Gosh, its been a long time since I blogged.

There has been a fairly steady decline in my mood since my last blog. I can't really pin down the reason as to why, but I'm sure it has to do with the busy schedule we've had of late, mixed with dealing with my Grandfather's death and the hassles of two toddlers and their burgeoning identities and opinions.

Last week I picked up this pattern. Its a simple yet trendy look. We didn't really have the money to buy fabric, so I put my thinking cap on and improvised. My first time through I made the shirt using cut up t-shirts that J had been given at Linux World. I had to be creative with cutting them out as to not get the logos and stuff on the fabric. I also cut it in such a way that the hems of the shirt remained intact and I didn't have to hem the shirt. It came out great (considering it was my first run, I put the sleeves on the wrong arms and the stretchiness of the fabric), but a tad small. So the next day I tried again. This time I rummaged through the garage and came across a sheet that Tilli had torn and I had saved for some reason. Voila! Shirt #2. This one came out better though still not wearable outside the house because the fabric was worn in some areas. All in all though, I was rather pleased with my craftiness and now I can practically make the shirt from memory.

By the end of this month or early next I'll have piles of lovely fabric from my Amy Butler group (purchased at 1/2 the retail cost) to play with. Its good that I'm practicing ahead of time because this fabric is too nice and too spendy to make mistakes with!

On Wednesday we went to Jump Planet in Lynnwood with April, Gibson, Tamara and her daughter Chloe. Last time we did this (at the Bothell place) Ethan hated it. Not this time! Gwen and Ethan had a BLAST! Unfortunately, both the kids (and Chloe too) picked up a mild bug that causes runny noses and upset tummies. Nothing serious, but no fun either.

Friday was our last MOPS meeting. I'm sad that its ending... VERY sad. I really looked forward to it every other week. It was a great meeting because there was no speakers and they gave away gifts and massages (on site!) and foot scrubs and all sorts of things. We made be-ribboned flip flops (a smidge too fru fru for me) and lots of other fun things and mostly just sat around, ate, and talked up a storm. The good thing is that they have MOPS play dates lined up pretty much every week until we meet again in September. Some of them sound like a blast! They include the zoo, a ferry trip to Jetty Island, a petting zoo, a music in the park event and lots of other fun things. We will be attending a lot of them I think.

Saturday I attended April's baby shower and had a great time. Instead of the traditional baby shower, we painted her nursery. 6 or so women make it quick work! After the first coat, we had a delicious lunch prepared by Tamara (girl can cook), played two games (one of which I tied for first) and opened gifts. After all that we did a second coat and were done! Unfortunately, I was driving Jason's car (as he had the kids) and I locked the keys in the car. April, bless her, had AAA and she called them to come and rescue my keys. They did so pretty quickly using a really awesome technique too.

Sunday we skipped church (bad, I know, but none of us were feeling up to anything really) and stayed home. Jason gave me a beautiful watch that I had been drooling over for awhile... A Citizen J-Class Eco-Drive (i.e. solar powered). However, the watch was broken upon arrival so I'll have to wait a few more days until I can get my replacement :) Jason also let me sleep in and when I did awake, I did so to two little faces peering at me, holding a card and wishing me Happy Mothers Day. It was sweet. There was coffee and breakfast waiting for me. J did good! The rest of the day didn't go so well for various reasons which I will not elaborate on but it can be summed up thusly: sick children. We spent the evening at my Mom's visiting and talking and that was great, but we were so worn out by the time we got there that J and I weren't the best of company!

Despite feeling like crap today (and the kids feeling the same) I have managed to sweep and mop the floors. It was needed badly. The only other thing I may tackle today is putting the kids laundry away. I've let things go for so long now its a real challenge to catch up.