Lovely Cruise

the first week of summer

We survived our first week of summer and all went well.  Everything is fresh and new and exciting.  The boys are enjoying both playing and watching baseball.  I let them stay up late to cheer on the Cubs, which for now is their favorite team.  Ella is well, Ella.  I think she's enjoying having both boys home, because there's a lot more action! 

I baked almost every day this week, starting with these strawberry choc chip muffins.  I don't know how long it will last, but I've enjoyed the quiet mornings that don't involve getting everyone ready and running out the door.  Just being home has led me to mixing something together before everyone rises.  I'll share the muffin recipe over at the Sammy T. blog soon.  I promise.  I actually have several recipes to share. 

Have a great weekend!

p.s.  Isn't my rhododendron amazing?  I love it.  We had them in California and we were so excited when we found out our house here had them too. 

same hair, same age

gocco loco

I did a ton of printing this past week.  First I finished up my custom order for It Kit, then I worked on two sets of stationery for the Joslyn Castle silent auction (please oh please let someone bid on them other than David...) and then I printed some stuff for my shop.  I set up a little printing station in the dining room when I was working on the tags for It Kit and decided to just keep going.  I wish I would have taken a photo of all of the tags, they looked so cool covering every surface. 

This pink chair is a new design that I did yesterday.  I'll be adding it to the shop today or tomorrow. 

In other shop news, Mom scored a BUNCH of letter press letters last weekend.  We're trying to decide what to do with all of them, but I'm sure we'll be selling some off in small sets.  We need to get organized! 

p.s.  These tags are currently available at mothball charlie.  :)

week one {garden}

I'm going to try to take photos once a week of my vegetable garden.  I think it will be fun to watch the progression.  I can't believe how much my plants have grown already and the herbs in pots on my deck are going crazy!  I love it.  And so far (knock on wood) Peter Rabbit and family have left my little plants alone.  Thanks to George.  Now if I could just keep him out of there... 

runners

This is us before the race.  I'll never forget seeing my boys round the corner to the home stretch and the finish line.  They were so cute and looked so little.  They both finished the 1-mile race strong and had a great time.  My race was the longest five miles ever.  There were several hills, which made it tough.  But I feel good about how I did, here are my results:
Distance: 5M
Time:   47:03
Pace:  9:25
Overall Place: 626 of 1190
Place in Gender: 217 of 593
Division F35-39 Place: 27 of 72

After we got home I got hit hard with allergies and was miserable.  I think I need to start taking something other than Nasonex...  We had a great night with Uncle Willy and Besta though.  David grilled, Mom made a delicious salad and we had homemade ice cream for dessert.  It's summertime!  :)                                                      

1st day/last day for Charlie

nasturtiums and sage

This is my photo for this month's Photo Trade.  The theme this month was "Losing Focus" or something like that.  This was challenging for a lot of people in the group (to photograph a blurry photo--on purpose), but for me the challenge would need to be "Finding Focus!"  HA!  So this month was a walk in the park...  I took this with one of my polaroid cameras.  I scanned the original, and then printed it.  And then I made a little notebook out of the original.  I should have taken a photo of it, but I was late this month getting it mailed and I just couldn't get it done.  I'm going to make more notebooks, it was kind of fun.   And if you have a birthday in a couple days you'll be getting one in the mail...  **winksjwink**

After a very productive week (for me) I'm looking forward to the holiday weekend.  We're going to start the weekend right by going to my mom's for dinner tonight.  My brother and his girlfriend  are in town.  My mom is doing a taco bar and serving margaritas.  I'm bringing homemade ice cream.  Can't beat that!  Tomorrow we head to the lake.  I'm secretly praying for rain.  I just have a feeling that it's going to be cold, and no one will be getting in the water.  It's David's uncle's cabin and we LOVE going there, but it's usually h-o-t and the kids are in the water until about 9:00 PM.  I don't know how the day is going to go if we can't do that.  Oh and we have to sleep in a tent.  With our three darlings and our dog.  I love camping, but for some reason this scene isn't looking too attractive to me...  Hopefully we'll have fun!  I don't know what we're doing on Sunday (other than recovering) and Monday the boys and I are running in the Boys Town Memorial Day Run.  They're doing the 1-mile fun run and I'm doing the 5-mile not-so-fun run.  And then we're bbqing here at our house with my mom and brother.  That's about it.  I'm off to make some ice cream...

pens and pencils and a plug

the table runner dress

indie collective

Mothball charlie is being highlighted today at the Indie Collective blog.  While you're there, check out their Spring/Summer shopping guide.  Lots of great stuff from great Indie artists.