madebymagi

For Gramma

2009-11-18T09:30:00.000-08:00

Where did that boy go?

How did..What the...

2009-10-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

This Saturday the group I train with is running 18 miles. Umm, that's a big number that came on real fast. It makes sense in the scheme of things, but still that's a big number for a gal with a head cold. Bring it, yeah! (tiger roar) (cough-cough)

Update
Finished the 18 miler, maintained a solid pace and am feeling good to boot! Great morning!

New York and Jersey Boy

2009-10-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

It was the bee's knees, we had a great time in New York and Jersey. We had three days to cram in everyone and everything, I planned on trying to run through Central Park or at least get a workout in on the hotel treadmill...I also planned on staying out late with friends over drinks and wearing 4 inch heels, every night. I must have been under the illusion I was still 25, alas friends and hot shoes won out to jogging in the park. Next time, next time.
So this is our trip, Thursday we met Mark's brother Adam for lunch who gave us a tour of his workplace. Adam works at Google and all the rumors you hear about this place are true, it's like Willy Wonka designed the place. It's awesomeness.
If you need to get to the other side of the building why not ride a community razor?
If you don't know how to make espressos there will be a workshop at noon
Feeling peckish? help yourself
Lunch this month is featuring a fancy schmancy guest chef in addition to the usual five star buffet
Dine on the patio
ooohhh, aaaaahhhh
So Adam if this is TMI just holla and I'll destroy the evidence, but your work is cool. (Lego area people!)
Over in the meat packing district is the new highline, it's an above ground subway line that has been renovated into a really nice place to take a stroll and get great views.
Like girls named Magi acting all hotsy-totsy
But seriously, picturesque eh?
That night was a wonderful dinner with Mark's uncle Barry and then out with friends.
We should have taken more pics,
Troy, a great friend from days past, and his lovely wife Natasha met up with us
As a courtesy to everyone else that made it out that night, your pictures were not so flattering, I choose not to share them, I expect the same in return.
Melissa S, I owe you a pedicure for lending me your kicks. L-I-F-E-S-A-V-E-R.
Friday, day 2. Brunch at Veselka with my besty Melissa Bowman
We made our way to see the new Times Square, we had heard it is now on crack.
On our way,
We were college roommates, explanation complete. And no we didn't go in, sheesh it was only 1 in the afternoon. Perhaps 2, but a lady never indulges before 5 Phoenix time.
The Naked (and unnervingly gropey) Cowboy lives in Times square
To quote: "y'all gotta get the back too", redonkulous.
Found a spot for some quiet reverie with Melissa, above the crack (butt-crack, ha! get it! I rule)
Been looking forward to one of these pretzels for years
yummers
Now we are off to the Wrecking Ball, the last show at the old Giant's stadium, BRUUUUUUCE!
Picked up the best deli sandwiches on the planet for dinner at the tailgate
My first tailgate, thanks for hosting Alex and Kate!
BRUUUUUUUUUCCCE
floor tickets with wristbands made possible by Mark's NJ pal, a million thanks dude, seriously.
He is indubitably The Boss, check out Miami Steve jamming
ummm, wow
Saturday, day three,
Shook the Lulav and Etrog
stroll to Greenwich Village Washington Square park
and hopped on a Jersey bound train to enjoy the remainder of the day and night with Mark's high school buds whom he hasn't seen for 25 years. It was great, but after all our running around unfortunately I had to end my party early (after three days it didn't take much to spifflicate me) and go to bed about 10:30 , I just can't hang anymore. Mark reminisced with his friends until the wee hours of the morning, great people. Surely we will not let 25 years pass again before we see them, maybe 3 though! J/K, Everyone you all have an open invitation to Phoenix.
Mark and 3 of the Jersey boys

Baby Boom

2009-10-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a layette madness on my sewing table recently. I realize that the Valley of the Sun is one of the baby capitals of the universe but I'm starting to think there really may be something in the water. I have used all my knocked-up pals as an excuse to contribute more cuteness to the world.
Sewing baby stuff is really fun for a few reasons, firstly, quick results when you are sewing on a small scale, as I have little time (or patience) for big projects these days. Secondly, stuff is just so cute when it's teeny and wee. Thirdly, I am done having kids with a capital D, but I will never tire of sewing baby stuff, so thanks to all you preggers out there for giving me a productive alternative to homework and housework.
Here is what I can show you so far,

Burp cloths
Hooter Hider, Knocker Blocker, Ta-Ta Tent, Boobie Blankie etc...
Spiffed up some plain onesies
The tooshies too
more onesies
with tooshies of course
Shirt and pants combo
My favorite
There is more but I don't want to spoil any one's gift!

Finally Running Again!

2009-09-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

... not that I ever stopped, but Team chances training is back in full swing! I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT. This is my 3rd year running with Team Chances and my 3rd marathon as well. I love my team. This is why I am punch drunk giddy:

1-Team Chances supports an AWESOME local charity (Chances for Children). I actually get to 'work' directly with valley kids, so cool.

2-Inspiring coaches that push us to be better runners and better people, it's better than therapy!

3-Great people to train with, which by the way is a necessity for 15+ mile workouts.

I find it really hard to condense each of those points into 3 brief statements when really I could blabber on and on and on, though if you know me you have already heard me blabber on and on about how much I love this group and charity so I will spare you dear reader.

This picture is from Team Chances 1st year (2007-2008) at an elementary school we were able to become involved with. A bunch of us had just spent the afternoon running with the entire 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades as well as fitting the kids with NEW Nike sneakers. A seriously great day for everyone. We continue to work with this school putting on family fitness nights and other events.
We have come a long way, this is just one of the elementary schools we were able to initiate a Fit-Kids program at. Last year through fund-raising and volunteers Team Chances was able to provide some seriously awesome resources for kids. Check out the impact that we made last year:

3983 race entries for kids
1810 kids running
1400 pairs of shoes purchased for kids
More than 40,000 miles run
200 pedometers purchased for kids
200 fitness journals used by kids
313 Summer swim passes purchased for kids
911 two-week sessions of swimming lessons purchased for kids

This is me and my niece at a Fit-Kids one mile race put on by Chances for Children last yearThe full story of how great this day was is on my sisters blog here.

Sooooooo, fundraising is a huge part of helping Chances for Children provide fitness training, nutrition programs, and educational services for underprivileged kids. Just in case you didn't get my e-mail, I have a donation page set up at www.teamchances.org/Magi/donate
I am so proud to be part of this charity. Because it is a grassroots type charity, every penny you donate goes to helping kids. I know money is tight everywhere but seriously, if you can spare $10, it can help! (if you want to help but would rather send a check, make it out to Chances for Children and e-mail me for my mailing address) --If you are able to donate $100+ I will make you an original madebymagi plush monster creature!
I have been a runner my entire life, and I have trained for many races on my own. Personally I have never gotten as much satisfaction and enjoyment from running as I have with Team Chances. This program gives running a greater purpose.

The Awesome, Perfect, Wonderful, and Slightly Ouchy Vacation

2009-09-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

Wow did we have a great time and do we ever have the photo's to prove it! You may say I need to get my act together and slideshow the numerous photographs I post. Well, I'd like you to know that I have narrowed this selection from 480+ pictures, consider yourself lucky.
We set out two Sunday's ago to Laguna Beach to join my fabulous parent's in-law and Uncle Adam with girlfriend Melissa at a beach condo. On the way we met up with the dino's that live alongside the I-10.
Hello dino
Much to my dismay I get more of a kick out of this crazy place than the rest of the family, so thanks for humoring me kids, Mom appreciates it!
We made it to our Laguna abode with a WHOLE WEEK ahead of us to fill with nothing but sand and surf. Max covered the sand part.

He was unstoppable, and he was wearing swim trunks before, this was after I changed him in to dry clothes in the hopes he would take a nap on the beach. He hung out in the stroller for maybe 10 minutes, I was a fool to think a nap on the beach would happen, perhaps I was projecting my personal wishes on to him.
Uncle Adam made Madeline's dream come true by dunking her in chocolate ice-cream.
This pic is just the beginning of the mess, she is still talking about that 'ice-ceem cone'.
Next we have our picturesque visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano, gorgeous place.

This pic (and about 40 others) were taken in the hour leading up to Mads tragic fall. Poor bunny face-face-planted her face on a rock. Her lip split in a very super bleedy way. At least we were in the OC, probably the only county in the world that has a pediatric plastic surgeon on rotation at the hospital. She was a superbrave kid, and watching her get stitches was nothing compared to seeing her sedated with ketamine. Heart breaking, I don't even want to get into it. Though Madeline (who has a natural knack of adding levity to any situation) told Mark as she was coming to "Daaaddy, you have...fourr eyes..and twooo noses". Bear in mind the red in the picture below is 90% popsicle, look at my poor sweet dopey girl, and my poor sweet and dopey at this point husband.
Don't worry, here she is 3 days later, kids have un-paralleled healing powers.
As parents who wanted nothing more than to spoil our bunny we continued our vacation as planned, next stop, Disneyland! Max hung back to chill with Nana and Papa so it was just the three of us, it took us about an hour to get to Aneheim and then another hour to park the car and enter the magical kingdom.
1st stop, carousel--and it's still her favorite ride from the whole park, this is not what I expected, or paid for.
There were a bunch of little girls running around in dress-up, Madeline asked for dress-up and as guilty feeling parents looking into her stitched up face we could not say no. HOLEY BALONEY do you know how much dress-up at Disney costs!!?? Crapola we had one expensive Tinkerbell emerge from the Bipitty Bopitty Boo Boutique. We looked at it this way, she doesn't have any dress-up at home as she has never seemed into it before, princesses are just not her bag. She doesn't even know who Tinkerbell is, she just loves sparkly green. We indulged.
And stinkin cute was she!
And though she may not give a dang about princesses, she does feel a deep connection with Minnie.
It was really hard to pry her away from Minnie's house. Behind us was a group of Harijuku styled girls, Mads fit right in.
We met Mickey,
Look at the anticipation as we began Pirates of the Caribbean
We rode a total of 18 rides and had a perfect 1st Disney vacation, she fell asleep on the tram back to the car.
But oh-no the fun kept on coming. The next day was a visit to Newport beach, the Ferris wheel was great! That's us pointing in the green cart.

We attempted to take nice pictures on the pier,

Holy cow I've got a lot of pictures here, phew.
We fancied up for a b-day dinner celebrating Nana,
More beach via wagon

Fun playground at beach

Pizza lunch

Cute pic with daddy
Home from a gorgeous long run on the PCH
Our view,
Our BBQ,
Adorable and quite rare dual kid play on the deck,

As I finally wrap this post up I would like to say thank you to California for your skilled plastic surgeons, beautiful beach cities, Disney fun, perfect weather, and great places to run. Thank you family for, well, being a great family, and thank you Kitty -Kat, for helping us get home safely.

Staycation Brady Bunch style

2009-08-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

A while ago we were given a voucher for one night's stay at the Arizona Grand Resort. Mark's parents offered to watch the kids (bless them) so we could have a little weekend getaway (bless them again). So last Saturday we kissed the kids goodbye and headed off for the resort. Fist we went to the awesome on-site waterpark. Look, Mark is enjoying a cocktail before 5, CRAZINESS!
We got all fancied up for dinner, I was probably the only person in the whole place not wearing jeans or shorts but I feel it is my duty it to my bloated closet to trot out some of the funner clothes purchases when given the opportunity.
The second pic is not my best but I LOVE the shoes, thank you Katy!!

The stellar AZ sunset
So we had a long wonderful dinner without once having to pick up a dropped utensil/sippy cup/crayon/hunk of thrown food. The next morning we slept in, had a late breakfast and went back to the waterpark to relax.
Remember the first episode of the Brady Bunch when Mike and Carol go to a swanky hotel after they tied the knot and then leave in the middle of the night to pick up the kids so they can party at the hotel with them? Well, after about 20 minutes of lounging we really, really, really missed the kids. So we went and got them! We swung by our house on the way (we live about 7 miles from the Grand) grabbed the kids swim gear, drove to Nana & Papa's, packed the kids in the car and spent the rest of the day having an awesome time at the resort with them.

It was a perfect day, we chased them all-over the place and they had a ball! All of our pictures were taken at the kiddy pool as it's not really possible to get pictures while in a lazy river or wave pool with little-uns. The absolute best was the lazy river, we piled into a double tube and floated around and around, and around again. Wonderful.
Madeline took this picture of Mark and I, it was pretty funny as she was setting up the shot. The random guy at the table behind us thought it was pretty funny too.
Life is really good.

From moot to cute

2009-08-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

Spare me, I know my rhymage is lame but look at these shirts and you'll get my point. Blahsville basic tee's found on clearance for $2.50.
Because I have pack-rat tendencies there is a drawerful of pretty fabric scraps in my house . Now they can live out their pretty scrap destiny.
Check it:

A beautious butterfly for my little M Dog
The lotus looking flower is my favorite, the butterfly and frog were done at Madeline's request, and the bird with the flower wraps to the back of the navy shirt.

Still not sure how I feel about pink frog shirt, however it (of course) is Mad's new favorite tee so I am proud to have a part in it!
Happy jumping little love!

It's done and here it is

2009-08-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

It being our kitchen.
I will let the pictures narrate the evolution.
Before with sunny orangy oak, stove/oven/microwave combo unit original with house from 1986, and cruddy white ceramic tile countertops, also note the "window" affect on the ceiling.

Look ma, no countertops! By the way I will forever hate, despise, loathe, etc...cleaning grout.
New countertops in place, pulled cooking unit out to reveal 80's wallpaper, a print of enlarged watermelon seeds. Seriously, does it not look like a bunch of roaches? Just what every kitchen needs no doubt.
OK, fast forward a few days, some painting, refinishing of cabinets, new sink, new oven, microwave, and lights...done!

We love the results and are glad to not be eating out of the toaster oven anymore.

Max Kazoos

2009-07-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

the clip speaks for itself, smile time!

Why haven't I been making poofy sleeves all along...

2009-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

...is the question I am asking myself today. Poofy sleeves are far superior to regular shirt sleeves in regard to dresses, and easier to make. (I had a flat on my face duh' moment when I realized this)
I have been de/reconstructing tee shirts into little girl dresses for at least a year now, and with every dress I figure out new little tweaks. Recently there has been a sports theme. Madeline has been attending the Sunday D-Backs home games with daddy, we signed her up for the No Chew Crew. The Crew is a kids club with neat perks, one of the perks is a shirt:
This had to be changed! It is a great tee, but not for my 3 year old daughter. I cut the in shirt in half above "say NO to spit tobacco", removed the sleeves, took everything in about 4 inches, angled the bottom piece for a little kick, re-attached the sleeves gathering the excess fabric at the shoulder to make them POOFY (kicking self for not doing this on previous dresses), some sewing together and voila! Much better.
thrilling poofy sleeves from back,
I turned the "say NO to spit tobacco" part around, how cute on the tush!
And indeed, we will say no to spit tobacco.
A friend had me do the same to some shirts for her daughter who will only wear dresses. Now I neglected to get before shots of the shirts so I found some similar type shirts on-line.
This dress started out as a child size UofA shirt, much like this:
Same formula as other dresses but had to add some fabric for length
It's cute on little miss funny face!

This one posed a challenge, I began with a large men's technical sports fabric shirt shaped like this.

I really was prepared to junk the whole project but it came together quite well! Love fun surprises.

The neckline would have been awkward on a little girl so I cut it off, improvising a new neckline. Flutter sleeves, whee!
She will be the most darling Cardinal's fan in all the land.

Below is a fun dress for Madeline, I found a cool peace sign tee with promise and ended up with this:
I added some fabric to the middle for length and made some seams external for funkiness. Like and good mother would do for her daughter I cropped Mad's face from above shot, the dress looks good but sweet-pea did not. This is why a bunch of my dress pictures are on hangers, funny face appears to be a trend.
Now I will post funny face without hesitation as I believe the intention of the 'model' is premeditated. Back to the dress, also made the tush darling'er.
Awwwww!
I'll get a tutorial up if anyone is interested, just let me know!

Perfect, Perfect, Perfect

2009-07-14T21:28:00.001-07:00

The 4th of July was a perfect day for us, we kept to our tradition of ditching the heat and driving up to Prescott for the day. Just like last year we encountered crazy rain on the drive up, the kind of rain that slows traffic to 20MPH on highways and has the driver of your car constantly reporting on the rain as if people in car haven't noticed the torrential onslaught of water being dumped. The kids were mesmerized, needless to say we don't see rain of any kind often round these parts.

It was just starting to clear up when we pulled into town so we went out to lunch, by the time we were done the ground was nearly dry (if you are from AZ this needs no explaining), and we made our way to the Arts and Crafts fair in downtown Prescott.

IT WAS GORGEOUS OUTSIDE!!!!!! A whole day of letting the kids run around barefoot in the grass!! This was priceless to us, seriously, we won't be able to do this within 100 miles of our zip code until mid-October.

We enjoyed looking at the funky art and 'unique' jewelry but the highlight of the afternoon was watching the kids run themselves stupid in the grass. Madeline even took to tree hugging, my girl for sure!

We had a great dinner at the Gurley St Grill and randomly ran into some friends. This was perfect as Mad and Max were very nap deprived at this point, our friends had three kids around the same ages in tow so it was a very welcome diversion for everyone to let the kids entertain each other.

Time for fireworks! Honestly I didn't think much in anticipation of the big show, but it's been years since the last time I actually sat under fireworks. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We found a park, laid out our blanket and ka-blamo! Mad thought they were all fantastic: "wow that was the best one I ever seen", and "that was the best one I ever, ever seen". Max was not to be disturbed, I had him in the stroller and homefry was hypnotized. After the grand finale we got the kids all jammied up and drove home. By 11:30 we were all sleeping in our cozy beds, perfect day!

Sabotage

2009-06-30T21:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Madeline,
With no question you are very darling and a super-great kid. However I should advise you to behave with caution as your little brother is now walking and learning from your example. He will soon nab toys, bonk with toys, push with toys, etc... Your behavior has been captured on film twice now.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I would like to remind you that karma may quickly catch up to you.

All My Love, Mom

Intentions

2009-06-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

This is a post to convey my intentions. I intended to upload a clip of Max walking his cute little toddely first steps, but ugh, the file is to big and I don't feel like editing right now. The easiest way around this problem is for me to remember to get a shorter clip of him walking tomorrow and actually upload it, stay tuned, hopefully I will make good on this.

So this is our news, Max walks 90% and is an incredible climber. In fact he is a stealth climber. I swear I watch my children but Max has proven capable of scaling the dining table in the time it takes to wash a tomato.

Madeline used an unsavory choice word the other day, twice. This is super unfortunate as I, like any parent really try to keep my language clean around the kids--and I don't use bawdy language much to begin with. So anyways it was clear where she picked up her word. In a hurry to get out the door before the alarm timed out, I was holding Max, trying to locate keys in my purse, dropping/picking up sippy cups, and trying to get Madeline to decide on a pair of shoes AND put them on. So my purse slipped off my arm, Max was squirming, and I was frustrated that Mad had not gotten her shoes on yet. I said (not intending to finish the phrase) OHhh.... and little Miss Mad finished my phrase with a word of caliber. "What did you just say?" said I. " -uc-, I can't find my shoe" said Miss Madeline Belle Redlich. Her use of the word was so casual that I could hardly stay serious, "how about we don't use that word any more?" I said looking away trying to stifle laughter. Madeline agreed, found her shoe, and we left the house in much better spirits.

Also notable, and probably more notable but less entertaining than our 'word' story, Madeline is a really great little three year old swimmer. This brings me back to where I began this post. I have intentions to get some footage of her swimming up here as well.

Update 6/30/09

Yee Haw Cowgirl

2009-06-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

Rustler's Rooste is one of the funnest restaurants around, and though I am not a big fan of the menu, I am a serious fan of fun. We prepped Madeline by talking about the 'Cowgirl restaurant' all day, so she was excited for the jamboree come chow time. On the way in she met Mr. Bull, he probably has a real name on a sign somewhere but he was smelling something awful so we had to skedaddle into the restaurant.

The highlight of the place is a slide to the lower dining area (there is also a stair option for wusses). This slide is nuts, it's freaky fast.

After going down the slide nearly 20 times Miss Mad tried to go down cross-legged for style points and royally ate it, poor kid. And yes we tried to stop her, but this slide is a friggin rocket launcher, it was all we could do to to catch her headfirst and upside down at the bottom!

At the table the kids got horns, appropriate no?

We splurged and got Madeline the balloon flower.

Dancing to the house band...

Ice Cream, sooo yummy and sooo cold...

Nights like this remind me of why I love AZ, this particular sunset is not so special but the view is still something else.

PINKALICIOUS PARTY!!!

2009-05-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

If you have a little girl chances are you are familiar with the book Pinkalicious. Well, today we hosted a Pinkalicious themed party. In all honesty I validated this party as practice. In a few weeks I will be helping with my niece's Pinkalicious b-day party, and that my friends will be something else (If you have ever been to an event hosted by my sis you know what I am talking about). Not that we ever need a reason to party at my house, anyways back to today.

Look, pink threw-up in my house.

The girls all showed up looking darling in head to toe pink. We started off with tiara decorating, to be fair I had pirate hats for the little brothers to festoon.

Out back was water play, some played with squirt toys, others stationed themselves at the water table, and still others took a refreshing dip in the pool...

....seriously, there were 7 happy little kids crammed in there at one point. Thank heaven the sea monkeys are still young enough to appreciate backyard fun on a tight budget.

The kids decorated pink cupcakes, or rather created a collective sprinkle explosion.

This is what I learned from my practice party:

1-10 kids actually fit in my house so I can continue to host random parties (hooray)
2-I need to take more/better pictures
3-Three year olds don't care that much about decorations (but I do, in fact I left them up in spite of Mark's disapproval)
4-The backyard is surprisingly more fun than I thought it was

Now to prepare for my niece Tabitha's Pinkalicious part II.....

Movin On Up!

2009-05-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we celebrated all the kids in Madeline's pre-K school. They each 'graduated' from their respective class and will be moving up a 'grade' in the coming school year. Madeline ended her 2's class with honors and we expect the same of her when she begins the 3's class this fall.

(Madeline is 1st row, 4th in from left if you don't count the kid being held)

She loves her pals Casey and Abby, notice the sweet hand-holding!

Each class presented a thoroughly rehearsed performance. Madeline's class did a choreographed song and dance about moving up to the 3's class.

It was flawless, perfection even, not one child was out of sync.

Our awesome teacher Miss Mindy troubleshooted any miss-steps in the performance by having the children wear sunglasses. The reasoning here is that sunglasses are distracting to the audience on account of viewers not being able to get past how darn cool the kids look. The woman is genius, we love our Miss Mindy and and can't thank her enough for everything she taught Madeline this past school year (sniff).

BTW, notice the similarity between her blue dress and these , versatility people, it's what I do.

Not quite but cute nonetheless

2009-05-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I made this dress for my niece, it was one of those "OMG it's So CUTE" moments when I finished it.

I really loved it and always intended to make one for Madeline. Honestly if I was 7 years younger I would make one for myself in a heartbeat, I'd exchange the Hello Kitty beater for one more 'mature'. Maybe a dark gray one with some crochet detail and a yellow/dusty plum tulle skirt. Yes, I have thought this through and yes, I really would have worn this, and you would have secretly wanted one of your own.
Back to the point.
OK, this dress did not turn out exactly how I planned but it's darn cute and now I know what to change the next time I attempt this.

While perusing the local Target I spotted this pink tie-dye beater in the girls section. Tie-dye is one of those things that I love but would never be comfortable wearing myself, thus I dress my kids in as much tie-dye as possible. The beater part is spot on for this project but I don't think I used enough tulle for the skirt, it should be poofier no? I also need to add elastic at the seam where it attaches to the beater, it's not going to fit Mad's tush for much longer.

The back:

That day Madeline's preschool class gave us a performance, they were stirring soup for Shabbat.. in a pot.. to keep it hot. They stood in front of the school stirring their pots. Very, very cute, they all forgot to sing the song so thankfully there was a cd playing in the background to cue us in on their motivation. Kudos to the teachers, it was a dramatic improvement from the last class performance which was basically the teachers desperately trying to maintain the kids in the same area.

Over the course of the day the dress stretched and grew progressively longer, definitely should have put elastic in there. I will find a reason to re-make this soon, it's such a pretty concept. On the plus side, I now know how to make a very simple mermaid costume.
And on a totally unrelated note, Max is cute.

Just Like June

2009-05-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

This dress is a result of my laziness, in the afternoons I have been known to let Madeline watch her Little Einsteins DVDs repeatedly. Because of this she has developed an obsession with everything Rocket, namely June and her pretty purple dancing dress. Anywhoodle, I was thinking it would be really fun to make Madeline a pretty purple dancing dress of her very own. Naturally I took some creative liberty to change the dress a bit and add some pattern. We can't have Madeline and June looking like Frick and Frack!

Check out the top model pose, Tyra would call her "fierce" and praise her for the direct yet coy gaze, though Tyra would probably advise her to have the teddy bear tattoo removed.

Now the action sequence:

and...

Wheee! Looks like fun eh? Makes me wish I had a pretty purple dancing dress and giant couch to throw myself on as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. MAX!!!

2009-05-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

On May 1st our little Mr. Moo turned one whole year old. Undoubtedly that past year went by way to fast. Max is starting to say mama, dada, up, and bye. He is silly and always smiling, he cracks himself up clapping, is almost walking, and is my darling boy. We had a family party with a robot theme, this is the unbustible pinata.

I really thought I was clever and had left some weak seams when making Robotra (named by cousin Rex). Robotra was unconquerable. Bless them, the children all gave him a good whacking, eventually the bat was passed to uncle Dale. Much to our surprise uncle Dale was no match for Robotra. We intervened when it started to get ugly and peeled some duct tape back, Dale then thrashed the candy bot. Yes, yes, I now know that duct tape and pinatas should not be mixed.
On to presents, the kids all pitched in and helped Max open his gifts,

Such a cutie!
Robot cake for Max!
he got a kick out of the song...

...we lopped off the robot head for Max to 'enjoy'
Honestly it was a bit disappointing, he smooshed it up real good but hardly ate a bite. He is so much like Mark, look at the 'mess' after the hunk of the cake was removed from his tray.
Not kidding, he was probably the cleanest kid there.
So Happy Birthday Mr. Maxy Moodles, we love you Doodley Doo!

The Notorius Whiskey Row 1/2 Marathon

2009-05-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

This race is brutal, and callous, and nearly sadistic, ...and me, along with a handful of other crazies, love it. The out and back course begins at 5300 feet, runners are challenged by steep rolling hills the entire way. At the turnaround you will have reached 6400 feet but with all the ups and downs runners climb way over a vertical mile. Whiskey Row is a mean combination of insane hills and altitude, hat's off to those who complete the full marathon, the 1/2 is enough for me ...for now. My love affair with Whiskey Row began in 2005, a friend and I decided to train for a 1/2 and picked this race as our goal. I have now done this race 4 years, would have been 5 but baby Max was born race weekend last year so that didn't work out!
So over the weekend some girlfriends and I headed up to Prescott, some of us were new to the race and others were returning suckers. My sister Alys, who is expecting, came to cheer us on, hold our stuff, and capture our glory on camera. (Thanks A!)
As to be expected the race was no different this this year than any year previous, I was trained and mentally ready to give it every ounce of energy possible.
Alys got this shot of me about 30 feet from the finish. As you can see by my face I am DONE! See how crazy tight my calf is, can you feel the burn..
Whooeee was I spent!
Here we are with the post race glow,
We all did great and will probably all be back.
RESULTS!!!
From left to right: Emily, this was her first race ever! And she did it in 2:30, holy crap girl! Me: This year was not a Whiskey Row PR for me but still a decent time, I know I gave it everything. Lori, she knocked nearly 30 minutes off her last Whiskey Row time, another 'holy crap girl' is in order. Glenda, she rocked the equally mean 10K course, would have done the 1/2 but she is smart and taking time off to heal an owie.

That dang race is relentless and so, so fun!

Dirty Girls

2009-04-26T13:16:00.001-07:00

I don't know where to start with recounting how much fun Saturday's Dirty 6 Mud Run was. Firstly I did it with awesome running buddy Ms Lori, secondly we wore tu-tu's, thirdly it was a freakin obstacle course ending with a humongo mud trench!!!! Here we are pre-race in top prima-ballerina form, Lori has a dancing background (notice her perfect posture) so I tried to not look like a poser next to her in my fancy matching tu-tu. (Me in pink, Lori in blue) We received a ridiculous amount of compliments, now I know why so many little girls are uncompromising when it comes to their tu-tu's, because they are FREAKIN AWESOME! Seriously.
So the race started and we were off to run 6 miles, we are a good pace match so we were able to keep together and still kick arse on the course. This was very important because I know there were many people out there that day thinking "there is no way I'm letting some tu-tu wearin prissy girl beat me". Well we came in before 518 of those people and considering only 662 people were out there, that is pretty good. Some of the obstacles took a while to get through, and some of the runners out there skipped by them for a faster time, well we got our time fair and square thank you very much. There were 2 slip-n-slides, 2 obstacle inflatable bounce house type thingies, a few big dirt hills, a shallow river crossing, major hose spray, and the piest de la resistance, a ginormous mud pit waiting for us at the end.
My only regret is that I did not enter the mud pit with more flare. I did a snazzy jump, but in preparation for next time I want to have Lori show me some real leaping ballerina type moves, cause I will be doing events like this again no doubt.
Head to toe and everywhere else muddy

This was just stupid delirious fun. It's a shame we didn't get pics before we hosed off, we hardly look dirty in the after pics.

I suppose I should care that I am 31, I may be getting a bit old for this silly fun. Honestly I really don't care and I swear that I will never give up the tu-tu. Plus it was really cool to hear kids in the crowd yelling "ballerina's, I saw ballerina's".

Tu-Tu-Tutorial

2009-04-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

Understand I have a 3 year old girl with a lot of wee fairy/princess friends, tu-tu's are all the rage around here. It's a hot topic debate if the tu-tu is considered a dress-up item not to leave the house, or a funky accessory (personally I vote the latter). To solve the problem here is a super easy, super quick, super cute tu-tu that is equally appropriate for both fairy play and a gal on the go.
To start, get some tulle, depending on how long you want the tu-tu you may not need more than 3/4 yard. The finished tu-tu above is 11 inches long so I measured 22 inches of tulle, folded it up so it measured 11 inches folded, and cut.
You will also need 3/8 inch width elastic (wider is fine too)
Fake flower petals
Thread to match the tulle
2 safety pins

Next pin top edges together so they don't slide around when you sew it. About 3/4 inch below top raw edge sew a straight line, then sew another straight line about 1/2 inch below.

Next you will thread your elastic between the seams you just sewed, measure a piece of elastic about 1 inch shorter than your wee ones waist, if she has a 20 inch waist use a 19 inch piece of elastic. Use a safety pin to hold one end of the elastic to the edge of the tu-tu. Attach the second safety pin to the other end of the elastic to help you pull it through between the seams. When the elastic is all the way through the tu-tu, stitch the elastic on both sides.

Now we put our flowers in, this is a fun part to have your little fairy child help you with! Through open hole on either side (see pal scissors demonstrating open hole)
insert flowers or whatever else you fancy.
Almost done, fold open sides to meet and sew shut.
Looky, looky, eeee so cute!

Test on tu-tu lovin child.
Now I can fully appreciate the 'novelty' of a tu-tu soooooooo I made one for myself and my tu-tu lovin pal Lori. We will be running the Dirty 6 mud run. 6 muddy miles with 9 obstacles including the always popular slip-n-slide, jealous??

Update RE: Cupcake Dress

2009-04-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

The dress was a success! Though it was not my intention for Madeline to wear it today, or anytime soon for that matter as it is at least one size too big, she saw it hanging in her closet and HAD to put it on. My vanity gave in, she decided it is a dancing dress, I grabbed my camera, the dress has a good twirl.

Isn't she such a doll! Promptly after dancing she got on her sit-n-scoot car thingy and said "bye-bye, I'm going to science club" and scooted around the corner. I think she picked that one up from the Brady Bunch.

Confession

2009-04-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

I have a problem with sewing dresses for my little girl, admittedly I'm not a great seamstress but I know how to work the heck out of a few simple patterns. Take for example good ol' See & Sew number 3889

One of the first dresses on Madeline, circa spring 08
Two dresses I made during a sewing binge last week, Madeline (now 3 years old) chose the pink leopard print and cupcake pattern of course.I would have loved to show Madeline modeling this dress but I finished it around 11:30 pm and was in no mood to wake her up. Arguably I have been known to do rash things in the name of cuteness but a preschooler at 11:30 pm is not cute no matter how she may be dressed.