thimbly things

I love seeing what Jhoanna has on her desk each week, and I know there are many other bloggers who do this too.  It must have come from kootoyoo, because that’s the link Jhoanna shares.  Anyway, I’m in.

On my desk today you’ll find:

• an apron that needs mending (I made this for a friend 1 1/2 years ago when I was just starting to sew.  I used fusible webbing to put on the pocket, and it has just started to fall off after several washings!  Now that’s a testament to fusible webbing if ever there was one.  What’s really funny is looking at just how awkward my sewing was.  It warms my heart to know that she really does wear the thing!)
• a quilt that needs mending (And I need advice on this one!  Please, if you know anything about fixing quilts, tell me!)
• a sheet that wants to be something
• the “home sweet home” embroidery I’ve been putting off
• cute teacup stickers

Also, I finally started painting the charging station I mentioned here.

B, a friend of ours who we haven’t seen in nearly a year, stopped in Tulsa over the weekend to liquidate her belongings. It had all been in storage for at least 9 months while she traveled throughout Europe. B decided to take a one month French immersion course this summer, and then I suppose she will go wherever the wind takes her.

Meanwhile, she more or less gave away everything she owned on Saturday. As a result, we got our very first dresser (yes, we are pushing 30 and have never had real bedroom furniture).  It’s beat-up, but I like it that way.

And we scored several small kitchen items, including lots of cookie cutters.

Not only is B a free spirit of sorts, but she is incredibly generous. I’m at a place in my life where I cannot be a free spirit per se. I have a family to take care of. But her generosity is convicting. She didn’t care at all about making a profit off her stuff. I actually felt uncomfortable–as though I was robbing her. Have I ever made anyone uncomfortable because of my generosity? I mean, that takes some skill.

B, we’ll miss you!  Hope your free spirit wanders back to Tulsa soon.

I hope I don’t bore you too much with this topic, but this is Evan’s birth announcement.  The picture was taken April 16, 1980.

And here is Jacob.

OK, I apologize for posting this multiple times.  But when I saw the birth announcement, it just furthered my suspicions that he is his daddy in baby form.  Evan Jr., my friend.

[Can you tell that posting every day is a little tough for me?  Every night at about 11, I jump off the couch and say, “Oh, shoot!  I haven’t posted yet!”  To which Evan brushes his teeth and goes to bed.  And then I’m up trying to figure out something worth sharing.  It stretches me a bit, but I don’t know if I’ll join in on this particular challenge in the future.  I say that now…]

In other news, I had a friend and her two little boys over this afternoon, and at some point I’ll have to share the video I took of Emily and the boys playing instruments together.  It was quite a riot, especially with the 12 month old be-bopping like a groupie.  He had the tambourine, but mostly he just danced.  And you can absolutely see the influence of Yo Gabba Gabba in these kids (mine included).  They all want to be drummers!  So one day when they are teenagers and decide to have a garage band, you can guess whose garage they won’t be in!  Well… neither of our garages if we have a say-so.

This used to hang on Evan’s wall when he was a kid. I really love the whale and turtle. And there’s ric-rac. Nice.

And here’s his layette, the quilt from his bed, and some wooden baby toys. (Mom D., were those wooden toys handmade? If so, who made them?) That sweater is so cute, I wonder if I couldn’t recreate one in my own size…? The quilt needs some mending, then it is destined for Emily’s big girl bed. Hopefully it will be ready when she’s ready–perhaps in a couple of months.

Thanks Bibi and Papa Joe for bringing such sweet memories. I already put the wallhanging in the nursery. Emily loves it. And she misses you guys!

Like I said before, we had a fantastic week with the fam. Here’s a meager list of stuff that rocked:

• Taking the ladies to the Quality Thrift Store (I’ll show you my new treasures later this week… And I haven’t forgotten that I promised to share some other thrifting finds a while ago. I will! I have my trusty blog to remind me.)
• Seeing Speed Racer with the siblings (I love this movie and don’t care what old fogey critics think! It’s pure fun. I especially love monkeys who wear little boys on their pajamas. Watch the music video and try to pretend you’re bored. I dare you. :) And here is Evan’s very very very positive review.)

• Getting some of Evan’s old things from when he was a kid, including an old birth announcement and a super-cute quilted wall hanging (I’ll share that later too.)
• Emily in the pool

• Emily calling her Uncle Collin “Tony.” There’s a story we’ll be telling when we’re 80… It started out sounding like “Collin” and quickly devolved (video footage to come)
• Praise reports such as Dad getting tenure and the family’s house selling
• Playing Mad Gab for the gazillionth time and Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture Edition for the fourth time
• Losing both games
• Beauty salon time with the ladies (new styles all around!)
• Jacob looking like an old man

• Enjoying The Office and Lost together while eating 3 kinds of ice cream and chocolate chip cookies
• Bibi making a dress for Em
• Just being together, if only for 4 days

And I can’t not mention this: Today, Jacob is one month old. I really can’t believe it! Has he already been with us that long??? What a sweetie. He seems to be moving to a 3-4 hour schedule too, which is a nice change. I’m pretty sure he slept for about 5 hours last night, so we’re getting closer to a full night’s sleep! Woo-hoo!!!

Oh dear! I didn’t post yesterday, and I’m barely making it today. Sorry folks! I guess I FAIL at Post a Day in May. To be honest, we’ve been very busy this week with family visiting. I tried to share some pretty pictures each day, but I just couldn’t get to the computer yesterday.

Since it’s already quite late, here’s a sweet picture of Emily and her Aunt Jillian (Evan’s sister).

Being with the family is always bittersweet because there just aren’t enough hours in the day… and not enough days of vacation. But we did have a fantastic time and did lots of fun things… And I will post more about those things tomorrow!

Happy Friday!