emily sparks

valentinesing

2012-02-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

we have been doing out valentine's thang. i have been sick for the last week and so not all of my plans actually happened, but i'm feeling good today! hopefully we will make up for lost time and make magic happen. i can't say how grateful i am to have so many people i love.

our v-day breakfast: pink buttermilk pancakes, strawberries and buttermilk syrup.

p making some valentines last week.

bryan knows his way into my heart-yum.

i hope you all have a great day with people you love.

isla is 9 months!

2012-02-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

here's my 9 month old.

we went to see dr. H today. and everything looks great with our little lady.

fun facts on isla may:
she's in the 75% in height and the 25% in weight.
isla has 4 teeth on the top now, so 6 teeth altogether!
she's scooting backwards and can get up on all fours, but has yet to crawl.
chatter box- ba ba ba. ma ma ma. da da da. mmmmmmmm. ah.
she loves blueberries, oranges, rice cereal and oatmeal.
penelope is the one who can make her laugh the hardest.
loves going jogging and on walks with mom.
likes bubbles and swinging at the park.
she loves to take baths with p and she can sit up all by herself.
i love having little conversations with her.

2012-02-07T08:00:00.001-08:00

diy valentines ideas

cute cookie packaging idea via @bh (pinned by kami bigler)

heart wands (pinned by alicia ilievski) in jars with crocheted covers

valentine arrows (pinned by sophie mccurley)

xoxo garland-for sale here (pinned by mariah baddas)

shall i give you a kiss

2012-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

i put together these little valentine's day bags for penelope to give some of her friends...i will probably give some to my friends too, because who doesn't want a kiss? we've been watching and reading peter pan at our house a lot lately and peter and mary's little kiss confusion gave me this idea. i bought the cello at target and they are 4 1/2 inches wide and maybe 6 inches tall. i printed these labels 4 to a page. i folded down the top and then stapled the label to the top (you could also stitch it shut if you are into that). i am sharing the file for the label with you here.

happy anniversary to us!

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

it's our anniversary! wahoo!

i still remember this day well.

we had a beautiful ceremony.

it was freezing, it was snowing!

we were surrounded by our closest family and friends.

we had good food (i know- it always comes back to the food with me).

it was perfect.

i love you bry.

preschool science: our bean sprouts

2012-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

penelope and i are learning about how things grow. we planted a bean in a cup of dirt and put another bean in a plastic bag with a wet paper towel to keep it moist. we put both of our experiments in the window and we will be logging their growth. penelope checked on them every hour and was suuuper disappointed that they weren't doing much. ha ha.

our weekend

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

we went to the zoo again. bryan got to come with us this time and we has tons of fun. we also did a whole lot of hanging out at home.

on the skifari

penelope got to sit in the cockpit of a helicopter, after she told me she wanted to be an astronaut and go to the the moon. i am hoping she doesn't plan to take the helicopter to the moon...

i can't believe how big these chicks are getting. gasp.

what we've been up to

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

oh, hi! i feel like i've been a little bit disconnected from the internet lately. sorry about that. we've been kicking back and having a slow january.

i've been reading...a lot. i've been really into young adult fiction lately. if you are on goodreads, we should be friends here's my link. here are a couple of books that i've enjoyed recently: divergent, matched, clockwork angel and the help. what are you reading?

i also started an afghan that i've been wanting to do for a couple of years now.

penelope and i have been doing preschool. penelope is so fun these days, she is learning so much and is super imaginative. i love listening to her tell me stories and sing songs all of her own creation. i am hoping to get another fun preschool project together to share, but we've mainly been doing printable packets found on the interwebs and i haven't been using my creative bone as much as i would like.

isla is just great. she has 2 new teeth and is getting closer to scooting around....

we went to the zoo last week with my bro, his wife and their 3 boys.

penelope loves playing with her cousins.

isla rode in the stroller and was a total champ.

oh, and penelope fed a giraffe...nbd.

balls for miss isla

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

here is another handmade gift i did for christmas. i wanted to make isla a crocheted ball at some point. i made p some fabric balls for her first christmas and so i decided to do the same for isla may. she really likes them...score!

2011 in review

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

i love looking through my blog posts and seeing all the things that went on in a year. i can't believe it's 2012. this year i am excited about baking more bread, my list of craft experiences i would like to have, isla's first birthday, penelope's forth birthday, several books will being released that i can't wait to get my hands on, painting (this one should be first,) teaching from the book of mormon, running a 1/2 marathon and most of all time with my little family. i am not sure what 2012 will bring, but i am all sorts of ready to get started.

here are ~~some~~ many memories from 2011:

had fun adventures

made baby gifts

blanket making

preparing for baby

baby showers

baking

penelope's 3!

easter and mommy made clothes

welcoming miss isla may

visitors

isla's blessing

penelope dresses herself now...

went camping

had mucho water fun

said farewell to elder white

bid farewell to grandpa T

fall fun

isla was a gnome and penelope was a fairy

isla gets big

homemade christmas goodness

our family

merry christmas

christmas pictures

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

well, we've been back from our christmas trip for a week now and i figured it was about time to blog a bit about it. i am a little bummed that we didn't get any snow while we were in utah. there was, however, plenty of cold and i welcome the sun! now we just need to get everybody sleeping normally and we will be good to go.

our trip was a lot of fun. we got to spend time with my side and bryan's side of our family. penelope loves to visit her grandparents and leaving is always super sad.

things we did: bowled, opened many gifts, ate out, ate in, ate sweets, saw sherlock holmes & tin tin (penelope was in on this one), read christmas stories, went shopping, played games, saw pretty lights, played family feud on iphone, watched prison break, visited family, played with cousins, didn't sleep (go team isla, go), went to church, went to party, read many books.

photo dump:

wow!

christmas eve with the traditional christmas pjs

my girls ready for church on christmas day

cousins

at our family christmas partay!

bowling with the sparks

cousins and some old people too.

hill aerospace museum with grandma and grandpa sparks

isla is 8 months

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

isla is 8 months! gasp! i just think she's the bees knees.

this month she...

-is quite the chatter box. she says, "ma ma ma ma" and "ba ba ba ba." it is so fun.
-she responds to her own name
-she is very stable in sitting position and on her tummy she can lift her torso off the ground.
-she's a very calm and happy baby.
-she is ticklish on her neck, back and tummy.
-her laughs are so cute they sound a little like grunting.
-she is eating cheerios and a lot of different foods.
-and she, now, can drink from a bottle. hallelujah!
-she is still sporting two teeth, i think her eyes are hazel and her hair is getting a bit thicker.
-we are loving watching this chick grow everyday. she is learning so much.

pepperplate

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

have you discovered the pepperplate app for iphone/ipod/other devices? it's one of my favorites and i thought i would share why?

this app is so great for remembering recipes you have tried or want to try.

i have so many recipes that i like to use online and i am always finding more recipes that i would like to try. when i would come across a recipe i thought looked good, i would keep a tab open on my computer or ipod until i used the recipe--such a pain OR i would occasionally email myself a recipe. then after i did try a recipe and liked it, i had a hard time remembering where i found it if i wanted to try it again. this app solves all of these problems. all you have to do is go to their website and set up an account and then download the app. you can import recipes from places like foodnetwork.com and manually import recipes from blogs and it stores them on my account, then, you can use the app on your mobile device to pull up previously imported recipes. it is like a digital recipe file. i love it and i think you would too.

quiet books

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

now that gifts have been unwrapped and all that goodness i thought i would share a few homemade gifts. these quite books took me too long, but they were something i really wanted for the girls and bryan's sister showed interest in one for her little guys, so i dove in.

covers

i made the books with felt, backed with interfaceing. i snipped around the edges, so that i could leave them raw and lessen my work :).

velcroed balloons and texture page

cars with button on wheels

shoe lacing...sans the lace.

zipper pocket and 5 monster finger puppets.

small, medium and large ice cream scoops to be snapped on.

the end.

merry christmas

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

christ in red robe by minerva teichert

i know i've been showing a lot of little crafty things this christmas season. i was in the making mode for the first few weeks, but i've been trying to get into a more spirtual mood. i LOVE all the giving, recieving, yummy foods, decorations, songs and family time that we get to have during this season. However, it is very important to me that my family try to think about Christ this time of year especially. He is the reason for all this fun and excitement. i feel so blessed to have a knowledge that He is my savior and that He loves me. i am so totally blessed. one of the things that always gets me in the right mind set is listening or watching the first presidency christmas devotional. my favorite was president uchtdorf's talk. please go check it out. it is SO worth it.

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

neighbor gifts

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

i made these little banana breads to give to neighbors and friends. i found these cute little white mini loaf pans and decided they would make a cute gift. i put the breads in a celo bag, wrapped them with red string and put a card on the top. they were easy and i think they look pretty cute. i used the banana bread recipe from flour bakery in boston. it's from this book and it's a tasty one. i also REALLY like this recipe.

utah hats

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

i made p a hat last year for christmas and it was a huge hit. i decided that i might turn it into a tradition...a christmas hat every year. in SD we don't need a lot of warm hats, but when we go to utah for christmas we need all the layers we can find...southern california has made us soft.

this year i did orange and white earflap hats and i stuck a little bow on. isla's will not fit her for long, but it will work for the next couple of months.

stockings

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

here is isla's stocking. and penelope's new stocking (her old one wasn't made well and was falling apart...oops.) i keep thinking i will crochet us all stockings, but i haven't. i really like our stockings though. they are fun and bright and totally imperfect. yes, i know penelope's says penel a pe, that's what i get for free handing the embroidery. i will fix it...next year.

the wrappings

2011-12-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

wow! the last few weeks have been crazy...or i've been crazy the last couple of weeks. i wrapped our gifts yesterday and that took an eternity. i really like wrapping gifts, but when there are a lot to wrap and it takes 3+ hours, i like it less. anyway, i am really glad that i have all our christmas gifts bought/ordered. i had a goal to have it all done by the end of november. ha. ha. ha.

brown paper packages tied up with strings

my little helper

ps this weekend bryan and i are going on a date! i am super excited, because dates are scarce these days. what are your fun weekend plans?

7 months old

2011-12-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

this little gal is 7 months old and she's a riot.

-she is grabbing for EVERYTHING! at this very moment she's trying to get at the keyboard and singing a cute little song that will turn sad if i don't give her something to play with.

-she enjoys playing with things that are not meant for babies best...like anything bryan or i have.

-she still won't take a bottle or a pacifier, but she's eating her vegetables like a champ!

- she can sit up all by herself for 10 min+.

-she still doesn't love being on her tummy, but she's tolerating it better.

-she has the sweetest grin and loves to play with her tongue. she can even flip it and do tongue tricks. cute.

-she is sleeping really well and i am super happy about that.

-her hair is filling in (sort of,) she has 2 teeth and her eyes are darkening (maybe she'll be a brown-eyed girl like her sis.

-she's in love with her family and it totally melts my heart.

we love you isla may!

whoo whoo

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

owls! this year the ornaments i made for the tree were owls. i have tried to make an ornament for each member of the family each year. i have done birds the past 4 years. here are the owls. inspired by these guys (pinned by helen fuhriman.)

PS HAPPY DECEMBER

tree pillow

2011-11-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

i made this tree cushion for the holidays. i used this tutorial from the purl bee. i think i may do this wall hanging when i have more wall space, but i really like the way the pillow turned out. this is one of my first pieced block quilts and i ran into a few troubles, but it was a good experience for me and i am excited to have a festive pillow.

christmas tree

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

on sunday we got out our christmas tree and decorated it. penelope is at a great age for this. she had a blast with all the ornaments and kept saying "i love christmas trees." she is still rearranging and moving ornaments to make the tree "perfect." it is amazing how many memories are revived while decorating the tree. so many of our old ornaments have fun christmas memories attached to them...i loved it.

we also read the polar express to get a little more christmas spirit. i LOVE the polar express. my two favorite christmas books are the Polar Express and the Three Trees. but there are SO many good ones. what are your faves?

yep, we did decorate right after waking up, so jammies and bed heads are on display here.

one new addition to our tree this year were these little bird houses that i found at michael's for $1 each. i bought 6 and painted them all gold.

i am thankful: vol 3

2011-11-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

i had planned on posting more lists of what i'm thankful for, but i dropped the ball on that and i wanted to do one more before we plow into christmas schtuff. i have innumerable things to be grateful for and it helps me to put some down on the record.

1. (pictured above) i know i've mentioned these three before, but they are my life.
2. etsy
3. blogspot
4. pbs kids (for a much needed break from parenting-ha ha!)
5. good food
6. hot water
7. my sewing machine
8. trader joes
9. costco
10. LDS.org
11. prayer
12. scriptures. i just reread this talk and was inspired
13. the opportunity to live in san diego where i am near so many wonderful things to do with my family and where i enjoy near perfect weather year round.
14. tender greens- i may or may not feel a little weird that a restaurant made my list, but it feeds my body and soul:)!

now i'm off to clean up from our suuuper relaxing thanksgiving break.

new nephew

2011-11-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

last night our newest nephew was born. congratulations to justin and anna! i am heading up to help out with their older two boys this in a little bit. i will be busy munching on muddy buddies on the drive up... so i'm pretty excited. But i am more excited about getting to hold a wee baby again. babies are such a blessing and i am so happy that he arrived safely and that he and his mom are doing well. here is the outfit i made for the little man along with a matching giraffe rattle.

new things in shop and a sale

2011-11-21T13:53:00.000-08:00

i am offering a 20% off sale on all items in my shop starting today and ending at the end of the month! this is big, so jump on it!

enter: Thanks20 at checkout to receive discount.

ALSO, i've added a bunch of new things to my shop, so go check 'er out.

more stuff

2011-11-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

new headbands and bow hats will also be at the queen bee!

new things for the market

2011-11-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

here are a few new items that will at the queen bee this time around. i am updating my shop too, for real this time. i will keep you posted, but i am thinking the update will happen on monday along with a pre-thanksgiving sale. get excited.

hand dyed jewelry

tweed and emerald bow tie hair clips

hand stitched bloom clips

bow hats in gray, cobalt and cream

the slouch cap in grey and sea foam

more colors of chunky slouchy berets

more colors of thick buttoning ear warmers

more colors of chunky buttoning headbands

also, today you can get 25% off the jennifer earrings using promo code: Day6

isla is cute

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

to break up all this shopping excitement i thought i would post a few pictures i took of my lil' 6 month-old. she's to die for. i can't stop loving on this babe. can you blame me?

also, the antiquated dress is 25% off (plus it's already on sale) today only using promo code: Day5

i heart the queen bee

2011-11-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

here are some things i will be looking for at the queen bee market this weekend. please come! it will be epic. you can go to their website to checkout other vendors and get more market info.

noon's letterpress cards

button earrings from bebecha

braidband from {just.lovely.things}

owl from fairly fabulous

oh, i am getting so excited!

also, the cider dress is 25% off at shabby apple today using promo code: Day4. i am pretty sure i will me taking advantage of this one! loving that orange.

i am thankful: vol 2

2011-11-14T10:47:00.000-08:00

i am truly blessed person. this week i am thankful for:

8: my dishwasher
9: my bed
10: my family and bryan's for the support and love they give me and my family
11: a capable body
12: my ward family
13: the desire to learn and grow
14: jillian michaels 30 day shred (a fast and effective workout for the days i need to workout, but don't want to go running like today.)

(this is NOT in order of importance)

holiday queen bee market

2011-11-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

it's that time of year again! the holiday queen bee market will be this weekend and i am so excited for it. we get the special treat of having a mindy gledhill concert as well, yay! if you want to buy a ticket for the market or get on the waitlist for the concert go here. i will be posting a list of goodies that i want to get at the market and some new things i will have at my table. stay tuned

i hope to see some of you there.

also, if you're looking for a fun skirt this shabby apple skirt is 25% off with the promo code: Day3

happy half birthday to isla may

2011-11-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

3 days ago our little isla turned 6 months. i can't even express how much we loving having this little girl in our house. we all thing she's pretty much the coolest. we went to her 6 month check-up today and she:

weighs in at 15 lb 4 oz (25-50%)

measures 27 in long (75-90%)

she wasn't a big fan of the physical. for the next appointment i will try to avoid nap time...

this month isla:

grew 2 teeth

tried rice cereal carrots and bananas

still is showing little interest in being mobile

she likes to sit in her high chair

her sitting up is getting super good and she can sit without help for a little bit (like 5 seconds...)

she's quite the talker

she's very observant and loves watching people

she love being held and cuddled, but who doesn't?

her favorite toys are her rag dolls, rattles and squeeky giraffe

penelope is her bff, she LOVES miss p

her hair is fair and her eyes are greenish, but i suspect that they might not stay that way

she's a sweet and mellow little lady, but she definitely lets us know if she doesn't dig what we're doing

happy half birthday to you, isla may!

leaves

2011-11-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

a month or so ago p and i collected fall colored leaves. we pressed them in a book and finally got around to hanging them in our window! in the sparks house christmas decor doesn't go up until after thanksgiving. SO, we thought we would try to make our house a little more festive for thanksgiving. it was a fun little project. we were able to take about the changing seasons and discuss the different colored leaves we see at fall time. here in SD the trees are still full of red and orange leaves and so it still feels like fall and we are loving it!

collecting the leaves and pressing them

we put them in wax paper pouches and hung them in the window.

i am thankful: vol 1

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-08:00

1: a caring and supportive husband

2: two beautiful and healthy girls

3: our apartment. it's small, but it's home and i am so grateful for it.

4:the internet and all the good it can be used to do.

5: bryan's job

6: the library and all its services

7: Jesus Christ, my savior

happy november

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

hey i know i'm a few days late, but i want you to know that i am TOTALLY stoked that it is november. i love november. i think i love every month in some way, but november holds special excitement for me. a change in the weather, open season on all things holiday, food...what's not to love??!

i thought i would share a couple of trick or treating pictures as a farewell to october. i know i showed you the girls in costume last week, but i think they're just too cute to not post.

for dinner i made this chili, we had veggies and apple cider. for dessert i made halloween-ish brownie trifles. it was all yum!

p insisted on pushing isla...until she decided speed was her game and then she let me push.

awe!
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND! XOXO!

isla's first tooth and a rattle

2011-11-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

first line of business: isla may has a tooth...GASP! i am a little sad, because it means my baby is growing up and all that awful and terrible shtuff. she hadn't been been napping or sleeping great and she was being a little fussier than normal. i didn't even suspect teething! she's 3 months younger than p was when she grew teeth. anyway, i was letting her chew my finger a week or so ago and i felt tooth. she's been much better now that i'm aware and able to treat her gums and give Ibuprophen when she gets super fussy.

in other news: i made some giraffe baby rattles for isla and to give to baby due next month. i really like them and so does the babe. i was going to save them for christmas, but isla gets so excited by things that jingle and crinkle and make sounds in general, i could not withhold them...

the pattern is from lotta jansdotter's simple sewing for baby. to make the rattle mechanism i used bead storage containers and jingle bells from the craft store.

my magical friends

2011-10-31T08:42:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

look a little blury? i wasn't wearing my glasses when i took this picture and i was SUUUPer sure i nailed it. ha ha!

here are my girlies in their halloween costumes. penelope is a fairy princess and isla is a gnome. on their costumes i made:

isla's hat, skirt, collar, shoes (inherited from p) AND penelope's wings, crown, wand, skirt and leaf belt/wand holder thing. aren't they cute! i will probably post more pictures of them from tonight's festivities tomorrow. we are having dinner with family & friends and then trick or treating. i think it will be great...if i can screw my head on right and get everything done.

i hope you all have a fantastic halloween!

pumpkins!

2011-10-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

we skipped the pumpkin patch this year. it almost happened a few times, but the universe, it seems, did not want us to enjoy the pumpkin patch this year. i picked up a few pumpkins super cheap and we got the opportunity to put our mark on them for family night. penelope and i painted ours and bryandid a rad carving... sans the emptying out of the pumpkin, because we're lazy like that. i doubt i will let my kids wield a knife before they are 24, i got my first set of stitches whilst carving a pumpkin and i don't think i would relax enough to let my kids try it any time soon. they turned out cute. penelope drew a smiley face on hers, but because bryan and i weren't done, she kept on going and eventually covered up the smiley face.

can you see the smile on the pumpkin?

this is how our youngest entertained herself. rabid? no, just like spit bubbles.

hard at work

and here they are.

CLOSE UPS:

penelope's lovely creation

this one is mine. it was largely done while nursing isla, so....it was really a combined effort.

and bryan wins the aggressive pumpkin award. grr.

weekend eats: pioneer woman carrot cake

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

for my parents' birthdays (on the 15th and the 25th, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!) i decided to make them a cake while they were in town. my mom said that they would go for a carrot cake or a chocolate cake...i knew that the unselfish thing for me to do would be to make a carrot cake. i generally have the opinion that it's not worth the calories if it's not chocolate...i've been trying to branch out though. this cake was super tasty. it was nice and moist and the frosting was also a win with the pecans. yum. i made it in a 9"x13" cake pan and i decided i would 3/4th the frosting next time around. i also added some nutmeg. here's the recipe:

sigrid's carrot cake (from the pioneer woman)

Ingredients

FOR CAKE:
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
4 whole Eggs
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground nutmeg* (this is my addition)
2 cups Grated Carrots
_____
For Icing
1 stick Regular Butter, Softened
1 package (8 Oz) Cream Cheese
1 pound Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 cup Pecans, Chopped Finely

Preparation Instructions

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350F
Mix together the sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl.  In another  bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda,(nutmeg) and cinnamon.   Add to first mixture and combine.  Then add carrots and mix well.   Pour into a greased and floured (Baker’s Joyed) pan (bundt, sheet cake, 9  x 13 pyrex) and bake at 350F until done, 25 (sheet cake) to 50 (Bundt  pan) minutes, depending on the pan you use.
Cool completely.
Icing:
In larger bowl, cream butter and cream cheese.  Add sugar and vanilla  and blend, then mix in the nuts.  Spread on cooled carrot cake.
Eat.  Faint. Repeat as needed.

i also made this soup. it was super good and it was a perfect fall lunch paired with these sliders.

2011-10-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

oh hi!
i hope you all had a fabulous weekend. we sure did. my parents and little seester were in town while my dad went to a shrink's conference in la jolla. we went to the zoo and to the pacific ocean...you know, cuz' we live 5 min away. jealous? a spot we really like to go is the torrey pines glider port. it has a nice little deli and you can just sit and look out at the beauty that is the pacific. you also get to watch hang gliders and paragliders take off and float around. it's magical. i didn't get any pictures of these events, because i forgot my camera's memory card... like a champ.

ANYWAY, we had good food and a lot of fun. justin and anna came down to play too. it was just a big party. one thing i miss about living in UT is being so close to family. family is important to me and i just miss being a short drive away from either my family or bryan's.

WAIT, did i say i didn't have any pictures? HA! punked! here are some from a little trip we took to the playground:

spiders, and witches, and bats! oh, my!

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

here's what we've been channeling lately! we've been getting out spooks and trying to get the digs ready for halloween. here's a little printable i made for my house and thought i would share. i had this little orange frame that i wanted to use, but i think i may actually switch to the orange print with a black frame...

click here to download the orange
click here to download the black

weekend eats

2011-10-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

this weekend we did a chicago style deep dish pizza. we do a homemade pizza party on most fridays. i really love pizza and i enjoy finding new ways to make it. bryan and i fell in love with chicago style pizza when we were in chicago during our journey home from NYC. we found berkeley pizza here in san diego, which is to die for, but a little challenging to get delivered in north SD. they don't have an eat-in option, so when we get it we need to do curbside delivery downtown. ANYWAY, i thought i would try my hand at making it. this is a third attempt and it's been delicious every time. i have used a skillet and this stoneware to bake it in and i think i might need to get a real deep dish pan if i want to achieve the super flaky pie-like crust that i covet. this is the recipe i use. i don't follow it exactly. the crust is good, it makes tons, so i freeze 1/2 of it for later. i use stewed tomatoes to make my sauce thicker and i also up the spinach.

i also had some peaches that i needed to use, so i decided to to a rustic peach tart. i used this recipe for the crust and it was amazing! i rolled it out on parchment paper on a large cookie pan. i spread a very thin layer of cream cheese on the crust up to 3" away from the edge of the crust and then sprinkled that with a tablespoon of sugar. i peeled and sliced my peaches and mixed them with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon of almond flour (you could just use 2 tablespoons of flour and omit the alomond flour) and poured them onto the cream cheese. i folded the crust up over the peaches and pinched it into place. for the glaze that i applied before baking i used 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam melted with 1 tablespoon of butter and brushed that over the peaches and crust. i baked it 40min at 400 degrees. it was a win. i can't wait to try it with apples.

natural history museum

2011-10-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

so last night was a bad night. i didn't sleep. i don't want to do anything and i hate it when i start the week out like this. i have so many things i would love to work on, but all i really want to do is sleep--boo!

here are some thoughts that are freaking me out:

did you know that halloween is 3 weeks away?

did you know that the next queen bee is only 5 1/5 weeks away?

did you know that i still have bunches of product photos to take and listings to make?

does anyone have tips on how to balance work and the holidays?

we are going to try to power through and get a blog post out there and then maybe i will do a pilates video, while isla naps and penelope watches sesame street, maybe that will make for a more productive afternoon?

i thought i would share some pictures from the natural history museum. we went there last tuesday for the free residents Tuesday. it is a really great museum and we will totally hit it up next month as well, because we just couldn't see it all. they had some really great exhibits. penelope was excited by the fossils, the animals and the interactive displays. this first picture is from the artic exhibit:

also, here are some cute pictures of my little bug:

5 months

2011-10-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

i know this is a theme of my blog, but I CAN'T BELIEVE ISLA IS GETTING SO BIG! yes, i did shout that. my little babe is 5 months old and she is just so sweet (refer to images below.) here are a few bits on the chick:

1. she sleeps great. she takes 2 naps a day. she goes down to bed at 8pm, i usually (but not always) feed her at 5 am and then she sleeps until 8 or 9 am. this schedule makes me happy.

2. she's starting to chatter a lot more- it gets increasingly louder if she's feeling left out.

3. she's not super interested in moving around. she can roll over, but she really doesn't care to.

4. she loves to play with her hands still. she plays with her feet too, which is too cute to handle. among other toys she likes are mommy made dollies, her squeaky giraffe and her crinkly elephant.

5. things to work on: she still doesn't take a bottle or a pacifier.

6. we still aren't sure what color her eyes will be. they are a little green, but there's some golden colors coming in too...so maybe hazel?

7. we are all too curious about when her hair will start to grow to even speculate what color it will be.

8. isla is a mellow gal, she loves to cuddle with all of us, and she is so very interested in her big sister.

we love you isla may!

weekend eats

2011-10-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

i don't even know how it is already thursday! gasp. i had a bunch of blog posts ready (in my mind) for this week, but i guess i dropped the ball on those. here are a few pictures of the food we ate this weekend. i totally loved watching general conference and spending time with my little family. i am SO blessed.

for breakfast we had monkey bread. p helped me make it and she got really good at rolling dough into balls and dipping them in cinnamon sugar. this recipe is from Baked Explorations. it is so much better making the dough from scratch. they have you make a sweet dough and roll it in butter, and a mix of brown sugar and cinnamon. let it raise and it comes out of the oven all sorts of gooey delicious.

i also tried my hand at naan! this turned out divine! i froze half of the dough and we still had leftovers. the recipe was SO SO easy. i used this recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients                     1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
                     1 cup warm water
                     1/4 cup white sugar
                     3 tablespoons milk
                     1 egg, beaten
                     2 teaspoons salt
                     4 1/2 cups bread flour
                     2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
                     1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions                     In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let  stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt,  and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a  lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled  bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1  hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.                 
                     Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off  small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls,  and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled  in size, about 30 minutes.                 
                     During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.                 
                     At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a  thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3  minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with  butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until  browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the  process until all the naan has been prepared.                 

i also made tikka masala from here . it is was not super awesome. i think it used just WAY too much spice and way slightly overwhelming. the taste was good though and i think i will give it another shot, but maybe 1/4 the spices...

forget-me-nots

2011-09-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

if you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, like me, then you're probably looking forward to this weekend! three cheers for general conference. last saturday i watched the general relief society meeting. if was amazing. i especially liked elder uchtdorf's talk (as always.) i really loved his 5 forget-me-not points.

i made up a little 5x7" printable for myself and the ladies i visit teach. i am excited to frame it and put it next to my bed. how easily i forget that i need to be happy with what i have right NOW and stop saying, "i can't wait for the day we________." i need to live in the moment. i also sometimes make sacrifices for things that are less important in the grand scheme of things.

ANYWAY, i spent too much time on this little flyer (ha ha!) and i would like to share it with you. click the link below the picture to download the PDF for yourself of a friend! thanks.

PDF DOWNLOAD

married...

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

penelope got married to a neighbor boy in a flurry of rose petals the other day.

i wasn't invited, but who wants their mom at their wedding anyway?

she'd told me several times that this little boy was going to marry her and i guess she wasn't fibbing.

it's all a little too cute to handle.

other tid bits on penelope:

she still loves to dress herself and pick out her clothes

she's a huge girly girl (maybe this is just a phase?)

her favorite color is pink

she's a loving big sister

she's pretty NOT cute (isla is cute)

she's obsessed with english muffins and pita chips (which she calls peter chips)

she likes to cook and clean with mom

she has a vivid imagination and cal play for hours with her dolls and babies

she's getting too old and it must stop

she will be a fairy for halloween (we talked her down from being a pink princess (avoided that one for another year... whew)

art museum

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

we went down to the san diego museum of art last tuesday for residents free tuesday at balboa park. i haven't been to a real art museum in a long time and i truly enjoyed it. they have a good collection. it's small, but good. in each gallery i had p pick her favorite painting. the biggest challenge with her was getting her not to touch things... overall, she was very good and i was impressed. we only stayed a little over an hour and if it had been longer than that we might have lost our cool. balboa park is lovely and it was a great little outing.

for some reason p always puts her hand on isla's head in pictures. she usually trys to put her arm behing isla's back and when that doesn't fly, she sticks her hand on her head... strange.

shop for sharlie open

2011-09-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

everyone go check out the shop for sharlie. it's open now and you can go buy all the fun tutorials your heart desires, including these two i mentioned here.

i am thinking of buying this baby leg warmers tutorial for olive blue

and this no sew jersey rose tutorial from allora handmade

CMYK quilt

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

bryan asked me to make him a CMYK quilt. can you say nerd?

for those of you who don't know. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and key (or black.) i chose to use gray instead of black. it is a color model used for color printing documents.

he also requested that it be long enough that he could pull it over his head with his arms straight and it would still cover his feet. he's a pretty tall guy, so we figured that we would need it to be 9' + long. i decided to make it the dimensions of a tall queen sized quilt.

anyway, i started this little number a while back, slowly collecting the kona cotton that i would need. it was a quilt that i didn't feel a deadline for, so i worked on it here and there. i had hoped that it would be done for fathers' day, but no dice. he just had to wait for his gift this year. i finally finished it a couple of weeks ago. and i am really happy with it.

i decided to make it the same on the front as it is in the back. i also decided that since it was to be enormous, i would make it a very simple pattern. i did 9 strips of 13" X 60" and sewed them in this order (white, cyan, white, magenta, white, yellow, white, gray, white.) i bound quilted it with pearl cotton and bound it with white kona. all i can say is i love my husband:) and i'm glad it's done. he's already requesting another quilt out of his old t-shirts. i need to decide if i love him THAT much... ha ha! maybe in a few years.

i am thinking my next quilt will be one for our bed. i just put it on the bed for pictures and i really think our current bedspread needs an update. that or a quilt just for me.

here it is.

preschool art: fall tree

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

we made a thumbprint tree for our art project this week in preschool. i drew the base and p put her little thumbprints all over for the leaves. we used fall colors and talked a little about the changing seasons. it was a blast. we will be using this same tree for winter, spring and summer.

penelope's fall tree: take one

penelope's fall tree: take two

here's a pdf if you want to use our tree base to replicate this project. i am sure you can draw a tree, but if you don't want to...

new headband & belt tutorial

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

here's the project i mentioned yesterday.

photos by bryan sparks

i made 2 tutorials one for the belt and one for the head wrap. this project is my contribution to the shop for sharlie a mom who needs a lung and heart transplant! i am so happy that i am able to contribute and i am hoping that it will be a great success. the shop should be full of great tutorials (including mine) that will all be for sale for $5 each. i will remind you again on monday, so that you can go check it out! i am hoping to maybe pick up a tutorial or 2 for my christmas giving.

weekend in pictures

2011-09-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

this weekend was a good one. we did and still do have a sick baby. she has a cold, which is such a bummer. she is such a good sport about it. i made 2 different kinds of bread from my peter reinhart book. i made the rustic bread and the chocolate babka. we ate up our rustic bread with meats, cheeses and bruschetta. delish...maybe too many carbs, but hey, when it rains it pours at our house. the chocolate babka was rich and heavenly. i am pretty sure p and were the only ones to eat this bread (i ended up tossing a bit, to get rid of the temptation. ha ha!) i think i will try this bread with a cinnamon/brown sugar mix next time and drizzle a glaze over it. mmmm!

besides eating tons of bread and nursing a little sicky, i was working on a little project, i will tell you more about later, on friday and saturday. it was so good to get it done and i am excited to show it to you!

i also got a jump start on the girls' halloween costumes. they aren't going to be really time intensive, but the sooner we can get them done the better.

we went on a little outing on saturday evening, because i didn't want to cook. we went to the pb fish shop. it's a winner. we got mahi mauhi tacos with fish shop seasoning. i just love this place. it was first recommended to us by ashlee.

now for some pictures...

PS. HAPPY FALL!

this week in pre school

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

we're off to the zoo this morning for a little field trip. YAY! this week we did preschool at home mon, tues and wed. yesterday we took the day off so that i could get a little work done, but most thursdays will be library day. it was fun and penelope is really enjoying it. we do exercises for usually 1 -1 1/2 hrs and then we read at least 30min. we do singing, dancing and play activities for another hour. it's been pretty easy so far, but i'm not sure how long this organization will last! only time can tell.

this week (and probably next week too) we are using the under the sea preschool pack from here. it is cute and has some really fun activities. i think we will take a trip to the beach or aquarium next week.

using lima beans to help count.

"o" is for ocean

copying patterns

new menu board

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

bryan and i made this chalk board this past weekend. i wanted a menu board to help in my organization. i also really need to make my kitchen cuter. i spend too much time in this room for it to be as ugly as it currently is...

i have some fun plans and i will keep you all posted.

i got this vintage frame way back when i took my framing class at BYU. the BYU MOA (Museum Of Art) re-frames a lot of pieces that come into a new exhibition. the old frames get tossed. i salvaged a few of them and bryan and i used them to decorate our first apartment, but i've not used them since. i was thinking of painting it yellow or turquoise, but bryan recommended we keep the vintage gold. i think it turned out cute. my handwriting needs a little works, but hey NBD.

rolling baby

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

miss isla is rolling. from front to back and back to front. it is so crazy. i know that these things (like growing things) happen, but this mobility is really freaking me out. i'm not ready! here's to soaking up every moment, because they will all be just memories soon enough.

ps the hat i'm wearing above is going to be in my shop soon!

preschool play: bean bags

2011-09-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

i made up these bean bags for miss p to play with while doing preschool activities. i love bean bag toss games and they can be used for other things as well (e.i. i think i will eventually make more and use them to represent the planets in the solar system when we talk about that...)

p loves them (isla loves them too, but we can't let her play with them, because they would probably start to sprout given the way she plays with things.) p even helped me fill the bags with black beans. it was messier, but fun to involve her.

for the pattern i simply used a cereal bowl and traced around it onto my selected fabrics. i put right sides together and stitched around the edges, leaving open a 2 in. opening to flip the bag and then fill them through. i hand stitched the opening and they were done! they all took maybe 20 min.

sleeping dress

2011-09-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

penelope's been a little jealous of isla's nightgowns. p has turned into a big time girly girl and all she wants to wear is dresses and skirts. when p saw these dresses that could be worn to bed, she immediatly asked me to make her one. that was a couple of months ago, but i've been busy and my sewing machine's been in the shop for a month. i was going to put it together yesterday after i picked up my machine, BUT the power went out...all over san diego (more about this after the pictures.) so, i made her one this morning.


penelope was really cheesing up this photo shoot! she's too cute.

ANYWAY, we were without power from 3:30 pm to 1:00AM. as soon as the power went out we headed down to the pool. our house doesn't have A/C and doesn't need it most of the time, but we've been having a hot spell and it was like 98 degrees outside when our fans turned off! i could feel it getting hotter by the minute, so we were out o' there. many people in our complex had the same idea, to head to the pool, and so we got to visit with our neighbors. it was nice.

the main thing i was worried about was all my food going bad and my nice neighbors went and stood in line to get me a bag of ice. thank you garret an elizabeth!

we had a little pizza party at the pool and then at bed time we headed home. p was a little freaked out with the lights out, but we had flashlights and candles to make the bedtime routine happen.

the whole experience made bryan and i assess our preparedness level. if this outage had gone longer than it did, would we have been ok? we've been making a list of things that we need to get together for emergencies. bry and i have 72 hour kits, but we don't have them for the girls here's the list i am using to get them together. we have enough water for a while, but we need more food storage. although this experience was short and no harm was done, it was a good learning experience for us.

i hope you all have a great weekend. do you have any fun plans? give me some good ideas

isla may at 4 months

2011-09-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

my little isla may is 4 months. i can't believe it. the other day i was looking down at my sweet girl sleeping in my arms and i was remembering the moment she was handed to me right after birth, i was holding her the same, but oh she's changed. i know she's going to be enormous in no time, it makes me sad. i am trying to drink in every moment of this little girl and here's what i'm drinking:

-she is loving her hands. they are her new favorite toy (don't worry she still plays with her tongue and blows spit bubbles plenty.) she clasps them in front of her and stares at them, sucks on them and grasps at things with them.

-she likes to coo and have conversations with us.

-she really loves her bigger sister, especially when she sings to her. oh, and they are now roomies because she graduated into her crib.

-she's not sleeping well anymore and she's also not taking a bottle-these are what we'll be working on for the next little while.

-she is not rolling over yet, but she is getting over onto her side and is very close to going from back to tummy.

-she's weighing in at 13#10oz (50-75th percentile.) we are loving every little roll and dimple.

-she's 25 1/4" tall (75-90th percentile.)

-she's got blue eyes, but a little green is coming in...And we're still waiting to see what that hair's going to be like...

-she still needs to be swaddled for naps and bedtime.

-she has a sweet temperament, a beautiful smile and loves to be cuddled.

we love our sweet isla girl and are excited to see what month no. 5 brings.

template for animal onsies

2011-08-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

remember this onsie project from tira's shower? i promised to get you the templates that judy and i put together.

here they are

instructions:

first, download and print the sheet from the link above.
second, apply heat and bond to the back of your selected fabrics.
third, cut out the design you want using the template.
fourth, peel off the paper backing and iron it in place
fifth, zig-zag stitching around each design.

have fun! if you use them, i would LOVE to see pictures.

*these designs are meant for personal use only and cannot be copied for profit.

on my mind

2011-08-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

i took the above pictures as product photos for these little headbands. she is just too cute.

here are things i'm thinking about:

1. why is isla regressing with her night-time sleep habits? it's frustrating

2. what does it take to get a baby to take a bottle? isla is refusing a bottle....and i am seeing date night dwindling away.

3. that pile of papers and receipts that need sorting...it needs immediate attention.

4. my work space needs sorting. and my home in general needs a good sorting/throwing out day.

5. i loved going jogging this morning. why can't i remember that i love it more often?

6. i know i wasn't built for home schooling. i salute those mom's who choose to do it, and do it well. i know i will cry when p goes off to school, but i know that she will do better there than she would here. i, however, am going to attempt to do some preschooling from home this year. i am planning on having her go to preschool next year, so that she can have 1 year of structured preschool before kindergarten. my friend ashlee, who is a super home-schooling mom, has forwarded on a few preschool packets (links-here & here) that we will use along with our usual field trips (zoo, beach, aquarium, free museum Tuesdays, etc.) and crafting activities. if you have advice for me, send it my way. i am excited, but nervous that i will drop the ball...

now we're off to enjoy this lovely weather.

projects for my girlies

2011-08-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

here are a few projects i've run across that i would enjoy doing for my girls. we will see which of them i have time for, but i think they all are worth sharing.

from sew liberated found on pintrest via Stacey Gula Hooper

i love the rug (braided from old t-shirts) and the tent in this room(made from a hanging hula hoop.) what a great space for kids. i am not sure where the cute hanging tent will be located yet, but i really think it is magical and belongs in our house.

img source

penelope would totally be into this! i am sure we could find an old tv stand somewhere. it would need to be fairly small, but i think we could make it happen.

this must be made for miss isla may before summer is over. we still have a few more months of summer weather, so i have time.

i have been wanting to make a chore chart for penelope, but i haven't been sure of what chores would be appropriate. i came across this chore chart and i fell in love. she already does most of the tasks listed, but this is a way she can get credit for doing them and feel proud of her accomplishments like making her bed, getting dressed, clearing her dishes, grooming and putting away her toys.

i really want to do this memory game for penelope with all my left over fabric scraps. this one might end up under the christmas tree... with a fabric activity book for isla.

necklaces in the shop

2011-08-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

i am slowly updating my shop. i added some necklaces yesterday and one of them made it into this red hot treasury. i am excited to get some new hats, some new clips and baby things in the shop for fall! it still feels so much like summer here that i've forgotten that cool weather is right around the corner. i am excited/nervous to see how this fall/winter go for me. business usually picks up quite a bit, which is great, but i've never done it with 2 kids. we shall see, i may need to hire another crochet artist. any takers? i am also going to be rethinking my shipping process. anyway, if any of you business owning moms have advice, i would love to hear it. xoxo!

the rest of our ut trip

2011-08-24T10:04:00.000-07:00

i mentioned before that my brother was leaving on a mission for our church. we were able to spend a few days with him before he left. it was great to be able to see all my family, minus 1 brother who couldn't get away from work:(.

and now for the photo dumb...drum roll please.

chilling:

played in some water

and the day he leaves:

pen wouldn't take the shades off.

meg and zach

mom & dad with z

J&A family with z

awe, cute!

z with his nephews and nieces

isla was the most sad to see him leave

the end

bear lake with the sparks/lemmon crew

2011-08-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

we went to bear lake for a little camp out while we were in utah. we went with bryan's family and it was a blast. it was fun for p to play with her cousins, aunts and uncles and it was great for isla to meet them for the first time. we were tent camping and that was a first for me with kids. we spent a lot of time at the beach hanging out and riding wave runners. it was good to catch up and relax. the girls were great campers...BUT isla was definitely done when we left.

thank you to the sparks, swans, lemmons & hiltons for a great time!

and now for the photo dump.

in our tent:

on the beach:

did i tell you isla may loves to blow spit bubbles?

on the beach

photo by krystal swan


penelope and isla with their cousins

vintage finds

2011-08-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

i am home from our mega utah vacation and i have way too many pictures that i'm going to throw at you, but not today. today i am taking it easy and recuperating-we had a very long drive yesterday and i pretty much plan on laying in bed all day.

while i was in utah i did get to go thrifting and i found some cute vintage sheets that will become pillows, clothes and possibly a pup tent for my girlies. i also got a cute kiddie chair and some vintage patterns.

i am excited to make p a dress with this pattern. it will be my next sewing project.

see you in 2 years elder white

2011-08-17T13:11:00.000-07:00

today we said goodbye to my brother zach. we won't see him for 2 years while he is serving as a missionary for our church in paraguay. i am sad that he will miss 2 years of my girls' lives. when he returns p will be 5 and isla may will be 2--gasp! i will miss him terribly, but i am so happy that he is making this decision to serve. his sacrifice will bring him blessings and he will grow so close to Christ by serving the people of paraguay. i love you zach, see you in 2 years!

auction for ruby jane

2011-08-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

i am sure some of you are familiar with the heart breaking story of the little girl ruby jane who suffered from a rare liver disease and needed a transplant, but it never happened. i had read the taylor's family blog a number of times throughout the last few months and when i heard about an auction that was raising money for this adorable baby, i was on board. i was so so sad to hear of her passing on thursday, but i am glad that i could still help out her family in a small way by donating a couple of items to the auction site. please check it out.

3 months old-oh my!

2011-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

time is just flying by and isla may is three months old already. isla is such a sweet baby girl. we love having her in our family.

here are a few little thoughts on miss isla:

-this is probably the last month shot with her wearing a 0-3 mo. onsie. i thought she'd grow out of them sooner, but i think her growing has curbed a bit.

-she is still inconsistent with her sleeping. she usually sleeps through the night a couple of days a week, and the rest of the time she does wake up once. she also will put herself to sleep instead of being waked around or rocked...SWEET!

-she eats now every 3 hrs instead of every 2.

-isla has the sweetest smile and sometimes it even seems like she's laughing too. we see the smile when we blow on her face gently or smile at her, but we pretty much won't ever see it when the camera comes out...

-she likes repetitive sounds (like the dishwasher and the vacuum.)

-she likes to sit on your lap and look around. she is getting very good at holding her head up.

-her tongue is pretty much her favorite thing. she is always chewing on it or sticking it out....also, blowing bubbles with her mouth is equally as entertaining to her.

-she likes to be at home, she is always more calm and happy at home... but, aren't we all?

-she still dislikes tummy time and we really don't even do it any more...

-p just loves little isla. she calls her my little isla girl or little isla may. when isla is sad, penelope gives her a toy or sings to her to try to calm her, it works about 1% of the time. isla likes penelope but when she's sad p does not cut it, she needs her mom or dad.

-we are taking isla's first trip to utah soon and hopefully she is as sweet for her grandparents, aunts and uncles as she is for us. also, we will be driving...pray for us. xoxo!

queen bee and other weekend happenings

2011-08-08T12:07:00.000-07:00

we kicked off the weekend with a birthday dinner for bryan. he wanted apricot pork and rosemary fries. my pictured of those didn't quite turn out, but they were pretty tasty. bry is more of a pie guy, so i made him coconut cream pies, recipe from this book. it was my first try at making a cream pie from scratch and oh boy does it beat the boxed kind.

our saturday was pretty much consumed with queen bee, relaxing a bit, queen bee, eating, queen bee, zzzzzzzz! there were a lot of wonderful things to buy. i got more than i should have...too many good handmade items that i couldn't turn down. the fair was a success for my little shop and i am glad i did it.

here are a few pictures i took at the market:

misfit menegerie had so many cute mounted animal heads. we didn't get one, but i am definitely planning to once i figure out where to put it in the girls' room.

i was smitten by smitten furnishings, she had some amazing redone furniture. i wanted pretty much everything she had including this rain cloud pillow. love!

and i loved the sweet dresses from little wellies

and here is my booth:

after we cleaned up we went and picked up some delicious soul food from bonnie jean's soul food. it is seriously good. we got their fried chicken with pecan glaze. bryan picked it and i am glad he did. i would recommend calling in your order here and taking it home...or almost anywhere else to enjoy.

happy birthday to my beau

2011-08-05T17:21:00.000-07:00

dear bryan,

i love you so much and i hope you have a fantastical birthday. you are the best husband and dad. i thank you for that.

here are some pictures of today

penelope drew this picture of you and your breakfast crepes

isla didn't draw you a picture, but she sure is cute.

now let's enjoy some good food and pie!

love,

your wife

the queen bee market is tomorrow

2011-08-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

every one in the san diego area who loves all things handmade should make a point to come check out the queen bee market, details found here. i am so excited to see all the good stuff that the vendors bring this time around. i will be there for sure from 9-1030am and from 530 to 6pm, come find me and say hi!

this market has been a challenge to get ready for, because i was lazy before i had miss isla and after...well a newborn slows the making process. i am really glad i was able to pull off getting prepped for this and i am pumped to get the new stuff in my shop. like i've been saying for a while, my shop REALLY needs an update.

here are some new items:

necklaces

clips

isla booties

news clip

2011-08-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

View more videos at: http://www.nbcsandiego.com.

i posted last night that some of my goodies would be on the news. here is a link to the clip. it was fun to watch mique and jessica from the market talking about the marke. this summer market is a special edition being held to coincide with blogher. 2 of my hats and one of my necklaces were on display. check it out!

On the news

2011-08-02T23:09:00.001-07:00

I know this is coming late, but my products may or may not be on NBC news tomorrow morning around 645. If you are awake and in the San Diego area, tune in and see the queen bee market ladies sharing handmade trends and some of the queen bee vendors like ME--eeek!

some weekend pictures

2011-08-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

how was your weekend? mine was a pretty good one. i got quite a lot done for the market on saturday, had a picnic dinner in the park with the fam and had a lovely sabbath day. also, isla slept an 8 1/2 hr stretch last night, so i am feeling pretty good. and now for some pictures.

this is a typical saturday morning. the girls get up before bryan and i are ready to get out of bed, so they hand out with us in bed while we may or may not be watching saturday morning cartoons.

ps these little lace headbands will be sold at the queen bee market on saturday!

ps this little hair clip will also be for sale on saturday. they are cute for babies, bigger girls and the older ladies (i like to wear them too.)

"hi! i like to play with my tongue."

"oh hi! i have the sweetest smile...and use it to manipulate my mother."

i have been craving black and white cookies ever since we left new york, so for 2 years....
i finally got around to making some and holy moly they were tasty. i used the recipe from Baked Explorations: classic American desserts reinvented. lately i've been checking books out from the library and trying out a few recipes/patterns before i take the plunge and buy the book. this is one book i will probably end up getting. the cookie dough called for lemon zest, which i did not have, so i didn't add it. i will definitely want to have that next time, but the cookie was still very good. i cut the cocoa powder in half for the chocolate frosting and i was glad i did, because it would have been too dark for my tastes. in NYC my favorite black and whites had buttercream frosting, which is NOT the traditional way. i think i will give buttercream frosting a shot next time.

getting excited for the queen bee

2011-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

i will be a vendor next saturday at the queen bee market! if you are in southern california, you should come. it will be great! there are SO many wonderful vendors...too many to share, but here are a few items that i will be on the lookout for at the event.

lollipops print

blue corduroy sunhat for p

bakers twine from inspire lovely

pillow factory alphabet pillow for my girlies

misfit menagerie mounted doe head

nena von pillow

this weekend will be largely spent completing my product for the show. hopefully i will have some pictures to show next week. i hope you all have a lovely weekend and next weekend i hope to see some of your lovely faces at the queen bee!

bump watch flashback

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

my artist

2011-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

penelope loves to sing, dance and draw.
she is truly expressive
and i totally admire her.

on a happier note...

2011-07-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

i just realized that the picture up on my blog ALL weekend was one of my baby crying...sad face. i apologize. here are some pictures from the weekend with my happy family.

notes from the weekend:

1-this is the best fajita recipe i've used yet. yum!
2- my frozen yogurt turned out great! i blended up the homemade yogurt with some sugar, strawberries and blueberries and then stuck it in the ice cream maker and out came a very refreshing treat for a hot day.
3- i will NEVER make mac and cheese in the crock pot again. i've done it 3 times (with 3 different recipes) and it is just better baked. my cheese and milk always curdle and it looks like yuck! the flavor is fine, but i really don't dig the chunky mac and cheese. i am sure there are people out there who have mastered it, in my kitchen it's three strikes and you're out!
4-isla is getting better at putting herself to sleep. which makes me happy. she used to need to be walked around, rocked or bounced to get to sleep. but for a few naps she's done it solo, with i tiny bit of fussing.
5- this is my favorite spot for fish in SD.
6- i am feeling more ready for the queen bee market on aug 6th. i will have enough product and a few new designs. i may not have as much as i would like, but i'm less productive with 2 babes and it is ok.
7- alma 26:11-12 have been on my mind. what a wonderful testament: "...in His strenghth I can do all things."

torture time

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

those who are parents, and probably many who aren't, know about this thing they (the DR.s) call "tummy time." i think "tummy time" sounds way too nice a term. the DR. says they (the baby) need it to strengthen their neck and eventually turn over. So, as a parent i am obligated to endure watching my baby freak out on her tummy for 10 min. i guess some babies might like it, but neither of mine have.

i usually only make isla do it once a day, because i can't handle watching her little head get redder and redder, her limbs flailing around in a desperate panic, and let's not forget the screaming more than one time a day. it's like a little mommy/daughter torture time.

homemade yogurt

2011-07-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

i made homemade yogurt on monday. i was excited about trying this for the potential of saving money on yogurt that we eat at breakfast and lunch, but ALSO to make frozen yogurt.

i have yet to make frozen yogurt, i am planning on doing it on monday, but my yogurt turned out great and we've had two delicious yogurt, granola and berry breakfasts.

i made my yogurt in my crock pot. i may try it another way next time, but i think it worked very well in the crock pot.

i read a few tutorials in my research before i made my yogurt. here are my favorite:

macheesmo
a year of slow cooking
alicia's homemaking

basically the yogurt making process is heating up milk and cooling it down very slowly and adding live cultures in the process.

here's what i did

you will need:

1/2 c. plain yogurt (with LIVE/ACTIVE cultures)

1/2 gallon whole milk (do not use ultra-pasteurized)

a crock pot

1-2 heavy towels

candy thermometer (recommended, but not necessary)

put your milk in the crock pot on low for 2 1/2 hrs (your milk needs to reach 180 degrees Fahrenheit)

turn off your crock pot, but keep the lid on and let sit 2 1/2 -3 hrs (until milk is 115-110 degrees Fahrenheit)

remove a cup of warm milk, mix your 1/2 c. yogurt in and then add it to the crock pot and mix.

wrap your crock pot with the towel and let sit 6-12 hrs (the goal is to keep your yogurt at 110 degrees for as long as possible.) i let mine sit 6 hrs, but the longer your yogurt can sit warn, the better. if you have a well insulated oven, you can stick your wrapped crock pot in your oven. 

set aside 1/2 c. yogurt and freeze it for the next time you make it. 

divide into containers. it can keep for 7-10 days in your fridge.

you can blend it with fruit and some sugar or just sweeten it with brown sugar, honey or granulated sugar. i like mine with brown sugar and a little vanilla topped with berries.

i think that i will try straining off the whey my next time. yogurt with whey IS healthier, but it's also thinner. another option to thicken up the yogurt a bit would be to use pectin or powdered milk.

the green smoothie 'stache

2011-07-19T11:45:00.000-07:00

penelope sporting her green smoothie 'stache and a killer outfit put together by miss p herself.

isla after her shower.

penny pickle's

2011-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

we went to penny pickle's workshop, the temecula children's museum with my justin, anna and their boys. we wanted to get together and thought if we met each other halfway, then we would have less of a gas/time commitment. it was really fun. the kids played at a park for a bit, we went to lunch and then headed to penny pickles for some experimenting.

nathan enjoying some chocolate bread at the park.

at penny pickle's experimenting.

27...

2011-07-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

on thursday i turned 27. i don't have many thoughts about that... but i am feeling extremely blessed. i have a wonderful family and friends.

my two girls are the cutest kids EVER. isla's going through a bit of a fussy time in her life and i've had the chance to hold her quite a lot. this gets cumbersome at times, but i get a lot of little intimate moments with her and i can't take that for granted. she is getting so big, so fast and before i know it she'll be 3 and wanting to be totally independent of me...like my other little. i am grateful that penelope is so good at entertaining herself and playing with the neighborhood kids. it makes my life easier. i am also grateful that she is obedient and a very happy girl.

to celebrate my birthday bryan brought home delicious take out from tender greens-my current favorite place to eat! and b totally spoiled me with some goodies from my favorite store. i didn't feel like eating cake, but i did make myself a few thisng i did feel like eating.

here are the treats i made for my b-day:

moolicious ice cream- recipe here.

this is serious vanilla ice cream. it's my go to vanilla recipe. it is very rich, because of the custard base, and extremely delicious. it doesn't get icy and hard if you need to store leftovers in the freezer. i will never stop making this one, but i am thinking i will try a lighter ice cream next time...maybe guava?!?

pane al cioccolato-italian chocolate bread. recipe here.

i was craving the chocolate bread at con pane. SO, since i'm trying to become a bread master, i thought i would try my hand at making it myself. this recipe turned out great! i let my dough do the first rise in the fridge overnight and the second rise i let it go 4hrs instead of 3. it tasted amazing, and with no fats added (excepting the chocolate chips) and only 1/4 c honey, i didn't feel guilty eating it in large amounts :).

i will make this one again and again and again and again..... you get the idea.

side note: i am laughing at myself, because on the blog it seems like the only things i eat are sweets. this is not the case. i do love sweet treats...more than i should...but i also like making and eating healthy dishes as well.

i hope you all had a great weekend.

marshmallow brownies

2011-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

here's the recipe i used to make the brownies in the above picture. it is my mom's and one of my favorite indulgences.

1 c. butter, melted
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
2 t. vanilla

beat butter, cocoa and sugar until well mixed. add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. add flour and vanilla and pour into greased cake pan. bake at 350 degrees for 25 min, remove from oven and sprinkle 1 lb of marshmallows on top, bake for 5 more min. cool completely and then frost.

frosting:
1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. canned milk
1/4 c. softened butter

combine all ingredients and whip until smooth. recipe is quite runny, but hardens after sitting. (i usually add 1/2c-1c more powdered sugar.)

let sit after frosting several hours before cutting

penelope's twirly skirt

2011-07-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

you will need:

3 different fabrics

3/4" elastic (you can use 1/2" instead)

thread

measuring tape

step 1: measure waist and the length that you would like the skirt to be (i think it looks best at the knee or a little longer.) 

penelope's waist was 19" and i wanted to make the skirt 10" long

step 2: select your 3 fabrics and cut them accordingly:

fabric 1: (1 & a 1/2 of waist measurement) X (1/3 of length measurement + 1 3/4")

i cut penelope's 28 1/2" X a smidge over 5"

fabric 2: (2 X waist measurement) X (1/3 of length + 1")

i made penelope's 38" X 4 1/3"

fabric 3: (2 1/2 X waist measurement) X (1/3 of length measurement + 1 1/4")

i made penelope's 47 1/2" X a smidge over 4 1/2" 

step 3: take all of your fabric pieces and fold them in half with right sides together and sew raw edges with 1/2" inseam. finish edge with zig-zag stitch or pinking sheers and iron seam open.

step 4: make elastic casing.

take fabric piece #1 and fold down 1/4" and iron, then fold down 1" and iron. top stitch 1/8" from the bottom of the fold leaving open 1" to thread elastic through.  

step 5: basting stitch along the top of fabric piece #2 and #3.

step 6: make hem.
fold the bottom of fabric piece #3 up 1/4" and iron and then fold it up 1/2" and iron. top stitch 1/8" from the fold. 
  

now you have the elastic casing, hem and you are ready to gather.

step 7: gather fabric 2 by pulling one side of your basting stitch. pin it in place at the bottom of piece #1 with right sides together. make sure that your gathers are evenly spaced.

 step 8: sew along gathered edge with a 1/2" inseam. finish raw edges with pinking sheers or a zig-zag stitch. 

step 9: repeat steps 7 & 8 working with fabric piece #3 and sewing it to piece #2

step 10: cut elastic 1" shorter than waist measurement and use a safety pin to thread the elastic through the hole we left open on the elastic casing, thread it around the elastic casing and out the same hole. sew the ends of your elastic together and then sew shut the opening (you may want to wait on sewing it shut until after you've tested it on your model. )

clip all your loose threads and you are done. with isla's wee skirt i only made 2 layers. 

p.s. i am NOT a seamstress. soooo i am just trying to share something i think turned out cute with you. don't pay too close attention to my terminology and what not. 

happy making.

scenes from a weekend

2011-07-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

oh, she is too cute.

we practiced riding her trike. she is just getting tall enough to peddle...

penelope was dressed like this when she woke up this morning. ON TOP of her pjs she has legwarmers, a tutu skirt, a sweater dress and a hair clip.

we have been letting penelope, mostly, dress herself. she is great at getting clothes on and off and her shoes on and off, but her styling might need a little fine tuning. if it were her she would wear what she has on in the above photo everyday...

2 months of isla may

2011-07-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

my little isla may turned 2 months old on wednesday. we went to her doctor check up yesterday. she's in the 90th percentile in height and in between the 50th and 75th in weight- she is growing well and is strong and healthy. i could not wish for more.

isla's favorites:

morning time trumps nighttime
blowing bubbles with her spit
smiling
being around people
kicking her legs
eating
making the cutest expressions (including one where she raises one eyebrow, something i can't even do.)
the sound of the vacuum and running water
showers trump bathes
making tightly clenched fists and pulling out my hair

she is such a sweet baby. she rarely fusses and she loves to be cuddled. we are so blessed.

scenes from a weekend

2011-07-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

here are some of the pictures i snapped this weekend. it's been hot the last few days and we've been finding ways to get out as much as possible. SO...all my grand blogging plans have fallen by the wayside. i have so many fun things cooking for this weblog, when they finally happen it will be epic! my kids come first and i have been trying not to stretch myself too thin.

we had bryan's parents and step bro tanner come and visit us. we had a lot of fun with them. i was so glad that they were able to see miss isla before she gets out of the infant stage. we went swimming on Coronado (this beach is great. we will be back!) we went to old town and enjoyed their Independence day festivities, we ate good food and had some down time. we also got to celebrate kerry's birthday while they were here. they were actually driving home on his real b-day, but we had cake & some homemade ice cream anyway. it was a great weekend. how was yours?

the girls in the matching skirts i made them.

grandpa needed a little help blowing out the candles

of course we went to the mormon battalion.

group shot

penny did the cake walk and won us some lovely funfetti cupcakes-that's my girl.

isla was a great sport on the fourth. she even drank from a bottle for like the 3rd time and was a champ.

face painting makes a girl feel pretty cute. (penelope asked for a princess...but the face painter said that was a no-go, so she chose a rainbow.

BLING!

the end

thank you to the sparks/lemmon crew for making the trip!

2011-07-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Fourth

Oh

CRASH!

my

BASH!

it's

BANG!

the

ZANG!

Fouth

WHOOSH!

of

BAROOOM!

July

WHEW!

-shel silverstein

pinning

2011-06-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

ALSO, i started pinning.

my username is emily sparks

come follow me and i will follow you. deal?

emily sparks

valentinesing

isla is 9 months!

shall i give you a kiss

happy anniversary to us!

preschool science: our bean sprouts

our weekend

what we've been up to

balls for miss isla

2011 in review

christmas pictures

isla is 8 months

pepperplate

quiet books

merry christmas

neighbor gifts

utah hats

stockings

the wrappings

7 months old

whoo whoo

tree pillow

christmas tree

i am thankful: vol 3

new nephew

new things in shop and a sale

more stuff

new things for the market

isla is cute

i heart the queen bee

i am thankful: vol 2

holiday queen bee market

happy half birthday to isla may

leaves

i am thankful: vol 1

happy november

isla's first tooth and a rattle

my magical friends

pumpkins!

weekend eats: pioneer woman carrot cake

Ingredients

Preparation Instructions

spiders, and witches, and bats! oh, my!

weekend eats

natural history museum

5 months

weekend eats

Ingredients

Directions

i also made tikka masala from here. it is was not super awesome. i think it used just WAY too much spice and way slightly overwhelming. the taste was good though and i think i will give it another shot, but maybe 1/4 the spices...

forget-me-nots

married...

art museum

shop for sharlie open

CMYK quilt

preschool art: fall tree

new headband & belt tutorial

weekend in pictures

this week in pre school

new menu board

rolling baby

preschool play: bean bags

sleeping dress

isla may at 4 months

template for animal onsies

on my mind

projects for my girlies

necklaces in the shop

the rest of our ut trip

bear lake with the sparks/lemmon crew

vintage finds

see you in 2 years elder white

auction for ruby jane

3 months old-oh my!

queen bee and other weekend happenings

happy birthday to my beau

the queen bee market is tomorrow

news clip

On the news

some weekend pictures

i also made tikka masala from here . it is was not super awesome. i think it used just WAY too much spice and way slightly overwhelming. the taste was good though and i think i will give it another shot, but maybe 1/4 the spices...