Project Manager Extraordinaire

Here are a few projects I've been working on lately:

-Completing a "mother/daughter" craft project that is technically for Ellie but all my idea. Yes, I saw a darling ribbon tutu at the store and said, "I can totally make that with my own bare hands." And I actually did. (I won't tell you how much I didn't save buying endless spools of ribbon, though.)

I try to stray from parental boasting, but I am not too humble to admit that Ellie has very gifted toes. Some of you have already heard/witnessed this numerous times, but every time she mounts not just onto her "tippy toes," but actually onto the knuckles of her toes during the "Ellie Ballet Show," I am indeed amazed.

When asked for a ballet pose, we were left with this:

Remember how my friend Noe got married last August and I volunteered to make a guest book quilt for her, even though I've never made a quilt before? Haha, well sucker that she is, she consented and the result will be hers forever, no matter how painfully crooked the corners may be. Actually, I think I kind of enjoy quilting. I feel like I'm way too young to be saying that.


Ellie helped me with the layout. This is obviously during the pre-stitching stage. The patchwork is, as of late last night, fully stitched and, contrary to my best estimates ("I think it will be, like, a California King, Noe," I told her), measures considerably smaller than a twin-sized quilt.


-spending Valentine's Day morning constructing a three-piece snowman with head fully intact (I was grateful that at least one of us grew up in Minnesota so knew how to roll a snowball. The cone-shaped mound I was accumulating as the base required serious re-sculpting at Kyle's expert hand.)

It was the kids' first snowman experience and I'm pretty sure they loved every chilly moment of it, almost as much as they thrilled over the second phrase of the primary song coming to fruition: "in the sun he melted, melted, melted...")


Erik is contemplating knocking the head off again. Yes, the scarf serves much more than an aesthetic role.



-catching up with friends over posh drinks and live jazz music at Provo's suavest, trendiest new and fully non-alcoholic joint (Okay, so that's not really a project per se, but a photo of cotton candy-topped Shirley Temples had to make it in.)

We counted the evening as our semi-annual date, and in honor of Kyle's new employment status, we left a 25% tip.

-pushing my domestic skills to the limit with a from-scratch sewing project (and by "scratch" I mean no pattern, no instructions...) Kjerst recruited me as her amateur assistant for an apron-construction project. Hey, I know I'm not the only one who sees those adorable aprons at the mall for $30 and thinks, "I could so make that myself for a fraction of the price." Well, that much is true, but only for an ENORMOUS multiple of the time it takes to purchase an apron, or even the time it takes to earn the money to purchase an apron. Anyway, without a pattern or instructions, we were left mostly to our own intelligence, and especially since most of it was created in the wee hours of the night, I am partial to believe it turned out quite well. Actually, I think it's stinkin' cute and plan on making one for Mish in the not-too-terribly-distant future.

-Oh yes, and my most time-consuming project as of late has been finding us a new home! Yes, we are getting out of this jungle this weekend and into the Salt Lake Valley to give Kyle a closer commute.

Upcoming projects include furnishing our new place, finishing Noe's quilt entirely, whipping up at least a grocery bag of felt food, homemade baby gifts for expectant friends and fam, emergency preparedness kits, finding a midwife and delivery venue, and blogging Disneyland. Um, but not in that order, or along any specific timeline. =)