pinning

ALSO, i started pinning.

my username is emily sparks

come follow me and i will follow you. deal?

scenes from the weekend

 we had friends over for dinner on friday. i made this and this and this for dinner. we turned the leftover lettuce, beans, guac, pico and shredded chicken into a salad for sunday dinner. i LOVE meals that can be easily used twice. 

and i made delicious (not trying to brag, but they were SO good) chocolate cupcakes with fresh raspberry buttercream.

RASPBERRY BUTTER CREAM FROSTING

3 sticks of butter (did i mention it's a buttercream recipe?)

3/4 c. fresh raspberries

blend the above 2 ingredients until light and fluffy

add:

2T heavy whipping cream

1 lb powdered sugar...i actually put 1lb minus 1/2 cup

whip up some more and eat! mmm!

  

penelope spent a lot of time in her slippers that i knitted her and her snow hat. 

did i mention that she is dressing herself? so...her shirt is ALWAYS on backwards and inside out and she usually goes for a skirt or dress that can "spin."

 

 

isla was just fun to watch.

 the making for the queen bee market commenced. oh boy!

 

 i wore my new sandles and took a picture of me in my bathroom

 and bryan played his submarine computer game. note the snow hat...

 we spent most of our weekend relaxing and having good family time. happy face. i did go have one last girls night with tira before she moved out of my life to boston. sad face.

newborn photographs

some sweet newborn shots mariah took of little isla may when she was 2 weeks old.

love them!

love her!

isla booties free pattern

here is a free crocheted booties pattern just for you :)! i know i don't post many of my patterns on the blog. i will try to do more free patterns, but things are just happening so slowly, that i do not know when that will happen.

i hope you enjoy these cute mary jane style booties.

*IMPORTANT: THIS PATTERN IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY! THANK YOU.

isla booties
newborn size


5mm hook
(and a 3.75 mm hook if you chose to crochet your ties)
Worsted weight yarn


Sole:
Ch 11
Rd1- put 2 hdc in 2nd ch from hook, 1 hdc in each of the next 8 ch, put 5 hdc in the last ch, (work along the back side of chains) put 1 hdc in each of the next 8 ch, put 3 more hdc in the last ch, sl st to the first hdc (there will now be 5 hdc in each end.) 26 hdc


Rd2- ch 2 (counts as first hdc,) put 2 hdc in the next hdc, put one hdc in each of the next 8 hdc, put 2 hdc in each of the next 5 hdc, put 1 hdc in each of the next 8 hdc, put 2 hdc in next hdc, put 1 hdc each of the next 2 hdc, sl st to ch2. 33 hdc


Bootie
Rnd 3- (work in back loops) put 1 hdc in each hdc around, sl st to first hdc.


Rnd 4- ch2, put 1hdc in each of the next 10 hdc, dc in each of the next 2 hdc, dc2tog 4 times, dc in each of the next 2 hdc, hdc in each of the next 8 hdc, sl st to ch 2.


Rnd 5- ch2, hdc in each of the next 10 hdc, dc2tog, dc4tog (work next st as though you are going to dc, but don't pull through the last time. Repeat this 3 more times and then pull through all 5 loops on hook.) dc2tog, hdc in each of the next 8 hdc, connect to ch 2 w/ sl st, weave in ends.


Back
Find the middle of the back of the bootie by folding it in half, count up 7 stitches and reattach your yarn there.


Row 1: ch 2, hdc in the next hdc, *ch 1, skip 1 hdc and put 1 hdc in each of the next 2 hdc* repeat from * to * 3 times.


Row2: ch 2, hdc in each of the next 13 stitches, sl st, weave in ends.


Make 2 ties by ch 72, turn and put one sl st in ea ch across


or make 2 17" ties out of ribbon or some other material


weave ties through the holes made in row 1 of the back of each bootie.

welcome summer

it's the first day of summer and we are soaking up the wonderful san diego weather. we have many more beach days, pool visits, swim lessons, craft projects, picnics, visitors and lazy days before the summer is over and i am so excited about it!

 chilling poolside

half smile- i almost caught her in fully smiling, but i was too slow!

copying her lil' sister's half-smile.

love him

photo by mariah

i know this is a day late, but i wanted to give a shout out to my amazing husband. he is the best dad. both of our girls love him in their own way... isla ALWAYS turns her head to look when he is talking and penelope uses him for her cartoon watching personal jungle gym.

bryan, life is so much better with you in it! 

a hiking we will go

we went on a short hike with the girls last saturday. it was a beautiful day and it was good to get a little exercise. we went in a canyon that is near our home, it was a good trail and close enough that the hike didn't take over our whole saturday. i tried to keep my eyes out for over sized bugs so that i could dodge them, while bryan was doing the same so that he could pick them up and dangle them in front of penelope. it was a good time. 

one month

isla is 1 month old. pow! can you believe it?!?

i know i am a tad behind (this is now the theme to my life these days) but i wanted to show you my one month old.

 our sweet girl:

is in the 75th percentile in weight

is in the 90th percentile in height

eats every 2-3 hrs

wakes up 2 times a night

is a night owl...

loves her tongue

won't take a pacifier 

hates it when lotion is applied...she screams like we are poking her with needles

has the cutest chubby thighs

can hold her head up 

likes being on her tummy

has more booties than one little girl could ever use

has blue eyes

has totally won over our hearts

thank you notes

here's a fun project for anyone needing notecards...or thank you cards like i did. at Micheal's i found packs of 8 cards for $1. so...i thought i would get crafty with my thank you notes (i have so many people to thank.) i used the scraps from the quilt i made for isla and cut out hearts. i sewed a line across the heart (remember to backstitch at the beginning and end.) i have a thank you stamp that i use for my shipments, but you could hand write, stencil, print or just leave it blank.

my showers

since isla was born i feel like i am learning how to parent all over...it's a whole new ball game with 2 littles. i have had so much help and support from my friends in my ward and it's making the transition easier.

my sweet friends ashlee and tira threw me and isla a baby shower. it was lovely.  i didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few i got.

printed banner by tira

 

they had the most delicious sweet treats (my favorite kind of sustenance.)

they had the cutest teacups and saucers for the food & drink.

i got so many lovely gifts and many were handmade (the best kind.) here are a sampling of the lovely handmade items i received flag banner & ball by judy, bonnet by tira, headband by megan and bibs gifted by ashlee. we are spoiled.

the young women in the ward also threw me and isla a shower. it was SO sweet of them and we had a lot of fun. a big thanks to the YW and their leaders! xoxo.

i have the most generous friends and ward family.