a thank you

for all the well wishes and prayers when isaac didn't miss the ground.

i think i have gotten back to normal (for me.) isaac is walking fine, his scabs cleared up a few days later, and he says he won't fall out of aunt meggy's window again, because it was scary.

they might be giants on homestar runner today.

isaac liked it except in the middle where it got a little loud. and strong bad was deciding who got french fries. anyway, here's the link

if you give a mom a muffin

by Kathy Fictorie

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are…
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

my sister sent this by email. and it is the story of my life.

miracles

my son tried to fly out of a second story window. the miracle of it, is that he is okay.

my husband wrote about it here.

and i am still twitching. and not letting him near any windows.

stress reliever

try this out. how beautiful.

lazy days skirt

IMG_2664, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

this is a free pattern over at the oliver + s blog (just look in the sidebar). and i absolutely love it. it is very, very, very easy. it took under an hour easily. and miss mal loves skirts. perfect. (there are more coming, just to warn you.)

fabric is corduroy and came from jcaroline creative. and i don't remember the line. but it is mint green and brown, and i was going to use it for a bag for myself, but mallory talked me into a skirt for her. which surprised me because it wasn't pink.

chillin'

IMG_2635, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

now the question is, has anyone been able to post more than one picture using flickr?

all three together

IMG_2677, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

in whatever corner we may chance to grow

i have started a giveaway blog, where i will list giveaways from other people's blogs. you are more than welcome to check it out. however if you win something that i wanted, i will NEVER forgive you. just remember that.

anyway, in honor or maybe because i want to add some excitement to my life, the first person who can correctly tell me where the title of this post comes from, i will send them something lovely in the mail. don't know what it is at this point, but you will like it. because it came from me.

my torrid love affair with oliver + s continues

IMG_2297, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

i originally intended to make this for mallory's birthday last year, but it wasn't finished in time. so i finished it for christmas.

puppet show dress view with the pockets

IMG_2662, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

i added the pockets to the puppet show dress dress (the pockets were from the shorts if you did the tunic and shorts version)

and if you look closely at the bottom of the dress and at the collar, you will notice that the animals are upside down. which is why you should pay attention while you are cutting out your pattern. or you should make sure you have more than enough of your fabric. (i went back for more, after i discovered the mistake, and yep they were out in all of southern idaho. luckily i had enough to cut enough out for the top, but i had to add the bottom edge...and i was too lazy to switch the collar.

oh and another thing i learned from this dress? make sure you prewash your lining, along with your regular fabric. yep. the lining shrunk and makes funny puckers.

the animal fabric was joann's and was a nice soft corduroy. the green polka dot was from a fat quarter from a quilt shop, i think the line was chelsea boutique?

apple dolly

IMG_2361, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

and I made her a black apple doll to match.

(i tried to imitate how she drew her faces, b/c my drawing skills are lacking. i used crayon and pencil, which needs to be redrawn.)

a better view of the black apple doll and the toothbrush

IMG_2358, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

back buttons

IMG_2685, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

i used fabric covered buttons, with the red on green fabric and vice versa. someday, i intend to make a hair clip with one of the extra buttons on it, but it will probably be done when she has outgrown the dress.

back view of the puppet show dress

IMG_2308, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

oliver and s tea party dress

IMG_3589, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

I first got hooked on oliver and s because of their paper dolls. they were and are the cutest things and mallory loved to play with them. i made this dress in july of 2008 and i still haven't taken a great picture of it. oh well, the time has come just to blog it and be done with it.

the pattern is the tea party dress, and they have a playsuit. muahahaha....i get to match my children to my heart's content. i never finished isaac's matching suit to this one, however. i ended up not liking the fabric. have i mentioned that boys are hard to sew for?

anyway, the pattern wasn't very hard. the only hard part could have been avoided if i listened to the hints she gave in the pattern, but i would get going and think i could do it. nope. i would recommend using this for beginners, because it is well written. unlike some i could mention.

the fabric came from Joann's when it was closing down in the town i used to live in...kind of sad, but i got some great deals. i used some to make a dress for me, too, which i started in july of 2008 as well, but i still haven't put in the sleeves or hemmed it. probably by the time i finish it, mallory will have out grown this one. oh well, probably a good thing for her mental health.

this picture was taken on the Star of India in San Diego, when we went there this spring.

more pictures of oliver +s tea party dress...

IMG_1423, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

up close

IMG_2665, originally uploaded by ebakkis.

tea party dress

elephants are made of elements

Meet the Elements



they might be giants from Here Comes Science

our unwed teenage cat

had kittens.

and they act like their mother.





we have a flabbergast, a bella (named after the cousins' cat, but turned out to be a boy. oops. doug says it's named after Bela Lugosi now.), an abernathy whose nickname is patches, and a bobtail.

anybody want a kitten?



(just kidding, we do have homes for them. though getting them to their new home is taking us almost as long as it is taking us to get the momma to the vet.)

you would be free to rename them stenotrophomonas. or diapedesis. or apoptosis. all wonderful names. or weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.

most of these came from doug, by the way. my children don't stand a chance.

change

i fiddled with the family blog today, if you want to go check it out. doug doesn't like it, so it might not last long.