Swaps and naptime tales

I joined my first bloggy swap!



This one sounded like a good way to "wet my feet" with online blog swaps. Natasha Burns is hostessing this one, and the deadline is today if anyone wants to join in.

I didn't know how to find a matchbox, but I found many templates for them online if you want to or have joined the swap and also are unsure of where to find a matchbox. I ended up going with this one which is the exact size of those complimentary style matchboxes you sometimes get in hotels and restaurants- I guess its a standard. The idea is to decorate the matchbox in a shabby chic style, then stuff it with loads of trims and buttons- whatever little tidbits you have that your partner could use for crafting projects. The goal is for it to be a lightweight affordable swap.



I ended up deciding to match two of the boxes because one didn't hold enough loot, and the larger box (pictured) template was the size of a bar of soap, which meant it would be bigger than I could stick in a puffy envelope. Also, they were so much fun to make- why not make several? I loved choosing shabby chic papers and trims to decorate my box, too!

If any of my friends join, I hope we get matched!



Tilly is FINALLY getting her two teeth. At 10.5 months! We had been joking that we could have the twins some dentures made if they didn't get teeth soon. Lucas still doesn't have any! Here is a picture of her teething on a biscuit last night when she was feeling bad. The biscuit did the trick, and we were calling her "Mushie cookie face". She was VERY happy and needed a good soak in the tub to scrub off all of her cookie residue!

I have been asked several times how I possibly find time with TWO babies to craft. Well, I have a confession. My twins are MARATHON NAPPERS. They nap two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and until two weeks ago took a third one hour nap in the evening and then they sleep twelve hours at night!!! What you should be asking is "Whats your excuse for having a disorganized home when your twins sleep a total of 16 hours everyday?" Hee, hee. And even better, when they don't want to nap, they play in their cribs for an hour, then cat nap on and off. They are such happy babies! I usually find them standing up, facing eachother, babbling to one another and jumping up and down. I took these pictures of them during their afternoon nap yesterday.




Thanks for the support about my eating habits! Hee! I made a big batch of dark chocolate brownies last night and had mine warm with vanilla icecream and cherry pie filling. I call it "Black forest brownie sundae". Yum!

I am probably going to edit this and add two more pictures of the twins, but I wanted to share something *sweet*. Yesterday morning Tilly tried to kiss Lucas on the cheek. He was a bit unsure of her and turned away, but it was the most adorable thing. She had been facing him and smiling and babbling to him, and all at once opened her mouth wide and swooped toward his cheek with her hands out for a smooch. She also tries to wipe food off his little mouth if he gets yogurt on it during his snack time. Shes such a sweetie pie girl! And as far as Lucas, he has been making his daddy feel VERY special. When Daddy comes home from work, he jumps up and down in his playpen reaching for Duane and babbling up a storm. His favorite time is when Daddy tosses him up in the air and twirls him above his head. My husband is nearly 6'5, so the only place in our home he can do this is the master bedroom and the living room where we have the 12 foot tray ceiling. *smiles*

hand sachet with lavender

During Lucas and Tilly's second nap today, I became bored and rooted through my minimal craft supplies at this house and decided to make a sachet out of a notecard and some lace and lavender. I think this would be really pretty with some vintage wallpaper, and I have made them out of wallpaper in the past. The only downside is if you want to stitch on some effects, the paper does better if mounted first to cardstock.

I used a french collage notecard, some tea dyed lace I made awhile back, lavender buds, a few voile ribbon roses and some ribbon. I also made the felt pansy a few days ago and my intent had been to use it on the card sachet, but it didn't work out so it awaits another project!

If anyone elaborates on this with vintagey paper and shabby details, can you post me a link to your blog entry? I want to get some more craft items for here, but its hard to replace things I know that are stored in a barn in WV (aren't you tired of hearing that!). I especially miss my rubber stamps. *sniff*

cupcakes and bathtime

I made 36 cupcakes for Easter. In my family, we get together for every holiday. We usually go to my grandmothers home, or one of my aunts. My mother is one of four girls, so we have an ample supply of chefs and bakers for big foodie gatherings. When we were children, my grandmother would hide big plastic eggs in her yard filled with coins, candy, or the rare one dollar bill. We would gather around her kitchen table an color eggs with our cousins while my mom and her sisters prepared the ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, pineapple sauce, yeast rolls, and deserts. Then, after dinner we had a egg coloring contest where we would try to make the most absurdly colored egg by mixing dyes, and finally- *finally*- the kids would get to go hunt eggs in our baskets. My mom or one of her sisters would team up with the youngest cousins to be sure they found eggs, too. The older kids all knew that if an egg was obviously in sight, that we were to walk past that one because it was meant for a little sprite.

My grandmother is 87 years old and still buys herself a Paas easter coloring kit and every Easter sits down and colors herself a pretty egg. Like me, her favorite color is robins egg blue.

My husbands family, on the other hand, do not "get into" holidays. My husband has only been on one Easter Egg hunt his entire life! There aren't any large family gatherings in spite of there being four children. His parents prefer to spend their holidays alone. Its all very strange to me, and also quite lonesome living 7 hours from my own family in West Virginia.

But, this Easter we were invited to an Easter Egg hunt at my SIL's family home. I can't tell you how excited this made me!!! But, sadly, it was canceled, and no less after I made the 36 cupcakes. Duane and I had Easter dinner with the twinkies at Cracker Barrel instead. And, I froze the majority of cupcakes to pull out and frost with buttercream icing in small portions.

I learned a lesson here. We are going to have four children by next Christmas, and its time that I start my own family traditions and not lean on others so much. This is a difficult lesson for me as I enjoy getting together with extended family, but, its not fair to our children to rely on my husbands family for holidays when they aren't interested in them as we are. Next year we will have a huge Easter Egg hunt and egg coloring here at our own home and I will make a ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, pineapple sauce and yeast rolls. Suddenly, I feel very grown up. It is an odd thing to find yourself becoming the own matriarch of your family.

Last night I made six of the cupcakes, and this morning while the twinkies slept, I had one for breakfast.



Last night we had bathtime before bedtime. Lucas has such fun in the tub, and we just had to take a picture when he put the bubbles on his little chin.



Matilda is still somewhat cautious in the bathtub, but she loves to chew on the yellow rubber duckie.

After their bath we give them a massage with lavender lotion and then they go in their fleece sleep sacks and off to bedtime. Duane and I take turns reading their favorite story Dr. Seuss "Mr. Brown can Moo can You?"... And I have to leave the room when he reads to them because I want to correct him on the way he says the sounds!!! We have a very different interpretation of what Mr. Brown sounds like. Hee, hee.

Right now they are laying beside me, halfway interested in their breakfast bottles, and halfway tuned in to Higgleytown heros (whose theme song is done by "They Might be Giants").