Lush Makeup Bag

This is my first project out of "Sewing 101" a beginner's sewing book I purchased at Half-Price Books. The flower is hand sewen on, and the lining is also hand stitched into the bag. Everything else was done with my sewing machine. This is the first project I have done with a zipper! If you sew, you know that zippers can be challenging and intimidating, especially for a beginner.

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Northwest Trek & Sewing

Timo and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary this last weekend. As part of our 4-day weekend celebration, we took the boys to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park for the afternoon. Here we are riding the tram checking out all the free roaming wildlife (mostly hoof animals). Dario really isn't that fat, he is just leaning back in my lap so he looks like he has a huge double chin.

This guy was NOT in the free roaming area, he was in one of the "caged" areas (like at the zoo). It is really nice because the animals here have a lot of space, even when they are in a closed off area.I took a beginning sewing class on Tuesday night, designed to help familiarize us with our sewing machines and learn how to use them, and explore different stitches available on our machines. I finished this denim pillow last night. Timo thinks it looks like the Matrix. I used a varigated embroidery thread (on a spool) to create this look. My sewing machine has alot more decorative stitches than I thought it did! This was a great project for me to do to see all what my sewing machine can do.
I am really enjoying getting into sewing, it is a fun release and I feel closer to my mom when I sew. She never taught me to sew, but she did sew when I was very little, and my sewing machine was a gift from her for my bridal shower. It's funny, I was talking to my sister-in-law (my brother's wife) earlier this week about sewing, and she said I used to make barbie clothes on my mom's sewing machine when I was young, and that is why my mom bought me my own sewing machine when I got married. I really miss my mom a lot. Sewing is also a great way for me to become closer to my mother-in-law, who is my on-call sewing expert. Keep your eyes peeled for more sewing projects to come.

I don't remember if I posted about the tag blanket I made for Dario, but here's a picture of it. I did this about a month ago.

He loves to chew on a tag that is on his blanket, so I thought he might enjoy a tag blanket. He basically ignores it! But, it was fun to make and maybe he will fall in love with it soon. I'm thinking maybe the tags are too large, but he does like to stick his finger through the tags and swing it around sometimes.

On a comletely unrelated note, I have my first mental health appointment today. I finally decided to see a counselor about the depression I have been experiencing and help dealing with the grief of losing a parent and having another parent with a terminal illness. I'll try to post later with how that goes. Please pray for me.

Kids & Birds

I decided to blow up the boys' little pool, because I bought some ball-pit balls at the store, and I wanted to make them a little ball pit in their pool. Well, I haven't gotten around to putting the balls in the pool yet, because the boys enjoy playing in the dry pool so much just by itself! I can't believe this treasure of fun has been sitting in the closet all year. I just wonder how long it will last before they (or the cat) pop it. Until then, let the fun continue! The boys are climbing a lot now - on the futon, all the chairs, into the rocking chair, etc. They enjoy sitting in mama's rocking chair with books like big boys.
So, over the last month or so a smallish bird had been spending a lot of time on our patio. A few times I noticed it was sitting in my fuschia plant I had bought myself for mother's day. One day, I went out to water the plant, and the bird flew out - and I looked in - to find a nest and three little speckled bluish eggs! I called my friend MC who is a bird expert (in my opinion) and she said the bird was a junco. It takes 12-13 days for the eggs to hatch, and then about 9-12 days for the birds to "fledge" meaning leave the nest. After that, she said to remove the nest and hopefully they will go find a new home. I have had to be very careful about watering my plant, lightly around the edges, as to not disturb the eggs or birdies. Two or three days ago, I heard birds twittering and going crazy on the back porch - the baby birds had hatched! I don't have any pictures yet of the babies, but they are really cute and alien looking. I have never seen just born baby birds before. So cute! So I went out and bought a few bird feeders and different wild bird seed, to keep the adults happy and fed, and also because my cat is LOVING watching all the bird activity out our sliding glass door.
I believe this is the male - I got a picture of him today sitting on our patio furniture. It's so cute, he will come back with a bunch of wiggly little grubs in his beak to feed his little babies. What a dedicated daddy! It is crazy how much I have gotten attached to these silly little birds. I just hope my plant doesn't die in the meantime!

Here's a little video of the boys for your viewing pleasure.

Dario Sings

I was lucky enough to catch Dario on video playing the piano and singing. He started doing this all on his own, unprompted. Kids can be really cool and amazing.

Boys on the Futon

Both of my boys are now climbing up onto the futon by themselves. Dario has been able to do this for about a week or two, but now Ray is climbing up too. He has been seeing brother climbing up all week, and has been so jealous wanting to climb up himself. I finally decided to start helping him (a little) getting up onto the couch, and now he's figured out how to do it by himself. My cute, cute, adventurous boys.