i owe you one

I am so terribly grateful for all the help everyone has given by voting for Island Auntie’s proposal which will help her off-grid home in Hawaii become even more eco-friendly and sustainable by using solar power.  Two very generous bloggy friends, Jackie and Rebecca, posted about the proposal on their blogs. Another amiga asked her entire school to vote!  The first day that I mentioned it, your votes propelled her into first place.   She has now slid back into the second spot, but she is not far behind and today is the last day that the polls are open for this round of grants.  So, here I am again, bothering you for just one more click!   Go to this link, give the page some time to load, scroll halfway down, and hit vote.  THANK YOU.

I’d like to show some true appreciation for your support, so here’s what I will do.  For the crafty folks, I will turn that pile of scraps into a neat little sewing project and will post a detailed tutorial next week so that you can make one too.  I can’t tell you what it is just yet because I am making this item for a certain birthday girl and I don’t want to ruin the surprise.   But I can tell you that it is a simple, practical gift that comes together fairly quickly.  I have not found a good tutorial for it out there in crafty blog-land, so I think it will be useful.  For those of you who read this blog to get family updates, I pledge to do everything in my power to get a few new photos of Island Baby.  Images of that beautiful little girl are hot commodities in our family!  

And for EVERYONE who comments or sends an email and lets me know that they voted again today (March 31), I will give you the chance to win one of these top secret gifts that I am making.  I wish I could tell you what it is, but I can’t.  I do promise that it won’t be lame.  Sound good?  

Thanks again, very very much.

UPDATE:  SHE WON!!!  THANK YOU!  Comments are closed–will pick a giveaway winner soon….

blogs can be so misleading

I finally got my terrific twosome in a photo together.  They look so darn SERENE in this photo.  Have no fear. Minutes later, she spit up all over him.  He screamed  ”PUKE!” directly in her left ear and proceeded to let go of her.  She survived, but the photoshoot was over.  

Thanks VERY MUCH for taking the time to vote for Island Auntie’s proposal.  The top dog is putting up a good fight, but my little sister is close behind in second place.  If you have another vote in you, please feel free to have another click. I failed to mention that folks are able to vote once a day until the voting closes on March 31.   And if you are a family member, you’d better be going back to that site each and every day to vote, or the next time we see you, I’ll get my little girl to puke on you too.

Happy St. Pat’s to you.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

celebrating…plus a small favor

This rather large bundle of fabric was my personal little way of celebrating the arrival of our baby girl.  I really have no business buying more fabric, but I have been dreaming of dresses and allowed myself to shop away.  From top to bottom:  the two dots are Patty Young’s Andalucia, then Amy Butler’s Belle, the apples and the one just below them are Sandy Henderson’s Farmers Market, followed by three from Joel Dewberry’s Aviary line, another Dewberry but this one is from the line called Chestnut Hill, more Amy Butler, plus some of Heather Bailey’s Freshcut and a bit of Tula Pink’s Flutterby.  I think the green check is Holly Holderman, but I really can’t remember.  All purchased at Quilt Home, which has a great selection and excellent customer service.  I probably won’t make any dresses smaller than a 2T because I’ll want her to wear them for longer than a month or so, but it will be fun to start developing a handmade wardrobe into which she can grow. Now, if she will just let me sleep through the night, I could get to work.  

On a totally unrelated note, could I ask you a small favor?  My sister, known in these parts as Island Auntie, has written a grant proposal that will allow her family of three to make their modest and amazingly sustainable two-bedroom home on the Big Island in Hawaii truly off-grid and more environmentally friendly.  In a word, they are seeking more solar power so that they can become less dependent on a noisy, less eco-friendly generator.  The deal with this grant is that the public chooses the recipient.  So if you have a moment, please click over to her proposal, scroll down half-way to the VOTE button, and give it a click.  You’d be helping out an amazing little family a ton and I would be extremely grateful. Here is the link.  Thank you!

not everyone loves a photoshoot

But sometimes screaming baby photos are just as cute as the smiley ones. Especially when the baby is bundled in a gown that was handmade with love by her Grandmama.  And wrapped in a blanket made by a friend from my work.  Lucky kid!

When I opened the gown, I really did not think it was homemade.  I asked my mom a couple of days later and she told me that she made it herself.  I hope to one day develop the patience and skill to embroider little details like this sweet lamb and include them in my gifts, but until that day arrives, I will leave all the super cute stuff to my mom.  She’s great at it.  Thanks Grandmama!

The handmade gift giving was extended to the big brother.  Smoothpebble sent this adorable little camo pouch to him complete with an ice cream truck that fits his Thomas the Tank Engine tracks.  Now the trains on the Island of Sodor no longer go without dessert.  Phew! Thanks so much , Jackie.  He loves his new truck and his mom has sort of hijacked the pouch for her purse.  (And that outfit you sent with the elephant print is perfect in so many ways.)