button rings

fun. easy. cheep. pretty. the perfect rainy day activity!

field trip

Even though we ride the bus all the time, it is still a super fun and exciting adventure for Poppie and Cody. I really like riding the bus too, so we turn it into the focus of our outings. Poppie is so proud of herself that she can climb on herself and Cody is almost tall enough. Those steps are really tall! Then Poppie choose the seats - very carefully! Sometime we get to sit on the way back bench seat.



To motivate myself, I have a little system where I jog to town, lock up the stroller, and bus home. Then the next day we do it in reverse. This was I get at least 3 miles.

around town

We love going to Heron Park, although I seem to forget about it a lot. So when I remember this great park exists, we love it. they diverted the river to create this lovely save water wonderland. Summer is so short here. Literally, it's 6 weeks at best. So we need to take full advantage of all the awesome parks Aspen has to offer. On that note (short summer) the day before yesterday was hotter than normal. I think the temperature was in the mid-80's. That's really hot for us chilly mountain folk. Everybody was dying of heat. I really can't imaging what 100 degrees would feel like.

Cody's baptism

Cody was baptised this morning at the Episcopal church in Aspen. There were a bunch of other people also being baptised this morn; a mom and her two little kids, and another little boy. I didn't get a picture of the actual event because Poppie had to go to the bathroom just as we were about to go up. So my friend (and photographer) took her and they missed the whole thing. Afterward Mom took us to a nice big breakfast at the Hick House, and then we rode up the gondola to the top of Aspen Mountain.

Riding up the gondola, checking the slopes and getting ready for the winter.

Gigi and Cody get some fresh air by the window. A glass box cruising around on the mountain in the summer is like a solar oven.

Climbing on the ropes course on top of the mountain.


the family in a tree house

Enjoying an orange soda from McD's

Mom comes to visit

We took mom up to Snowmass for the free Thursday night concert. It was the Iguana's playing great Latin American funk. Of course, Poppie got her groove on.

kitchen remodel

(Before)

I'm redoing my kitchen. Well, I live in a "cozy" apartment with a kitchen "nook". So a remodel is an easy thing to think about. I'm not allowed to really do anything besides spiff it up with some curtains and maybe a shelf or something. I decided to continue the red theme. (I know - where's the red?) So stay tuned to see the after pictures!

can you move like this?

This is the Elaine dance. (thanks Chris for calling it that. I think it's the funniest thing!)

This was at the Particle and moe show up in Snowmass earlier in the summer, when it was still more like winter. Good free music, crap weather - that should be Aspen's new slogan.

more Thursady night fun in Snowmass

I don't really go to listen to the music, but the band is usually pretty good anyway. Tonight was one of the Neville brothers. New Orleans blues or something like that. Poppie doesn't care. she dances like a rock star to everything. And I love being outdoors on the grass with a million of my closest friends. Cody is working on his break dancing moves. This is the finish to the spin-around.

And Poppie is doing the cabbage patch. She is also known for doing a great version of the Elaine dance!

Cody, can you hear the ocean in your shoe?

Bye- Bye folks!

my new favorite ruffle

When I was over a friend's house the other night she tossed me an old table cloth and a book about skirts and said, "go be creative" What a gift! Thanks Laura!

Here's what I made.

I had so much fun with the ruffle at the bottom. It's a circle ruffle. You draw a circle, (I used a CD) draw another circle outside of that one, like a donut. Then cut out all your donuts and sew them together into a long ruffly ruffle. Then sew the not ruffled side to what ever you want. It's a great way yo use ruffles if you don't want a gathered ruffle.

Phew - that was a complicated way of saying that circle ruffles are fun.

ruffle ruffle ruffle

chicken container

This was a project on the back burner for a long time. Years.
I found this great granny apron at a garage sale in Paonia for a dime years and years ago. I didn't use it as an apron - it was the skirt kind, and that's useless for messy cooks like me. I though about saving it for when I had kids. (now have kids, and wasn't inspired to give it to them) then the other night I just started playing around with stiff interfacing, and this is what came of it.

I really like that it's a triangle, although it's difficult to display to get the best view of the chicken . It was a fun and tricky geometry project to get the bottom to lay flat. And it was one of those wacky projects that you have no idea what it'll look like until it's done.

The chicken's body is actually a pocket!

one hour a day

Covered shoe boxes to store and organize a bit more artfully.
Why buy fabric boxes when you can make your own - especially if you (like me) have tons of cool fabric laying around.
And notice I arranged my books in rainbow order. This was a fun hour!


Covered tissue box. and more fabric covered boxes.
(this one holds a million pens, markers and pencils)

pretty mouse pad

I don't know how much you know about the transitions going on in my life.

But anyway, I'm going through some big transitions in my life. I'm now a full time working single mom. It's not necessarily hard, just majorly time consuming. I can forget about any time just for me for the next 7 - 10 years. Yikes! I'll be OK though. Luckily I really like my kids and sincerely enjoy spending time with them.

But as my therapy, I have set aside the hour after they are in bed and before I go take my bath to be MY TIME. Just mine. I can do what ever I need. Since I got rid of cable TV, I find a lot more to do with an hour. Unfortunately I did discover hulu.com though. So I do sometimes get stuck watching an entire season of a TV show in one sitting. (then I get more than an hour for me!)

I've been really trying to focus on doing more crafty things. More sewing, cooking, book making, card making and other paper crafts. More educational reading, designing, and more letter writing. I sometimes do spend my hour just looking at craft ideas online. I'm really impressed with some people's blog dedication.

An hour is short. Very short, and sleep is important, so I try to respect my hour and keep it to an hour... or two, depending on how into my project I am. More to come!