Cool Cat Zoe

These were taken at Home Depot the other day while Dean was getting supplies for the side job he's been working on. I have wanted to take some pictures of Sloan, but she has been playing at Abby's house before she left for the summer break, and busy with other things. Didn't want anyone to think I was being biased.

Sweet Pea

Just click on the image, and enjoy!

Yard Sale Treasures and Generosity

$2 for both containers.

$1, Aris loves it, and I have other toys from this same Fisher Price line. I like having sets of things.

$1 It had a $2 sticker on it, but it needs a lot of cleaning. So I offered less and they accepted. It needs a good scrubbing, but other than that it is in great condition. Nothing is broken or missing. Plus the super cool thing is it folds up for easy storage. Something that is very important for our small home. Until I get the girls some Fisher Price furniture for this Sloan and Zoe can use her little Barbie children.

Tractor $3 and golf caddy $1. Zoe is in heaven.

$2 for all three pillows. They are made of super soft lovely velvet with ribbon and embroidery. They also have zipper enclosures and are filled with down inserts, not cotton or poly fill.

$1 Tupperware party server tray. I have seen women bring these to parties, baby showers, and picnics for as long as I can remember. I know it seems silly but I always wanted one. Well now I have one. Lucky me!

These two vintage board games I bought for $1 each. They actually have all the pieces and are like brand new in the the original box.

Here it is! The $5 telescope. Sloan can hardly wait for us to get the new lens.

All these books $5. I can hardly stand it. This is like hitting the jackpot of all jackpots! I love children's books and vintage children's books are simply too yummy. These will be enjoyed for years to come.

I just arrived home a little while ago. My dear friend Carla (Aris Auntie) called me this morning and let me know the annual Double Diamond yard sales were going on. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love a great bargain. I have to buy things on sale, and when I pay full price once in a while for clothes, I feel horribly guilty. Today I found the most amazing bargains. They are all listed above, so I won't ramble on about them again. However I would like to mention the kindness of strangers. The very last yard sale we drove by had a telescope and tons of stuffed animals. Sloan freaked out, "Mom stop and ask that guy if he will sell the telescope for 25 cent!". I proceeded to tell Sloan that it was a very expensive item and I was sure it cost at least $100. She insisted that I stop and ask anyway. So I stopped and told the nice guy that my daughter wanted me to ask if the telescope was 25 cents, and that she didn't really understand the value of money quite yet. I kind of giggled because Sloan just doesn't get it sometimes. Surprisingly enough the kind man gave the telescope to us for $5 dollars. It just needs a new lens. I also purchased a whole stack of vintage books for the girls from the same sale. They were so nice to my girls and I am so grateful for all the fun things we got.

P.S.I also bought a brand new shower curtain $3 and a darling Clifford slide for Zoe for $5.

Quilt Progress

Here are the squares thus far.

This one is the biggest piece, I am going to sketch out how I want to put everything together.

Oh, and here is the fabric for the curtains in the girls room. I have had this fabric for years. I already lined it and everything years ago when Sloan was just a baby. Some how I never got around to finishing them. Now I have a little home to hang them in, it just doesn't seem right to leave them unfinished any longer. Time to give these little Scottie dogs a home.

Sloan is almost done with school, just one more week and she will be out for a little over a month. I am ready for the break. It will be nice to wake up and instead of taking her to school we can go to the Marina early before it gets too hot. Another nice thing about her break is that I can nap with the girls (if I want) and I don't have to set an alarm to wake up the girls or myself. We can sleep and wake up whenever (within reason....of coarse). Sloan and I can do art together without the worries of homework or early bed times because there is no school the next day. Can you tell I am excited about this break?

Abby however, is not on year round like Sloan. All other schools are already out for the summer. So Abby hung out with me and the little Zoe and Mypye. We went to one of the local quilting stores to get a yard of fabric to use as backing on Sloan's quilt. They kind of looked at me like I was from another planet when I asked them about the particular Amy Butler fabric. I even showed them what it looked like on line and they were kind of like, I have never seen that fabric it might not even be an Amy Butler fabric. So feeling like a total dumb ass (sorry mom) I went home and e-mailed the nice lady at eBay, whom I bought these quilt squares from. She mailed me back a little later to let me know they were the newest line and most retailers hadn't even gotten them yet. Ha Ha! I am normally not one to rub a told you so in someones face, but I guess I am a little brazen in my old age. I called up that quilt shop and let them know about the email and I wondered if they would be getting any of this fabric in so I could buy local instead of online. Funny how once I mentioned the Amy Butler website had my fabric on the main page they had it on order and should be getting it any day now. Why was the answer different in the afternoon from the morning visit. It irritated me a bit. Then I realized hey I have this cool fabric before they do! I am not irritated anymore. Just have to wait until they get the fabric in before I finish Sloan's quilt or I can try to buy 1 yard off of the same nice lady on eBay. Oh I forgot to mention the happy ending to this whole story. When I purchased my 38 5" squares I only paid $11. I know that is way less than I would have paid in the upscale quilting store.

Happy