cleavage.  I don't really enjoy showing off my boobs, and especially not at work.

Sorry for no picture of me modelling it.... it's next to impossible for me to take a self portrait with my phone, I'm too lazy to get out the real camera, and I don't want my cleavage on my blog.  I hope you understand.  =)

I might try to sew some elastic in the back to cinch it up and I can wear a tshirt under it.... we'll see.

Anyway....

I took the girls to a new ice cream... excuse me... frozen yogurt place today as a reward for doing their chores this week.  It's called Tutti Fruity, which Olivia thought was the funniest name ever and then asked if they were supposed to toot in there.  They spend too much time with their father, I think.

It was good, just your normal self-serve froyo joint.  Nothing much to distinguish it from any of the others that keep popping up around here.  Except their "small" bowl was as big as Zoe's face, but rest assured, I did not fill it even halfway.  That's just insanity.  And too expensive.

I did like the decor... very bright and colorful.  They had a cute bench on the wall that the girls had to sit on before we left, and I took their picture....



I don't know if Isabelle is throwing gang signs or what.  Olivia was actually really excited that I let her wear mismatched socks since I hadn't washed socks yet.  And Zoe...  we're just lucky her undies didn't make an appearance in this picture because they did several times before and after.  And the dress actually goes to her knees.  She obviously doesn't get her lack of modesty from me.

Ripples

I have never been a fan of the ripple crochet patterns.  I guess they just remind me too much of the itchy, ugly orange and brown ripple afghan my mom had on our couch when I was growing up.  But the more I look, and the less they look like that afghan, the more drawn to them I've gotten.

And today I started a project... in a ripple pattern.



I bought a few yards of this super cute fabric a few weeks ago with a zig zag design on it.

Source: veneziefabrics.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

And this is the first time I realized I have been looking at the actual fabric sideways...  I hadn't unfolded it.  Huh...

Anyway, I want to make a dress with a crocheted top and thought a ripple pattern would be cute.  Of course, now I see the ripples will be going perpendicular to the fabric's zig zag, but hopefully it won't look bad.  I wonder how bad it would be to use the fabric sideways....

I have a few skeins of cotton  yarn... turquoise, green, orange, and pink.  There's actually not any pink in the fabric, but I thought it needed it. =)  I have tried the crochet/fabric combo dress in the past... with not-so-great results, but I think I know where my problems where and hopefully this works better.  If I remember correctly, I used Caron Simply Soft and worked it weird and it stretched like mad.  And it was kind of ugly.  I think cotton will look better and hold up better and I know what I'm doing more now, so fingers crossed....


Yeah, the fabric faded a bit after washing.... boo.  Not too badly and there's a chance the yarn will fade a bit, too.

And I kind of enjoy making the ripples.  Who would have thought?