back from the dead...almost

or maybe i should say, back from arkansas, but its pretty much the same thing. (a side note: i have nothing against arkansas, its actually a pretty nice place, but after being away from my family for a month and a half and living in squalor, it is the very last place i want to be). anyway, so we are almost done. i have to go back again wednesday, but only for four days. we were super busy the last ten day, trying to wrap up, so i didnt make it to the office at all! i was having major internet/email/blog withdrawl! i have a lot to catch up on. collettes birthday party was great! it was so great to spend time with family and friends. poor collette was just catching a cold so she was feeling a little crummy. you can totally see it in the pictures.

i so missed my little girl...


the super cute and yummy palest pink of cakes

collette with her mini cake, she wasnt that impressed!


collette got all kinds of wonderful presents from everyone! so many cute clothes!!! i plan to do a fashion show when i get back. prepare yourselves... she was reallly excited about the sweet vintage books she got from gail and chris.




i managed to get to the fabric store and buy my fabric for the back-tack swap, so i will be mailing that out tomorrow (just a bit late...). i havent actaully made anything in three weeks. i feel so strange. im itching to do all kinds of things, summer skirts being at the top of the list. had a chance to spend some time with the gals saturday night since most of our husbands are on a bachelors weekend in estes park. im super excited because my wonderful friend kristen is moving to kansas city from lawrence next week!!! she and her husband john have a beautiful little girl named margot who is just a two months younger than collette. of course they are already best friends forever. it will be so great to go to the pool and hang out with another mom. a mom who is crafty nonetheless! kristen started a blog! check it out! kristen and her husband are opening a new store, mostly shoes for now, so i expect to spend quite a bit of money there. uh oh... sesame street is almost over and collette is stiring from her nap...duty calls!

solved

before (bleh...):


after (aaaahhhh):


it truly felt like heaven to slip out of my hot, heavy boots at the end of the day. that extra twenty minutes just does a body good. and green makes me smile. im on a big green kick right now, who knows. im freaking sore today, that innocent looking mud on my boots dried into the rock solid dirt from hell by lunch time. it didnt help matters that i got up at 5:45 this morning to run for the first time in two years. my right knee was giving me some grief, but i put two and two together this afternoon and realized that that is my shoveling knee. im not strong enough to use arm force alone to get a good shovel-full of dirt, so i have to kick my shovel in with my right foot, and i think all that jarring is making my knee hurt. at least, im sticking with that explanation and not that im getting old. it is getting hotter, and the mosquitoes were out today for the first time. this all amounts to a sexy little package for david when i get home. just picture it: red neck, farmers tan, glowing white legs and red bug bites on just about every part of my body. what man could resist? its a wonder i get any rest on my weekends home...

on a crafty note, i am so very excited because i ordered an outfit for collette from the lovely and very talented amy from angry chicken and kingpod! check out her amazing small quilts. they are soooo cool. my favorite one right now is "secret way to blue planet". and i plan on starting some embroidery tonight. i didnt get any done last time because when i finally sat down to do it, i realized i left my hoop in kansas city. nice. so i made a special effort to bring it this time. i bought some plain shorts and tanks for collette that i am going to embellish in some way. we shall see how things go, im a rookie at this. what am i talking about, im a rookie at everything! also kelly from buzzville is planning a fun monkey party for her daughter brynne (its on the same day as collette's! how cosmic) and she make some rad shrinky dink charms. im so wanting to try shrinking something. too late for this one but im sure something will come around soon that needs shrinky dinks. it has to.

a late-night, long, rambly post with lots of pictures...

i figured at this hour, there is no point to beat around the bush, right? i finished addressing the last of collette's birthday party invites, so i shall be heading to the post office early in the morn'. take a looksey...

i found an old baby memory book at a vintage shop a few weeks ago along with a stash of old childrens books. this little picture caught my eye immediately. so sweet. from this point, david came up with some great ideas for making turning the party into a "dick and jane" type theme. we are having cake and root beer floats, playing esquivel cds, hula hoop contests, marbles, jacks and hop scotch maybe. and i have kerry and sarah on a mission for old timey looking lollipops and candy. cool, huh?

also along the vintage lines, i finished up my postcard for the swap that myra organized. i have been amassing a small collection of old cook booklets, you know the little paperback dime store things. my friend sarah gave me a great one called "festive salads and molds" that is full of super cool graphics, it was hard for me to pick one out, but i ended up with this guy for my card.

i thought about including a recipe from the book too, but they were all pretty heavily reliant on mayonnaise and gelatin. gross. so instead i swiped one from mr. bobby flay. the fabric in the background is a cute little number i picked up at urban arts + crafts down at the rivermarket on saturday. how cool is it that for 8.95 i can have a sweet little a-line skirt? im picturing a white tshirt and flipflops with this one. now i just have to make it... im excited to check out the new amy butler fabrics in person. my friend kerry is going to come over to visit with me and the kids, then i think we might sneak away for an hour or so to do some browsing.

i have had an excellent three days at home. lots of snuggling time with collette. what a sweetie. eliot and i had a major moment today. i convinced him to let me shave his head with the clippers. david tried to do it last week some time but went about it all wrong and scared him to death. the trick is patience and a big bag of cookies. i will put a picture up soon. its the new summer do for that sweaty little head of his. i will be heading back to arkansas wednesday morning for another ten-day. hopefully this one wont be as bad. i wont be sore, and i wont have to deal with the excruciating pain of weaning. what was i thinking??? it took the whole ten days to finally shrink down from rock hard grapefruit size to a more normal semblance of a female chest. stupid points on my part. so i have that going for me. im really excited because i have in my possession two 80 minute cds filled to the brim with hand-picked bjork songs by a one mr. david huffman. i requested a mega mix, and i got not one, but two! what a guy. although, im not sure if that says he loves me, or he loves bjork. hmmm. anyway, im taking the digital camera with me this time, instead of relying on the crapy work one. david snapped this pic from the porch of my cabin last weekend.

looks pretty, huh? i will concede that the boston mountains and the lake itself are very pretty, but lets just say that it doesnt make up for the rest of the place. i will probably spend a little time on a commentary of my living quarters next week. a warning, these stories are not for the weak of stomach...