An Ottoman

Our living room arrangement is a little pathetic to say the least. Let me break it down for you: We left our big TV behind in West Virginia and just brought a little 13 incher to tide us over until we get a nicer one. That TV is sitting on a console about 10 feet from our sofa. The room is too big to hear the little TV, so we always scoot the sofa up until we're about 4 feet from it and we prop our feet up on a little tiny stool. Comfy? Great show watching? Not really.

Well, we've solved one dilemma. I've wanted to get a big ottoman to use as a coffee table. Something cozy for propping feet up and something soft that won't bash in little baby heads when they hit it. Looking around the only things I found that I even remotely liked were upwards of $300, so I thought, "Why not make one?"

And so I did. I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. Totally built, screwed, stapled and sewn from scratch.


Now for a bigger TV...

Yoga

I've started doing yoga again the last couple weeks. It's the first time I've really tried to get back into it since Ruby was born. Man, I am so not flexible anymore and I am so weak. I'm a sissy little girl. Anyway, I'm doing better now than I was when I first started, but I still have a long ways to go before I'm back to form. And I have another obstacle these days:


She really makes my workouts interesting, what with crawling over and under me and having to give me kisses and pinch my nose. But she sure is cute!

Something else I've been working on...

My sister Annie is e-publishing her first young adult novel in a few weeks and I'm really excited for her! She asked me to create the cover art for her new book and I finished last week and sent it off to her. She finished the type and here it is:



If you're interested in more info about Annie and her work you can visit her here:

http://www.annieoldham.com/

Ketchup Lover

Ruby adores condiments. She would much rather take a big handful of sour cream or ketchup and shove it in her mouth than eat just about anything else. We had some fries for dinner the other night and she was really enjoying eating her ketchup. So Daddy decided to have a little fun with her. I can't say that I approved, but it sure was funny:

Another Project

I can check another project off the list...ahhh it feels nice! I finally hung some valances in the kitchen and I love them! I ordered fabric and worked on them for a couple evenings last week and then finally hung them. They make such a difference in the room. It's no longer so stark, now it feels lived in and much cozier.



This is the first time I've really tried to make nice curtains (before I've always just hemmed fabric as fast as I could). This time I lined them and worked a little bit more diligently to make them look nice. It was more work, but I'm pleased with the result. I also learned a couple things along with way, which is good since I want to make our bedroom drapes complete with blackout lining, so I have a better grasp of what I'll need to do. Bobby is happy that the sewing machine he got me for my birthday a couple years ago is really getting a workout.

I apologize...

I haven't been very motivated to blog the last week or so. Nothing new is occupying my time, so really there isn't any excuse, I just haven't felt like doing anything on the blog at all. And so, my family and friends, you are the ones that suffer. You don't get to see what we've been up to or any new Ruby cuteness (which, let's face it, is really why you're on here). I'm going to be better. I promise. Maybe.

But hopefully this will tide you over....


Ruby loves to give kisses. She'll be playing and wandering through the house and suddenly find the need to give Bobby or me a kiss. It's very cute and I don't mind it at all. I'd kiss this little girl all day long if I could. Anyway, this is the face she makes when she's coming in for a kiss. And a little humming noise usually accompanies it too. So here's a kiss from Ruby for all of you.

Hidden

I may have mentioned that Ruby likes hide-and-seek. Yeah. Just slightly. What she's started doing now is squeezing herself into little corners around the house and waiting until we call for her. She doesn't think we can see her, which makes it even funnier. As you can see:

First Day of Work

Bobby started work this week! Woohoo! He's really enjoyed being home for the last month and a half, but he's started getting restless and was ready to work. He dove in this week and has loved it. He really is passionate about what he does and is going to be a great dentist!

Sampaguita

A few days before we moved Bobby was telling me about the national flower of the Philippines, where he went on his mission. All he knew about it was that they called it "Sampaguita". So I started googling it and found out that it's actually called Jasminum Sambac 'Maid of Orleans'. And I found out I could buy it. So after we got to Texas I ordered it as well as another variety called 'Grand Duke of Tuscany'. The Sampaguita bloomed a few days after we got it and man, that sucker is strong! It has a really beautiful, heady floral fragance similar to a gardenia. Bobby said that in the Philippines there were bushes of this stuff with thousands of blooms and you could smell them hundreds of feet away. I believe it.