paper bag gift wrap

i had a go at making this the other day. 

very easy, simple and satisfying. 

if only i had some polka dot paper lying around. 

super cuteness. 

find the instructions here.

oh and by the way...

with no formal announcement having been made....

let it be known that there is another wee one cooking 

inside of me due to be born this june. 

you could say ruby is pretty excited and is pretty positive 

its a girl, or twins. declan on the other hand just says 'yeah!'

yeah yeah, what ruby said.

some pretty awesome questions have hit the table lately:

'what is the baby going to eat? just milk?

 not the kind from the store?'

'is your baby going to fall in the toilet when it comes out 

(followed with much concern and worry)?'

'if the baby is a girl, can she sleep in my bed?'

And as for the above photos, i dont have any swell shots 

of myself yet, but i look about 6 months so watch out for this one.

the photos above are of our very exciting laundry mat day...

we could barely squeeze into the car and at one point i almost fell

out of the car trying to get to the kids. 

i do highly suggest the laundry mat. done in one and a half hours, 

instead of all day. something like 12 loads i think. good times!

family photos.

so we recently got together with pete and emily 

to take eachothers family photos. 

 i was pretty pumped with the results. 

im thinking maybe some kids pics with cousins for their room.

so in case i slack on getting a card out, here is a wee taste. 

there are like 5 million other to share. 

cheers to the jolliest of seasons. 

its officially cold here!!

{all photos taken by the talented emily}

happy birthday declan!

 the big no. 2 

was shared by lots of wonderful family. 

nothing like the joy of turning two

and being surrounded by cousins, 

love, presents, cake, and cheer!

Thank you all for coming...it was perfect!

saturday morning walk.

we had this really perfectly cold, cozy and incredibly long walk 

to the market a couple of saturdays ago. 

the lighting was just so lovely and so i snapped some fun photos.

it was nice to just take our time and let the kids just be for a bit. 

very much enjoyed by all. 

this is indeed the best time of year in phoenix for long walks!

halloween.

 halloween was pretty lovely this year...gorgeous weather

and lots of fun. we attempted some pumpkin carving, 

which basically was more like drawing all over pumkins

with black markers and then carving it out really quickly.

 Ruby was "Annie" and played the part gloriously

as she does most days.

and Declan was a leprechaun who refused to wear his 

giant hat. how about that beard painted by Ed?

pretty awesome. 

he really didnt want any photos taken. oops. 

and he was all too into trick or treating. 

once he saw his house at the end of the trip

 he cried and wouldnt come home. 

apparently the idea of going to doors for candy  

was just too good to be true the the little lad.

hope you had a happy halloween! 

capes for christmas.

ive been meaning to post this for a bit

as i've been thinking seriously about making

one of these and i thought sara (ahem...therese)

might enjoy a circle skirt spiced up for the 

holidays. looks pretty easy right?

find the tutorial here

super heroes.

 some pretty fancy stuff going on here. 

let me tell you.

ruby was overlooking my martha stewart 

magazine and spotted these super heroes

for halloween, which led to some spontaneous

capes, and many a damsel in distress being 

rescued by some very cute little heroes.

 some intense consulting going on here.

so behind.

 so ive been a pretty horrible slacker when it comes 

to blogging...or more precisely being online in general.

i just usually feel like i can always find something better 

to do...dishes, picking up, sleeping, soaking up my kids, 

reoganizing, sewing, and the list goes on. 

so on that note, a little while back i really felt inspired 

to buy some patterns and make girlie dresses...

working up to maybe making myself another dress 

(we'll see shall we).

so ruby helped me to pick out the pattern and fabric

which was half of the fun. 

we ended up with this 'annie' dress

which i am just happy she likes to wear,

b/c there is nothing worse than all that work and effort

and the honesty of a 3 yr old not really liking it. 

so here a some fun pics to share of one of our downtown 

adventures recently. a trip to the market for a few things.

and a surprise pink apple. 

quelle surprise!

oh, and for some reason the water was still on.

oh yeah, it was still kind of hot.

so declan had no problem getting totally soaked.

that crazy guy.

great show.

always a great show around here.

i do have some funny lively kids for sure.

they keep me laughing, 

and exhausted. 

could not ask for more. maybe just a little 

less sometimes. heheehee.

a day out.

finally.

we ventured out last friday night 

to the train...got some coffee/beer 

and a quick pizza which is now 

being sold at pane bianco. 

crazy...you can now get those hard

to attain pizzas to go and cozy up with 

them at home. too good.

but boy was it nice to get out and walk.

it has been too long. praise the Lord

for a change in weather!