This past summer, every time I left or entered the house, I would see this scraggly plant growing along the edge of the cement and think to myself, " I have GOT to pull that weed out of there."

 But I was always in the middle of going or coming and would put it off.  Then one day, something that looked a little like this opened on this scraggly 'weed'.

I realized that what I had thought was a weed, something to be pulled up and discarded from my life, was really a beautiful flower, just waiting to cheer my heart and lift my spirits, and I realized too, that this is the way of life.  If I can just wait long enough, some of the 'weeds' in my life will eventually bloom, to gladden my heart and beautify my soul.

And so I wait.  Most, if not all who will read this post, know of our family tragedy this past spring, and that life has not stopped throwing 'weeds' at us since.  And though I know that I will have to wait a lifetime, I know that these 'weeds' will eventually bloom into the beautiful flowers they really are.

Devil of a Red Dress

This is Munchkinette's dress.  I came across the fabric in the form of an awful, outdated skirt, but loved the color and print, and imagined this dress.
As far as frugality goes, not so much.  I guess it wasn't too bad, but I did have to buy the zipper, the ribbon, and thread.  Pretty much everything but the fabric.  I had bought the pattern (Simplicity, Sew Easy 2675) awhile back at a Black Friday sale, super cheap.  So it could have been more frugal, but it wasn't bad.

Probably the greatest domestic engineering came in the learning process.  I still consider myself a novice at the sewing machine, and I had to stretch my skills with the zipper, the bodice darts, everything.  Add in the clumsiness of my fingers, and the awful nature of the fabric (slippery, prone to fray, won't take a crease when ironed) and it was a challenge.  You can see examples of less than stellar skills on the bodice, where it doesn't lie perfectly flat, and the button is on the back to hide the fact that the ribbon running around the bodice doesn't match up (because the bodice on one side of the zipper is shorter than the other side).

But we like it, don't we Munchkinette?  And how can you go wrong with such a great model!

We have fun at our house!

 
Our daddy LOVES to take pictures.  He's the one who takes the good pictures on this site, and he's practicing portraits.  So what better subjects than our crew?

We got everyone dressed up for a portrait shoot, which was great because I'd been needing some pictures for some posts, and some projects.

Munchkinette loves to model

'Sup Dude?

All smiles from our Little Angel

I love Brother, he loves me!

We love Sister, yes indeed!

She loves us and so you see, We are a Happy Family!

Little Angel

Little Angel is our baby girl.  She's ten months old and into everything.  

I like to say you can tell our house has a crawler living here, because all our trashcans are on tables.

Waving 'Bye-Bye' is a fun new skill.  We first saw it during this photo shoot.  So cute!

The first tooth peeked out earlier this week.  We've been waiting for it for months.

 

And one more bye-bye to make mommy and daddy gush!

You might be a . . .

If:
You've ever moved in front of a stream of vomit, because it's easier to change your clothes than clean the carpet.
You pick others' noses because their boogers are driving you crazy.
You have ever found boxes of pee in a bedroom.
You cannot take a shower in peace.
You can't remember the last time you had an entire night's sleep.
You sniff bums.
You have ever washed out small, poopy undies in a public toilet.
You get 'dressed up' when the Elders come for dinner, and that means brushing your hair and changing out of your sweats.
You are fluent in several foreign languages, one for each toddler.
People don't recognize you without your 'satellites'.

Yes, these are all true stories.  Anyone else care to share?

This is Brother Bear

He's five, and very particular about what he eats.  Pretty much anything with non-smooth texture is out of the question, and don't even think about fruits or veggies.  Which is why I'm floored that I just got away with something.

I buy bananas, thinking we'll eat them.  We don't.  They get overripe, and because I'm a frugalista, I toss them in the freezer (I have learned that peeling them and then putting them in a freezer bag is the way to go, trying to peel frozen bananas is no fun).  So, what does one do with frozen bananas?  Smoothies.  Two bananas, some milk, and the blender creates a frozen treat.  You can add whatever you have for flavoring; I just did sugar and vanilla (too much of both, for my own future reference). 

Munchkinette had said she wanted some, Brother Bear said no, as I expected, but then he started giving me input about what he wanted in it.  I put a couple drops of food coloring in each of their cups for the color of their choice, and they both downed it.  Brother Bear voluntarily swallowed a serving of banana.  I'm still in shock.

Meet Munchkinette

This is Munchkinette.  She's three.  I think she looks older in this picture; turns out she's pretty good at posing for portraits.  She also likes to take pictures:  here's a self-portrait

She is simultaneously the greatest challenger to family peace, and one of the greatest sources of joy in our home.

One day last week she was begging to go to the 'fwimmin pool'.  The one she was talking about is an outdoor pool, three hours away.  I told her it was too cold, and she replied, "I will put on a toat!"  Brilliant.