Ev Update {First Half of the Summer}

Beach Baby at Grandma and Grandpa's lake cabin.

Enjoying her new play structure in our backyard. 

We've done lots of driving and traveling! She still loves big beds and being entertained in the car... but now, she hands things back over her carseat if she doesn't want that item. She's getting a little more picky about what books, toys and treats I hand to her!

Always wanting to hold things. This is why I need to sew her a purse :) 

She loves sitting in chairs and being pushed on toys. 

• Her words include variants of "moo, ball, hi, yes, no." Her jabbering changes by the day and she is trying so hard to talk in sentences... she's just not quite there yet :)
• She loves fruit - grapes, watermelon, strawberries,  and blueberries. She loves pasta and rice and lots and lots of cheese. Yogurt is our go to dairy food at the moment, since she's just not loving milk yet. We had been tapering down on nursing and completely gave it up a few weeks ago. She hasn't seemed to mind.
• Cloth diapers in the house and disposables at night and when we're on the go... the front loader that came with our house hasn't seemed to mess up my washing routine too much yet!
• She cuddles with stuff animals and pretends to feed her dolls.
• She'll bring me books to read, although sitting through an entire book is hard for her still.
• She can build with her big legos herself instead of just knocking down what we build.
• She loves bath time, especially when there are bath crayons involved.
• One of her favorite pastimes is taking objects out of a container and putting them into another. So intriguing! :)
• She begs for stroller and wagon rides, although I don't like going too far, because you never know when she'll start to fuss.
• She loves putting things away... especially her shoes, and she loves throwing things away when we ask - so far, so good in that we haven't found any non-garbage items in the garbage!
• Last but not least, she enjoys being a helper. A smile will light up her face if I ask her to help carry something or if I ask her to take something to Daddy :)

While she may drive us crazy with her busy-ness and her short attention span, this is an amazing time of her development. She is learning so much and can understand a lot of what we say. It is so wonderful to watch!

We Love Our Northern Neighbors

We live in a little subdivision outside of city limits. Our house is on the edge of said subdivision, so while we have houses across and beside us... here's what we have on the north side of us :)

It's like we never left the farm!

See, there they are, just on the other side of the fence. 

I like our new friends :) and so does Evelyn... she can see them while we eat sometimes. She pointed and said "moo." 

Good girl :)

God's Beautiful Sky

An artist's work.

Same clouds.

Majestic then threatening.

Rainbows through raindrops. 

Still water reflecting the wispy clouds above.

A perfect circle through the haze.

Where I Sew. Soon.

Our new home has three has three bedrooms on the main level, so at the moment I have a room that can be specifically for my sewing and crafting time! If/when Ev gets a sibling, I would then get kicked to the basement guest room... but until then, here's the start of my Creating Room!

My mom recently refinished the dresser you see (I'll have close-up pictures another time). It now stores all sorts of crafty needs. But before I packed the drawers, I laid down vintage sheets as drawer liners. Quick and easy!

A few days later I was able to set up a few display areas :) Again, I'll have close-ups another time, but until then, you can see snip-its of some of my vintage goodness that can be both functional and inspirational!

Of course, this girl hasn't really loved the fact that her mother has been busy unpacking and organizing and setting up a new house. So, what's a mom to do? 

Let your daughter go crazy in the ribbon and notion hat box and play in the yo-yo tin! Sure, it means that you'll have an extra 5 minutes of cleaning later... but you did get 10 minutes of quiet unpacking while she had fun!

Soon, I may even get some sewing time! Hopefully...

August Goals {ALYOF}

Alright, here's the deal... we recently moved into a new house, my 16 month old is busy, busy, busy, and I have a non-sewing project to-do list a mile long. Simply, I've had a lot of time for sewing during the last 7 months and not a lot of time/space/need for non-sewing projects (like painting shelves, weeding and organizing closets). I'm loving that list, too, but I look forward to taking some time this month to sew... even if it's just a little bit!

My goal is to add a border to two baby quilts.

I can't wait to sew!

Beaches in the Midwest

There is a public beach about 2 miles away from our house. In the Midwest, that means there's a lake nearby :)

We've only been to the beach once since we moved - it was a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon with Dan's parents.

Ev loves playing in the sand and splashing and kicking in the water, although she gets nervous when we take her out to the deeper waters. 

With a beach so close, we look forward to lots of picnic lunches, sun burns and wet swimsuits :)

Part Time Farmers

We may have moved, and Dan may have gotten a new job, but that doesn't mean we're not still farmers!

We are still close enough to the family farm that we can go there on the weekends. In particular, he'll be sure to help out with harvest and planting.

I'll still enjoy documenting farm life... even if we're not there all the time.

So, we may have moved physically away from Frog Creek, but this blog is staying On the Banks of Frog Creek :)