another applique attempt

this is my 2nd attempt at applique.  aaron came up with the "dino-mite" caption.

these cute little union suits by dwell studio were on super sale at target so i bought 2.  other dwell baby clothing 

were also on super sale, so i ended purchasing those for my applique endeavors.

speaking of dwell studio, i came across these guys 2 years ago and especially fell in love with their baby and kids' items.  simple, modern, design.  without being overly cheesy, branded (e.g. dora the explorer, disney, etc.), or common-ordinary. as i was expecting emma, i recall pining away at some of their baby bedding, but didn't feel it was worth spending $40 on 1 crib sheet.  i'm glad they are finally offering a more affordable line through target.

i also found a shop on etsy called vintagefern, that sells some super cute applique items (including baby onesies).

thursday play group

i completely forgot to take photos of today's play group, so here are a couple i took as we were leaving.

it took emma probably about 20 minutes just to get from the car to the spot where we set up our blanket.  once her feet hit the sand it was 1 step, 2 step, stop.  "come on emma."  1 step, 2 step, stop.  "come on emma."  1 step, 2 step, grunt,stop.  "come one emma."  1 step, 2 step, stop.

going back was a bit faster, but not much.

artistic collaboration part 2

artistic collaboration part 1

how do i love thee, let me count the ways

"hey emma, do you love your blankie?"

"yeeeaaaaahhhh"

blankie is actually one of 4 (maybe 5) black t-shirts i own. we've lost one blankie already, but was easily replaced since black is a fairly common color in my wardrobe. sometimes she share's blankie. sometimes (which most times) she wants blankie all to herself. her friends know what to do when they find a black t-shirt on the floor.

if we had had the 2nd baby, we planned on giving him/her a shirt for a blankie too, but in a different color. i think we had planned on a red one since i had about 3 of those around.

we don't go anywhere without blankie. however, emma doesn't have to have it with her all the time. but when she starts getting fussy or crabby, we bust out the blankie and it makes everything okay.

don't you wish you could do that? worried? stressed? sad? blankie will make it all better.

ssssllllloooowwww

technical difficulties...

i have another entry for today, but will not be posting it because blogger has been slow and is refusing to upload my photos. any other blogger users experiencing this problem? maybe it's my internet, but all other sites seem to be functioning normally. i'll try again tomorrow.

porcelain embroidery

check out this fascinating embroidery work by clare coles posted on jenny hart's blog.

i can't imagine how long or difficult it must be to embroider through porcelain. it looks fantastic. i wonder if the tea cup would still be functional?

it's another baby!

hooray for our friends alan and lindsey and their new baby, ella kay.













and this is what i made for the sweet, little girl.


















we met her for the first time today, and i only held her for a few seconds before emma burst into jealous tears. i will have to take another sneak peak little ella another time, when emma is not looking.

poop in the sand

we ventured to (lower) edgewater park saturday afternoon for some fun in the sand and to wade in the lake. this is the first time all three of us have gone to the actual beach part of the the park. all i can say is that it looks nice from the road. but once you're actually there...um...not so much.

aside from the trash strewn about the beach, a wee toddler boy who was obviously not potty-trained decided to go number 2 right on the sand. his mama did not notice, but his dad sure did because he went over and covered that little surprise up with sand.

needless to say, i don't think we'll be returning to edgewater park for the beach experience.

but emma managed to brave the sand again (hooray!). she even got me to build a sand castle. the sand at this beach was much finer, thus easier to pack in for sand castle building. brings back memories of my childhood days spent at the beach. sand castles, mud pies, finding sea shelss, and getting my whole body buried by sand (oh..wait...that one was 5 years ago).

more evidence of a puppy living in our house

good bye to "pinky shoes."

i'm thankful that zeke (a.k.a. mr. chewey) chewed stuff that's ours as opposed to borrowed items (i.e. library books).

i forgot to mention the pencil and the box of crayons he destroyed. i'm curious to see what will be chewed up tomorrow. hopefully not our leather couch!

a fairly impressionable little girl

after watching lords of dogtown, aaron was inspired to sport this look with his own bandana this morning. don't ask me why he f elt compelled to do this. for a laugh? maybe.

"where's mommy's at?" questions our observant daughter.

"mommy doesn't have one," i reply with a smile.

"where's emma's at?" emma asks hoping to do the cool thing that dad is doing.

"i don't know sweetie...you don't have one," i reply again with an even bigger smile.

"watch emma try and put this on as soon as i leave," aaron remarks as he takes off his bandana.

he was right. partially. she asked for the bandana as soon as aaron left. but she couldn't find it, so i used a tea towel instead. she even completed the look by putting on her own "kacamata" (she only knows the indonesian word for glasses)...just like daddy.

i have to mention that i actually started crying at the end of this movie. can you imagine? crying over a skateboarding movie. but the end was sweet. i won't give it away. you'll have to watch it and see if you start tearing up at the end. maybe i'm just a sap.

throwing away a wedding memory

these were my wedding sandals. i got them because i knew i would be able to wear it time and again. they even traveled with me to indonesia last year. now they will be going in the trash.

as you can see, the left sandal was chewed up by one of our weekend house guests. a reaffirming reminder as to why i do not want to get a puppy.

on the bright side, i can get a new pair of shoes! these ones were starting to look pretty nasty anyway.

farm fresh produce

today's city fresh pick up included fresh green beans, a hot pepper, a zucchini, 2 bunches of baby bok choy, 1 onion, and about 1/2 lb. of red potatoes. no fruit this week, which was kind of a bummer. the blackberries from 2 weeks ago was an absolute hit. emma really liked to eat it out of the pint box, and i enjoyed throwing a few into my yogurt.

but i'm excited about the bok choy. i love bok choy. especially when i make homemade bakso.

thursday play group

our crew...back at the beach for some fun in the sun. there were actually waves on lake erie today. yes. waves on a lake. when you watch the video, the background noise are waves crashing. again, waves on a lake.

emma actually stepped off the beach blanket and walked on the sand. she even touched it with her fingers and dug around for a bit. right before she left, she ventured to the water and stood on the shore by herself. it wasn't exactly a great time for her to get wet, considering we were getting ready to leave. but i was so excited about her willingness to step on the sand, i didn't want to stifle it by preventing her from exploring the water too.

animal racism

although i am not a pitbull owner, i was fairly disappointed when i found out last night that the proposed pitbull ban in lakewood, oh passed. for a seemingly progressive city, they have taken huge steps in the wrong direction by allowing this legislation to pass. and this is only the beginning. ohio is considering a bill that will ban all pitbull breeds from the state!

i do not disagree with breed regulation, but a breed ban is merely a quick fix to the real problem: irresponsible owners. banning pitbulls will not stop dog fighting. banning pitbulls will not keep dangerous dogs from harming or killing other people. owners who use their pitbulls in illegal dogfighting will simply find another breed they can use to meet their needs. then the cycle begins again.

it does not make sense to me to ban a whole breed based on the actions of some. when a group of teenage boys attacks, and nearly kills an innocent man, do we then propose a ban on all teenage boys to solve the problem? when i was a young child, i was bitten by a german shepherd, resulting in a hospital visit and a painful rabies shot. i don't blame the dog for its unacceptable behavior, and i wouldn't think twice about owning a german shepherd myself. i blame the owner.

dogs, much like small children, live in the present. their reaction to a situation is merely a conditioned response. a dog who has been conditioned to react aggressively will become dangerous. a young child who is not consistently corrected for hitting other people, will soon learn that hitting is okay. as parents, we are responsible for teaching and training them to be positive, contributing members of society. as dog owners, we have to be responsible for our pets and be educated about our dog's breed. owning a dog, unlinke most other "house" pets, requires much more time, committment, and attention. a powerful breed, such as a an american pitbull terrier, should not be owned by an inexperienced or irresponsible person.

we MUST go to the root of the problem by holding irresponsible pitbull owners accountable for their actions. it may not be the most cost-effective method or easiest method, but it will provide the long-term results lawmakers are looking for.

if you reside in ohio, please consider siging this petition against the proposed Ohio House Bill 568, even if you're not a dog-lover or a pitbull fan. if you prefer to go directly to the source, contact Rep. Tyrone Yates of Cincinatti here.

on the verge of extinction

i discovered this rare specimen the other day by our local high school. i don't think i've seen one this close for a while.

free prize to whoever provides the most creative alternative use for this practically obsolete piece of technology.

please post your ideas in the comments section. this contest will end next monday 28 july at 12:00 p.m. est.

unlocking the secrets of vinegar

ever since i came across this website, i have used vinegar as an alternative, all-natural and low cost method for cleaning. a gallon jar of vinegar at the grocery store cost about $1.5-2 compared to a name brand all-purpose cleaner for $2.50 or more. vinegar is a great grease-cutter, a safe disinfectant, along with many other uses. i feel safe using it around my kids, and the best part is that i can allow emma to participate in the cleaning process without worrying about any harmful chemicals.

walk and roll lakewood

after tate's birthday party, we checked out the walk and roll event in lakewood (more shots on flickr). they closed off one of the main streets for people to walk or roll (i.e. bike, stroller, rollerblade, etc.). there were plenty of different booths, demonstrations and activities along the way such as a pilates demo, square dancing, bubble making, and an open mic at phoenix coffee. i personally tried out my hand (or i should say hips) at bellydancing during the bellydancing demo. i can't pass up a dancing opportunity.

one of the most interesting demonstrations tested the number of bikes it would take to pull a military hummer. the first demo was comprised of adults so it took about 8 cyclists. the second demo was made up of young teens (or i should say...tweens), so i imagine it would have taken more bikes.

with all that walking and rolling, we couldn't help but stop by the restaurant deemed one of the best sandwiches in america: the melt bar and grilled. fantastic food, fabulous ambience, creative grilled cheese compilations. once again, emma's friendly disposition is all it took for her to score some free goldfish crackers from one of the servers.

i think the best part of the walk and roll experience was the sense of community we felt with other people. running into a number of friends and acquaintances along the way certainly helped solidify that feeling of community. the next walk and roll will be in cleveland, which i'm sure will draw even more people. i can't wait to go.

birthday boy bash

bash is the operative word here. there was a pinata for the birthday boy and his friends that only a grown man could successfully break open. maybe we should have resorted to metal bats instead of plastic ones. but that's a massive accident waiting to happen.

happy 3rd birthday to our little friend, tate!

and more embroidery!

i embroidered this shirt for emma's friend, tate, who had his 3rd birthday party this week. we added a couple of toy trains and some sidewalk chalk, since most kids at that age find it difficult to get excited about receiving clothing as gifts. i think mom and dad will get more enjoyment out of the shirt than tate will.

beating the heat

emma and i headed down to the pool to cool off from the sweltering heat (please note that the use of "sweltering" is not meant as a complaint, but merely as a description of the weather). we stayed in the wading pool where the water was shallow enough for emma to walk around on her own. she was a bit apprehensive about going in, but by the end of our time there she didn't want to leave.

as we were leaving, she made some friends with 2 older girls (about ty's age or a bit older) who apparently could not get enough of her cuteness. and given emma's friendly disposition, she could not get enough of them talking with her. after one of the girls picked her up and hugged her, she wanted the other girl to carry her. then she made some more friends with a group of boys (maybe 9th or 10th graders) as we were getting in the car. the minute they initiated conversation with her, she lingered by them waiting for them to give her more attention. *sigh* what does this mean for us when she's a teenager??

rolling black outs

i thought those only existed in california. apparently they have made their way into my neighborhood too. we lost power for 3 hours last night for no reason at all except for maybe the weather being too hot. of course, the houses on the other side of the street did not lose any power. just our side. for 3 hours. every year since we've lived here, we loose power at least once a year. hmmm. i would have read, embroidered or done something more productive except that it was dark. so we sat out on the porch looking enviously at the houses across the street with their ambudance of electricity.

although, 3 hours is nothing compared to loosing power for 5 days during an ice storm, and eating grilled cheese and tomato soup cooked from a gas fireplace for almost a whole week.

more new embroidery

i finished this onesie today for our friend's new daugther: delainey mae. this is my first attempt at applique, and i think i'm hooked. it's so easy to cut out the shape and iron it on. this little project took me about 40 minutes to do from start to finish.

thursday play group

we had a great turn out at the beach today. emma is still NOT a fan of the sand, but enjoyed dipping her legs in as long as i was carrying her.

new embroidery

embroidered baby onesie for my little nephew ian diaz.

panhandling

despite her sweet countenance, she didn't make a dime.

it's like africa hot

the hot, humid weather didn't stop us from taking a leisurely walk around our hood this morning. we stopped by a little diner for lunch ($16 for the 3 of us...what a bargain!), checked out an antique store, and cooled off at an inkstop while aaron perused the digital camera options (work-related).



on the way home, we came across a fantastically named hair salon (the interior seems reminiscent of rudy's on the ave in seattle): crazy mullets supersalon. mullets. the next time i get a haircut, i'm going there.

















we also helped out a couple of young entrepreneurs selling lemonade on our street. emma never took her lips off the cup the rest of the way home.

rain dance

this past weekend, there was a huge downpour of rain while we were finishing our evening walk. but instead of rushing inside the house, emma wanted to stay outside. after convincing her to put on her rain coat, i let her run around and she gleefully danced, stomped and sang amidst all the little raindrops.

farewell friend!

yesterday, we parted ways with our friend zeus. although he is absolutely sweet, loving, and obedient to our family, there were certain behavior issues that led to the difficult decision of returning him to the previous owner. here are some parting photos of him.