Sand in my Suit

I am a beach bum...at least for the week. I've let go of all my neurotic hang ups and am enjoying our summer vacation to the fullest. It's 10:30 in the morning and the youngest of my brood is napping after some beach yoga with Aunt Liz and a swim in the pool. Suave is with Daddy, they went sightseeing to the pier and some local shops. Suave's had a rough time on this trip. Two days before leaving he caught a cold that quickly turned out to be the flu. The rest of the family started loading up on Elderberry supplements (to boost our immune system). Once we arrived at the beach there was so much commotion, noise and activity that he has been melting down with major "whiney's". It's been hard on all of us.



On the other hand, the rest of us have been sandy, salty, chlorinated and slightly sunburned. Showers are mandatory in the evening but during the day we are barefoot and smell a little like the ocean.

The first day here we all arrived around the same time and were like hillbilly's in a mansion...oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at all the purty furniture, big TV's, private swimming pool and elevator(!). We settled into our rooms and sat on the one of the big porches, out of the rain. We may have been in the midst of a tropical depression but we still had to listen to the ocean. What a view!



Sunday turned out to be better weather than expected since the depression went north of us. We went to the ocean, walked it, looked for shells, ran from (or in the kids case, ran towards ) the waves. In the afternoon we had a July birthday celebration for Suave, Sassy, Cousin A and Grandma Huffman. It was supposed to start at 4:15 but Grandma was so excited that she started it half an hour earlier...even if mommy and Aunt Tonya were still in the shower. Suave was still sick so only got through a portion of the gifts, started crying and went to take a nap.

Early Monday morning a photographer came to take family portraits. We were took them by the beach and at the house, on the porch. As I write I am eagerly awaiting the proofs.

So, now as I write, we have a semi empty house as some kids are napping, some people drove to Myrtle Beach and others went grocery shopping. Quiet in the house-perfect.

Sew What!?!

I fancy myself a crafty type person. Over the weekend I spend lots of time over at the neighbors, scrapbook and accessories spread out on their dining room table. I scrapped while they ate dinner and I didn't shower for two days so I could get more work done on "Bella's First Year" scrapbook. I have no shame.

As you know, my newest hobby is photography. I took a class and am still self teaching and taking pictures of everything and everybody. Sometimes being an annoying shutterbug works out, like so...

Other times, your children refuse to look at you knowing they will soon be blinded by multiple flashes. See exhibit below.

My soon refused to look up and yet, I still have no shame.

I've taken up knitting, dabbled in calligraphy and even make some jewelry that I never wear. But, by far, my biggest challenge is sewing. There are a few reasons for this. One, I cannot cut straight. Not paper and certainly not fabric. "Buy good scissors", my mother recommended. "And use them ONLY for sewing!", she warned. I followed her advice but my attempt at a straight cut continued to stray. This whole cutting business really wrecks havoc on cutting a pattern. Every (all three) pattern sewing projects I've made have come out hideously disfigured. Once when I was in third grade my mother and I selected a Simplicity pattern for a short and shirt set. I chose the recommendations and bought the right fabric, thread and needles. When the project was all done the shirt was more of a lopsided half shirt and the shorts didn't fit my 8-year-old hips. Does and 8-year-old have hips?

I still have the black fabric cut and still attached to the pattern for a little black dress I began to pre-kids. Like, waaaaaay, pre-kids. Every time I go through my fabric box I find it, neatly folded so that the thin, brown pattern paper is well hidden in the fold. The folded fabric is wrapped in a grocery sack and always (always) the first to go in the box when I reorganize. Oh, but I know it's there. It's cut out but I just know if I try to sew it it will morph into something snug and awkward. There is is...you see how it taunts me so?

My third try at sewing with a pattern was, again, with the help of Simplicity. It was a peasant shirt. Simple, gathered, easy. For most people that it. After cutting it out and getting my machine ready to sew I began to match FRONT to BACK and realized they were two completely different sizes. They didn't match; the edges didn't meet, the shoulders wouldn't touch. Another sad reminder of my snip-deficiency. Rather than waste the super cute eyelet fabric, I brought out one of Bella's dresses, laid it on the eyelet and cut around the dress. What I came out with was this breezy, fabulous Fourth of July dress.

Picture Pages

Yes, I started a blog to keep family up to date on the kids and our lives. It's hard to remember the details of the day and then recap them in the 5-minute-phone call intervals the kiddos allow me. But, to be honest, another reason is to post my photographs.

I love taking pictures-even though I'm not very good. My old camera broke so we made an investment in a Sony Cybershot since it had the quickest shutter speed on the market. This fact being sold to us by the high school junior working at Best Buy. Besides that fact, anyone who's met our kids knows the importance of having the fastest shutter speed. We purchased the camera and promptly went to Starbucks to marvel over our new toy. That's when I realized I didn't know much about it beyond the on and shutter buttons.

The learning annex held a class, Beginning Digital Photography, and I signed up right away. I loved taking the class. I loved getting assignments. I loved learning more about my camera. I love taking good pictures. Here are a few of my favorites...

These were for the assignment where we had to photograph something red.

I've also made myself take more pictures of events and things, rather than just my kids. As in the following...

The Messiest Birthday Ever

Trying to come up with a theme that works for both kids is a little tough. Until they are old enough to realize, and ask for, seperate parties they will celebrate together. Of course, we celebrate their individual special day with their favorite meals (chicken nuggets and corn on the cob for Bella; mac and cheese with sausage for Rico) a small cake and family-sung Happy Birthday but the big party is for both of them.

Last year the theme was Pirates and Princesses. They had treasures (party favors) buried in the sandbox and plenty of princess items for the girls. This year I decided on A Bathnight Birthday. The party was meant to be so messy that the guests would have to take a bath when they got home. It was a hit!

The kiddie pool was filled with bubbles, the water table was filled with a gooey cornstarch/water mixture and the sandbox was open and toy laden. And of course, a (fake) tattoo artist. At one point a flower tattooed Bella was sopping in her swimsuit, hair crusted with goo with sand caked on her cheeks.

Rather than cake we had "dirt" pudding desserts. Rico helped me make them so he was so proud of the final result. Both kids also helped make the goody bags. (This is something Rico is really excited about when we go to parties so he was a big part in making them for his friends.) The kids used fabric paint to put their handprints on white washcloths and I later ironed on their names and birthdates. Rico picked out the candy, Skittles, at the grocery store with Tim.

Everyone had a great time. The expectations were to get messy so all the mom's were relaxed, the kids had a blast and, best of all, Rico and Bella were happy.

Kah Rah Tay

Rico went to his first karate class yesterday. For months he's been talking about karate, showing us his karate kicks and punches. And, actually, he wasn't bad. While I figured it was just a phase he'd grow out of, he kept mentioning karate.

On the 4th of July we went to the Noblesville parade and one of the walking floats was for the American Blackbelt Academy. Rather than handing out candy, they handed out a coupon for a free month of karate!

Yesterday was Rico's first day. He loved it. I loved to see him so happy. The focus is mainly on following directions and respect. As soon as they arrived Rico was asked to put his shoes in one of the bins then they went towards the mat. Before getting on the mat he (and the instructor and other student) had to bow to the mat. Once on the mat they all bowed to the American flag and then to "the masters", pictures of martial arts masters that were on the wall. The instructor was very patient and Rico was doing a great job following direction.

The instructor had them run back and forth on the mat and then stop whenever he yelled, "stop!". The boys thought that was great fun. He allowed Rico to chose the next activity and to ask questions about what was around the room-punching bags and other equipment. They did some other climbing and jumping exercises and then went into punches. The instructor was a impressed that Rico could control his punches and would punch when asked and not spaz out swinging. The class finished by the instructor doing some role play that focused on how to protect yourself from strangers, "say no", "run away", "find an adult".

After some final bows to end the class Rico came to us smiling and happy and, for that night, very tired.