Cuts.

We just cut 7 1/2 inches off Addie's hair over the weekend, and she loves it! We love it! The Little Miss no longer has her baby hair attached to her head, which makes me a bit sad. But oh she is so cute!

Speaking of cutting things off, I am taking a break here for the next week. The internet seems to be the #1 place to check into these days, but I am needing a mandatory diet for 1) to make sure my inspirations aren't coming strictly from a screen (the WEB'S image overload can be just that...overload!) and 2) to get some necessary projects done. With only 3 months left in my pregnancy, I have given myself some big deadlines so I can be free to mother my little one with as few distractions as possible.

So this week, there are new designs on the agenda, as well as some other less interesting but mandatory projects. But I will be back soon, hopefully with some pretty exciting updates! Spring designs are coming, and I think you will love them! So check back soon! My internet diet can't last too long...I absolutely love keeping in touch with you guys! So, farewell blog world...time for a brief vacation!

xoxo

sarah jane

The baker's wife.

I know I have mentioned before how in love I am with the fact that I have a gourmet chef for a husband. He calls himself the "Weekend Gourmet". Because really, it is the weekends that he has the time to just play. To him, cooking is completely a creative outlet. He'll study baking and cooking from cultures world wide, memorize the principles, and will never touch the recipes again. He will make up his own variations and never create the same thing twice. And often, his best cooking is when he just needs to take a break from the world and play in the kitchen. I really don't mind when he comes home stressed since it usually means something really yummy is coming!

This weekend there was Irish in his blood. With St. Pat's just around the corner, he whipped out 3 different kinds of Irish breads: raisin and lemon Irish soda bread, Brown Irish soda bread, and his own variation of Baps (an Irish breakfast role). Oh, and do I mention that he did this all in 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon?

I probably shouldn't mention that the photos don't even include the grilled salmon meal or the traditional Irish Corned beef and cabbage meal, both with all the trimmings of a gourmet night on the town. I am REALLY trying to get him to write down his recipes...maybe a little blog pressure will help?

oh yes, I love my life.

Feel free to nibble at the screen.

Happy Site Friday: Kiddie Records Weekly

Good old fashioned listening!

One of my favorite Date night activities with my husband is listening to old radio shows from the 40's online at Radio Lovers. We'll get out the popcorn and the tea, snuggle on the couch and listen to Abbot and Castello, Bob Hope and the Benny Goodman show.

I can remember the "old record days" just barely. My mom would put on a record, and we would follow a long in our books, turning out pages to the chimes. I can still here it. We'd dance along to the music...static sounds and all.

And just when I was getting all nostalgic, my husband led me to this site! Kiddie Records Weekly. Oh this is a treasure! With all the visual media out there for kids to choose from, there is very little listening going on. My kids LOVE listening to books on tape...and now...all the old classics from the 40's and 50's are available for free download! All you need to do is download it to itunes, stick these on your ipod and you have amazing car time with your kids! Or even better, snuggle on the couch with popcorn and blankets. Even better if you have the book to go with it...which maybe you do.

However you choose, enjoy! Good old fashioned family listening time is great for the soul. I highly recommend it! Happy weekend!

Excuse me.

We aren't getting much sleep around these parts...and it isn't from a newborn...yet. It is from children old enough to think waking up in the night and keeping their parents up for hours at a time is a rather fun passtime. I mean, I love my kids and all...but I may be taking a break from blogging till I get my brain back. In the mean time...have fun making wall art!

Make your own gallery: templates

Ok! Due to popular demand, you can now make your OWN art gallery. All you need to do is click on the links (don't click on the picture: too small), download the image and follow the instructions! Horray! Have so much fun...there are so many others you can make, but for those of you who prefer tracing, this should be a lot of fun!

Sparrow Template

Seal Template

Elephant Template

**EDIT: And yes, I am VERY aware that the bird template is a swallow, not a sparrow. This only goes to show the state of mind a mother can be in when she has her 2 toddlers crawling on her while doing art projects! I could go in and change this posted picture, but instead, let it stand as proof that I am mother and often make silly mistakes at the expense of just getting projects finished in time to please excited little ones!

Live Simply.

I found this via Modeco blog today. FREE DOWNLOAD among other great prints. Just download it, print it and hang it in your kitchen when your brain gets in over-drive. Live simply.

**And thanks for all your great comments about the wall art below! Speaking of FREE downloads...I will be posting the animal templates to my blog in the next bit so you can make your own art galleries. Be watching!

Making an art gallery.

We paint and make things a lot around these parts. I love watching my little artists have at it. But after a while, I started to wonder what in the world I was supposed to do with all their art pieces. Too many to save, but not any room to put them. There are plenty of ideas I have found about storing your children's art, but I really wanted to showcase it. Here is what we came up with.

We continued the art project by turning the art time into craft time. I drew basic animal shapes on a piece of paper, and cut them out to be a template. Then I placed them on the poster board (making sure to find the most interesting parts of the art) and cut then cut out around the paper template. (The bird print is actually a collage of the art paper, cut into random shapes, glued down on a paper, and then cut into a shape...very Eric Carle-ish.) The kids helped me glue the cut out animal shapes to white paper, place them in an IKEA frame, and VIOLA! Instant art. Pleasing for me and for the kids. I can't wait to make more!

**EDIT: And yes, I am VERY aware that the bird template is a swallow, not a sparrow. This only goes to show the state of mind a mother can be in when she has her 2 toddlers crawling on her while doing art projects! I could go in and change this posted picture, but instead, let it stand as proof that I am mother and often make silly mistakes at the expense of justgetting projects finished in time to please excited little ones!

Happy Site Friday: Amy Butler

I don't have a lot of pictures of flowers on my blog. I am realizing the lack of spring colors right now, and frankly, I am needing some spring color, so indulge me here. Spring flowers. Spring air. Spring greens. Oh...Spring...come quickly! In the mean time, Amy Butler is my fix right now. I am aching to bring freshness and color into my home right now...so enjoy the eye candy...and maybe, just maybe, Spring will come quicker than we think!

xoxo

Happy Friday Everyone!