Twinkle Toes Bowtique

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother’s Day

A Newborn's Conversation with God

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

God said, "You will simply call her, ‘Mom.’"

Our first Mother’s Day together 2008:

Our second Mother’s Day together 2009:

Our third Mother’s Day together 2010:

Thank you to my sweet girl for making me a mom! I am so proud to be your mama!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Sick as a dog - good thing my friends are creative.

I’ve been battling the mother of all sinus infections this week. I mean to tell ya, this one has been wicked. Per my normal I’m- not-sick-it’s-just-allergies denial, and 5 days of misery, I finally broke down and went to the doctor. I am on the mend, thanks to my wonderful doc and to this:

I owe an apology to my friends that I made fun of for using the Neti Pot. And, to the Neti Pot, my sinus cavity thanks you.

Remember my friend from NYC?

Look, there she is when she was in the cast of RENT. I totally swiped this picture off of her Facebook page. Anyways, not only does she have amazing talent in dancing, acting and vocal performance, but girlfriend can get her craft on, too.

When her baby girl was born last summer, I embroidered her name onto the front of a tiny little onesie and sent it to her in the Big Apple. You know I am all about the personalized baby stuff. And the Big Apple.

Just last week, I received an email from my friend with this picture:

She said, “Since Grace no longer fits in the onesie, and it is one of my favorite things, I framed it and now it hangs on her bedroom wall. Thought you would get a kick out of that!”

Girl, I am getting more than a kick out of this! I’m doing a back flap, heel drop, barrel roll, jazz hands, Shuffle Off To Buffalo over this one!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

London Calling!

This guy has been traveling a lot lately.

(But not in a tux and boutonniere.)

I mentioned before that Shawn had been away, but what I didn’t mention was that he was in London for what was supposed to be a 5 day trip. The day that he was to leave to come home, a volcanic eruption in Iceland sent a huge cloud of ash over most of Europe, closing nearly every airport. He called and said that his flight was cancelled, but we figured it would only be for a day or so. As much as he travels, we are used to delays and flight cancellations. We didn’t imagine that it would be for 8 days!

If you’re going to be stuck in London, you may as well make the best of it, right? That’s exactly what Shawn did. It is not often in his travels that he actually gets to do anything besides work. He finally got to go on a Jack The Ripper Tour, which he has wanted to do every time he has been to London, but never had the chance. I know what you're thinking. Not my cup of tea, either.

Shawn and I visited London together a few years ago. And I’m pretty sure I vetoed the Jack the Ripper Tour.

He started sending me lots of pictures of things we had seen and done when we were there together, along with a text message that said, “On a boat ride down the Thames. Very romantic. Just me and my Blackberry.” He’s funny, no?

He spent the next several days visiting Parliament and Big Ben:

Hanging out at Picadilly Circus:

And checking out the guards at Buckingham Palace.

We both agreed that we’d be more likely to take seriously a British guard than a Swiss guard. See what I mean?

The following days brought more and more cancelled flights, and more uncertainty as to when he would come home. Nearly all of Europe’s airports remained closed. Many people were asking why he didn’t take the train to another city whose airports were opened. First of all, the trains were booked, and if he did make it to another city, their airports were back logged, so he would have ended up waiting there anyways. And, since he had a hotel room in London, he did not want to give it up, as rooms were hard to come by. I sensed that Shawn was getting restless. This text message and accompanying photo confirmed it:

“Saw this in a store window and thought you would like it.”

You know your husband is bored when Burberry catches his attention. And he photographs it.

Next was this - a photo of a statue of George Washington that is set on dirt imported from the United States. The subject of the email:

“Anything to feel like home.”

Even though this doesn’t exactly qualify as one of these, I knew that he was chuckling when he sent me this:

At one point, Shawn’s company had discussed with him the possibility of getting him on a cruise ship to bring him home. The bad news was that it would be another 9 days until that would happen. Plus, he only had enough clothes with him for 5 days of business meetings, and quite honestly, I don’t think he was up for the festivities of a cruise ship. Finally, on the fourteenth day that he had been gone, I received this photo and message:

“Saying goodbye to London! Confirmed flight for tomorrow!”

And then, this one:

“More amazing than coming home is the size of this can of Coke. I’ll need six.”

And finally:

“Boarding!”

Once I knew he was en route, I started planning for his arrival:

(Check out my little helper.)

I told Hannah that we were going to surprise Daddy with the balloons and signs in the yard. She kept hiding behind the sign and then peaking around and yelling, “Surprise!”

Welcome home, Shawn! We love you!

Friday, April 30, 2010

He’s All That

He's a man's man, my husband is.

He likes steak and buffalo wings.

He likes action movies in surround sound.

With the volume all. the. way. up.

He rides a Harley.

And sometimes I ride with him. (But only sometimes.)

He's been skydiving.

And driven on the Autobahn.

He camps in the wilderness and sleeps under the stars.

He likes Sports Center. He wants to be Bear Grylls.

He's an Eagle Scout and an Engineer. He was a Valedictorian.

He loves technology and gadgets,

Although not a fan of Facebook or Twitter.

He's an ace at home improvement projects.

He's fascinated by the NYC Subway.

And likes heroic war stories.

But.

He has a softer side.

He appreciates other cultures and customs and ethnic food.

He straightens up the house every night before he comes to bed.

He's gentle and quiet.

He’s particular about his hair products.

He's been known to carry a "man bag."

And he doesn't care what anyone thinks.

He's a great husband, father and provider.

He loves his family, friends and the Lord.

He's a leader and a gentleman.

He's been my coach, my teammate and my cheering section.

And, he's my best friend.

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband! I love you!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Two And A Half

Dear Hannah,
Today you are 2 1/2 years old. It feels like just yesterday you looked like this:

And now you are such a grown up little lady:

So, what are you up to these days?
You are tiny, weighing around 28 pounds. But, you are tall – in the 75th percentile for height.
You love to talk. If you are awake, you are probably talking. You tell us stories and we have real conversations with you. You say some of the funniest things I have ever heard!
You are daytime potty trained, but still wear a diaper or Pull-Up at night. You love your big girl pants and you call them “panty pants.” About 20 times a day, you tell me that your panty pants are still dry. You are so proud to use the potty like a big girl.
Some of your favorite toys are your blocks, tea set, dishes and grocery cart. You also love to color and do crafts. We recently moved your art desk near my sewing machine and you love to color and paint while I sew. You still love “Doggie” and take him everywhere with you.

You go to bed around 8:30 and sleep until 7:30-8:00 each morning. You take a nap from 1:00 until about 3 or 3:30 each day.
You’ve recently developed a love of singing. Your favorite song is “The Wheels on the Bus” and you always ask to sing it together. You’re also a big fan of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”
You have been taking tap dance for a few months and you love your teachers. You talk about tap class all the time, but sometimes you still want me to sit in the back of the classroom instead of in the waiting room.
You love Mexican food, especially chips and salsa. I think that you could eat it everyday. You take after me for sure! You do not care for Chinese food, green peppers or asparagus. You do really well with a fork and spoon, but are still quite messy when you eat.
Your hair is getting more and more curly. When it gets wet, it just curls up into the sweetest little ringlets. I put spray-in conditioner in it everyday. Even though you don’t care for getting your hair combed or blow dried, you love to wear bows.
You have an occasional “time-out,” mostly for doing things that you know you shouldn’t. I hate giving you time outs, but I know that it is my job to teach you right from wrong. One particular incident that I will never forget: You did something that you knew was against the rules. I told you to go to the time out chair and you went without objection. When I went to get you a few minutes later, you said, “Let’s talk about this. Do you forgive me?”
You are so sweet when you say your prayers at night. It always makes me smile when you say, “Thank you Jesus for my mommy and daddy.” I have had to hold back laughter when you thanked Jesus for your bows, and airplanes and doctors. When Demi (grandma) was in the hospital recently, you asked Jesus to “make Demi better.”
I can’t believe that in another 2 1/2 years you will be 5. As each stage and milestone comes and goes, I am always a little sad, but so excited for what is to come. We love you more than you will ever know!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Blog Swap: A Little Knick Knack

Welcome to my first ever blog swap! Meg has an awesome blog - you must check it out. She's crafty and witty and has some great projects, especially for kids. We decided to swap blogs for the day and it has been ever so much fun. Check out this project she came up with to frame photos. Is she creative or what? When you're finished, hop on over to her blog and check out my tutorial for a little summer dress.
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First, let me introduce myself. I am Meg from A Little Knick Knack. I've had my little blog since the beginning of the year and can I just say, it is the most fun ever! I have had a blast sharing projects, meeting new people in the blog world and just generally being amazed by all the wonderful talent I see when I have time to peruse online. Right now, I'm a stay-at-home-mom with my three kids, ages 4, 3, and 2! My daughter is in preschool and the other two kids just stay at home and play with me. It's a busy life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Along those lines, I wanted to share this fun way to share your pictures of your family and loved ones.

First, find an old piece of wood, size is really not important. I used some old wood from a project my husband was doing outside.

Next, I spray painted a coat with my heirloom white, by Rustoleum. That stuff's great! I didn't worry about getting a good solid coat on, because I knew I was going to sand it down for a worn finish.

After the paint dries, use a rough-grained sand paper to sand the edges until the original wood shows through. I like to do the edges and corners really well and then do a light sand over the surface of the wood.

After that is done, and you've wiped off the excess for a smooth finish, find some material. I used these awesome cocktail napkins I won from a give away on Finding Fabulous (which is an amazing blog, by the way--check it out!). Since I'm not a drinker and the napkins were just too fancy for my everyday use, I decided to use them for this project.

Now, grab your Mod Podge and glue those suckers on your board. I used a liberal amount of glue and used my fingers to smooth out the bubbles. After that layer dries (it doesn't take very long, about an hour), apply another layer of Mod Podge to the top of the material, again using your fingers to smooth over the top.

While that is drying, pick out some lovely pics from your printer (I like my tones in sepia, but you can do color or black and white, whatever you love!) and print them on regular printer paper.

I used some of my distressing ink to distress the pictures and then...

.I crumpled them up into tiny little balls! I know, I know! But, trust me, it's a fun look after you un-crumple and smooth them out. I wanted a kind of worn, distressed look.

Once the fabric is dry, position your pictures on your board and use the Mod Podge to glue them on the fabric. Again, wait for it to dry and apply another layer of the glue to the top of the picture.

Once all the glue is dry, use any technique you enjoy to add a more aged look to your wood. I like to use the Ralph Lauren Faux Technique Glaze in smoke. A lot of things will get you this same look, though....wood stain, watered-down acrylic paint....don't be afraid to use your imagination!

I simply used a dry towel to rub the glaze over the edges an across the fabric (I avoided the pictures) and then used another towel to wipe off the excess. The resulting look is a great way to age the wood!

I added a little leather tie to the middle of the board for some interest. Now, my board is very thick, so I simply set it up on its side to display. But, if my board were thin, I would definitely use a picture hook to display on the wall.

My lovely picture board is currently displayed on our mantle. It was a fun and cheap project and I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for checking out our blog swap and I hope to see you over at A Little Knick Knack soon! Thanks again, Tina, for this opportunity and I'm so happy we found each other to host this little swap!