kidding around

First off, thanks for all the shop love and congratulations! It was fun to hear from a lot of readers. I consider having 3 of 4 items sold a smashing success. Obviously I am thrilled and grateful for my interested customers. I’ll be stocking the shop in about 4weeks and will add a few other fun goodies.

Right now, I am anxious to make Penelope a few birthday gifts and some Spring sewing as well. I do believe Spring is around the corner- at least that is what I have committed in my mind to trust.

Anyway, this week was fun with my sister visiting and no school for the kids. I sure do like the change in routine and the extra hour of sleep that vacation brings! Can you believe that these cute shots are 2 of the only 5 photos I took this entire week? I should be ashamed of myself.

Hey everyone, look who has a shop!

Drop in and take a look.

A trip to the city was a thrill for the Shackelford family. It was just what we needed- a day away from the everyday and a reminder that we live near one of the coolest cities in the country. One of the greatest gems, in my opinion, is the Art Institute of Chicago. It is full of famous art that I doubt is taken for granted, given the crowds we endured on Saturday.

A train ride was fun for the kids- a little long, a car ride would be much faster, but the gas we saved was worth the time. Plus, arriving at the station and being apart of the bustle is so fun and something I want my kids to experience.

As always, it’s fun to discuss art with children. This has always been a long time interest of mine and my kids did not disappoint. Especially when they were questioning a lot of the Modern Art. My husband and I explained the art processes of most artists and showed them specific examples of our explanations…I think we got through! Since Nathan is an art teacher and brings his students to the museum fairly regularly he was also our personal GPS system- perfect.

Of course looking at the many antiquities always blows me away. The kids picked up on my enthusiasm- hurrah.

A trip to nearby Millenium Park was also a treat. Simon was smittened by “Cloud Gate” the famous sculpture that so many love to visit and photograph.

Guess what I learned?

Family outings are so much easier now! No more strollers, diapers, diaper bag, nursing baby, stash of snacks/sippy cups or…here’s the big one…a napping child that needs to take a nap or a meltdown will surely ruin the day! Yes!

I realized that this has been my life for 9.5 years and it is so nice to be in a different stage. Sure, I liked that time and now I am dealing with bickering kids, rolling of the eyes and general sassiness…I think I’m ready!

Yesterday was the first day of Spring Break. We are one of the lucky ones and sticking around the house for the week (I swear more people LEAVE than stay). I don’t blame people for leaving, the winter we have had is making me seriously consider that Spring will be non-existent.

So although some VERY UNWELCOMED activity was occurring yesterday OUTSIDE, I decided to bake it up.

It was good therapy. Did I mention that sugar has been off my list as a major food group? I gave in- it was either impulsively booking tickets to Mexico or a slice of cake to get me out of my state of mind.

By the way, my little etsy shop will open next week. All my “dots” are complete, there are some photography issues being worked on…so check here and I’ll give the heads up. Sorry for all the unbroken promises…it’s kind of like the weather. It says SPRING on the calendar, but man, I have to remind myself we are celebrating Easter on Sunday and not Thanksgiving.

I’m not much of a “gala” event goer (who is?), but I did want to support my kids’ school. So when a note came home a few weeks ago asking for basket donations, I started thinking what I could contribute.

Since I have been in the world of “table dots” lately, I decided making an extra would be perfect. I also included a handmade banner and was pleased to raid my wool felt and scraps of some of my favorite fabric.

Of course, a birthday is not complete without a cake. So a “Barefoot Contessa” country cake mix (they are good!) was included along with plates, napkins, streamers, mixing bowl, wooden spoons, and balloons. Man, donating something like this was fun…

The not so fun part was ripping out the edging last night at 9:30. The perfectionist in me (I do have a bit!) could not stand how the fabric was getting all “wavy” once I sewed the 2 circle pieces together. I knew that I had not paid much attention to how taut the fabric was…to my dismay I ripped 2 lines of stitches (I thought the double stitch looked cute, heh.). I was so angry I couldn’t even watch TV or talk to my husband.

Whew. I was glad that after I fixed my problem, the “dot” was to my satisfaction.

Unfortunately, this was a huge set back and my etsy shop will not open until next mid-week some time. This is supposed to be fun, right? So I am keeping with the fun and not stressing out…I mean it’s not like people will be banging down my doors…literally!

Thanks for all of the really nice comments lately! I really appreciate every one that is made…I love it and am not so good at responding…please know it makes my day!

Here’s a peek at what I have been working on. My goal is to have a store opening next Monday, March 17th.

Look for table dots, 4 in total…all made by me and all adored by me too.

In anticipation for Summer and many, many swimming/sprinkler days, my little Pep got her haircut.

Is she disappointed? Yes and No.

She wanted to go shorter!