The Kate Effect

inspiration : the sound of music

so remember the wonderful scenes in the sound of music where all the children are romping around the country side in those matching clothes maria made from the curtians? when I was younger I thought this was hysterical - after all who makes clothing from curtians!?!

So far I haven't been able to bring my self to make clothing from curtains but I did make pillows and chair covers from a set of sheets I fell in love with! It was an inexpensive way for me to cover this square stools I have been itching to change. Underneath they are fuchusia faux suede and covered with grimpy handprints from a two year old. I know your thinking why the heck did you buy fuchusia faux suede to begin with!?!

simple. $5. They were $5 and I needed something to sit on in Kate's room next to her toddler bed. I bought three and I have loved them. (except the fuchasia faux suede part) Kate has used them to stand on while washing dishes or helping cook. I have used them as extra seating, footrests, and coffee table. They slide across the floor which means they have also been race cars.

Now they are slighly more stylish. I can wash and iron them! I manage to get a few pillows out of the left over fabric and still have the bottom sheet left over... oh and I am recovering my ironing board!

I considered using thebottom sheet to make kate a cute summer dress but my husband drew the line. He said Carrie, I don't think it would be wise to have people come over and see that we dress our child to match the furniture. Thats when I laughed and rememebered Maria and her curtians.

how to duplicate your child

I forgot to share this with you! Last month, when I was in the middle of my sewing craze, I became increasing frustrated with the fact that I had to sew after Kate was asleep but that made having her try things on very difficult.

For a while I tried to creep into her room and gently lay things on her to get a good idea of how projects would fit. After many encounters with screaming ZOMBIE Kate I decided to look for an alternative.

I found this article and voila' a Kate duplicate. Now I can put Kate to sleep and still try things on her little body. As she grows I will just wrap a new roll of duct tape around her and make a new form. Less than $15 solution. Although it does look quite creepy sitting ontop of the book shelf - especially from outside through the window at night. Reminds me of scenes from Toy Story!

Here's a few pictures of Kate getting a duct tape cast. She was very cooperative. I also made one of me, which I used to alter my bridesmaid dress, but I think I need to redo it. It's quite lumpy. I hope I am not that lumpy.

so full of air.

  father's day i am told is to honor father's. and that is what we did. what did brad want to do for father's day? be at home and do what he wanted with out me asking why are you doing that? or why would you do it that way? or why do you have to do that now?

do you see the theme? so i obliged him and gave into the request. then i spent the first half of the day ask if this was really what he wanted.

he finally lost it and said YES!!! thanks you carrie for doing exactly what i asked for- nothing .. I want to stay at home and do nothing. you have given me Exactly what i want.

i finally gave in. damn it. i really want to go out to eat steak.

a week before father's day Brad came home and announced that he had "saved me the time" and purchased his father's day gift. i was a little perturbed. the holiday was turning out to be only fun for him. he now owns an air compressor that some day he will mount to our future garage and run some hose with ports and ..blahblahblah... i don't really inderstand it. Some how that little can of air has made him happier than I have seem him in weeks.

above is the card i made - just so i could say i gave him something. I usually don't give him cards. he understands the point of cards about as well as I understand mounting air to your wall. the card was cute though and he seemed mildly impressed. all the raving went to kate for her art work (that i framed for his desk). she spent most of the day wishing Brad "happy mother's day" and asking for cake.

hint hint. pass along to hubby, please.

remember valentines when you all so stealthly helped me pass along my gift wishes to brad...

well my birthday is coming up and i have found a great hint for him. (if you think this is weird, don't. brad went out and got his own father's day gift. then let me know that he saved me the trouble. at least i am not robbing him of the joy of actually getting and giving the gift.)

I love this design from Jessica Rust Design - the carved initials can be personalized! Be sure to mention that to Brad so i don't end up with J+W...

cross between the unlikable dwarf and the hulk

I am grumpy. I have been unable to shake this cloud for three days.my relaxed facial expression is a scowl and if you stand to close I will inevitably rip out your eyeballs (or any other balls you may own) with my razor sharp toungue. i have brief moments of cheer - actually brief may be an exaggeration.

for the most part I just want to be left alone to read and eat chocolate. i grumble and protest when needed or realize kate is not a bear cub, able to forage for food on her own.  i say things like.."ugh, if I had more time to sew or craft or work on my photography" as if i have not time to do anything.

I have almost ripped all of brad's boxer while folding the laundry simply because I am unaware of my own strength and i am angry about wrinkled underwear. I hate landry and dishes and sweeping and cooking - and most of all I hate the gym! the gym where some lady thinks it's HER job to remind YOUR daughter "to be good" as you drop her off at the kids area. really, lady - the only reason she peed on you last time is because you put her in time-out for screaming...had you listen to the words she was screaming you would have heard "I need to go potty!"

seriously i want to be alone, but please dont leave. If you do i will only think of all the other things I hate and that will drive me to make brownies - which will never get baked. brad will come home to find me sitting on the kitchen floor licking the batter bowl.

I have a theory ...no a solution...no a theory. Maybe if i go to the movies, as in the movie theatre with buttered popcorn and gigantic sodas, I can be around tons of people so i am not alone but I wont be required to interact with them. this will save me from the mound of guilt that follows after I snap at unsuspecting bystandereds. I could get lost in the film - release and use all these ridiculous emotions. rehabilitated I would once again be able to join society.

now to find a babysitter.

the incredible kate

check out more pictures of the incredible kate on flickr 

now I can brag....wedding invitations

Now that the wedding is over and the fear of all of you crashing my friend's wedding in a non-issue ... I can boast about the invatations i designed for the big event. here are pictures of them hanging on my fridge! I though this was the best way to display them. I didn't even see them printed until they arrived in my mailbox.

I am thrilled that the bride was thrilled with the final product. there I am done. thanks for smiling.

2 years have no appreciation for academic acheivement

this is basically how we have survived the past few weeks of weddings, graduations, and 80th birthdays. I am not sure  wha this says about our parent skills but I can say my memories of these events are much sweeter thanks tot he ability to watch Charlie and Lola on the iPone. Today we got her some super cute pink headphones - the kind the have the little thing that goes around your ear to keep them in place. she said she would share with mommy!

by the end of the graduation kate was done sitting nicely and decide to lay on the floor de-petel-ing flowers while we finished up pictures.

what was that?

today kate would NOT stop touching me.  if you have ever see the Sword and the Stone and remember the scene where they are squirrels...the two female squirrels come along and just pester the heck out of them!!! that is the perfect picture of kate today. It's a pestering born out of love but it soon becomes a fatal attraction. the more I push her away or try to distracte her the more she hugs and leans, and pulls and tugs. (yes, all you parent experts out there. i realize it is a desperate cry for attention so stop formulating your comments in your head.)

the worst part is I am having flash backs of when I did this very thing to my mom. I have not let her live it down. I have heaped mounds of guilt on her by telling complete strangers how she would tell me to STOP TOUCHING HER!! and hear I am uttering the very same words. (I am so sorry mom)

So I tried to get over my self and lighten up the mood by play running from her into the kitchen. She didn't miss a beat. running on her toes which her arms outstreched, lunging forward to grab my thigh...only I turned and escaped her grasp. Funny thing about two year olds; amazing ability to move forward at record braking speed, not so great at stopping.

Her body flies right into the wall, head at the perfect height to hit the window sill CORNER with her mouth, cutting her gums (which bleed) (alot), bouces stightly backwards from impact into the cabinet doors, where she slides down tot he floor and begins to wail.

I gather her up telling her how silly and stupid mommy is for running in the house. She's a trooper and pulls it together quickly while we sit at the table. thats when i hear this odd rumble thump. What was that?!

That was the love of your child for you hitting the floor. answered Brad who saw the whole event. (it was really the dishwasher starting)

Let's just say the Father's day gifts got returned.

"i'm taking titty tats picture."

I found kate using my tripod as a camera and taking pitures. Today was "titty tat's" portraits.

these are the moments you just want to grab her and smothered her with kisses begging her to never go up.

these are also the moments she claws at your face saying "go away mommy, i am working..." and you realize how much she really is like her mother. 

30 years ago my parents were cartoons.

happy anniversary mom and dad. we had a small celebration last week for the anniversary and i tried to be cute and make a cake with their youthful likeness. first off the cake pan was tilted in the oven and was completely lopsided. when i tried to even in up and make it level... i ended up with the thin cake ever... the icing was thicker that the cake! I made my own fondant which went pretty well. It is a messy process and reeverything I wanted to do required a bizillion different colors ... which made it a long process. then the fondant kind of melted because our new AC is not working that great and the house does cool more than 80 degrees...

I give it a 5 in taste - 9 in cute factor - and an over all D+.  This was practice for the big 8th birthday cake I had volunteered to do for Brad grandmother - yeah, I order the cake the next day.

when i grow up...

uncle mark is a deputy cheif volunteer firfighter. he took kate to see the rigg. i think she liked it. she crawled inthe front seat and said " I need a hat" uncle mark let her put his helmet on. then she pushed cousin ash out of the way and said "close the door, I'm going to drive."

this is how dreams are born. thank you uncle mark.

flower girl is very similar to ring leader in the circus

kate was a flower girl the wedding I was recently in ... over all she did a great job despite my nightmares.

I got a book about a little girl who got to be a flower girl hoping that Kate would what to be just like this very good flower girl. We started to read it at the hotel in Amarillo on the way to Colorado. I say started because as soon as we got to the part about a special flower girl dress and special shoes Kate jumped out of the bed and ran to the suitcase. I watched as she unziped her suitcase, which is a major feat for someone under 3 feet tall, and climb inside the suitcase. After a few minutes she emerged with her little white patten leather shoes for the wedding. We didn't get the dress until the wedding day so it wasn't as prized as the little shoes that sat on the dresser for weeks that she wasn't allowed to wear until the "wedding". She put the shoes on by herself and climbed back into bed. She wore the shoes all night.

my best friend's wedding

it has been a couple of week since we headed out on our road-trip to Colorado in our little Honda Accord. the trip it's self was great! Kate did fabulous! Brad and I just kept smiling at her in the rear-view mirror and dreaming about all the other road-trips we could take with such a great little traveler. Then we would pass a gas station and cry as our dreams vanished into thin air att he sight of climbing gas prices. This summer will most likely be filled with lots of walking trips. 

i think enough time has passed that I can write about the wedding Kate and I were apart of... i can now say all the things that would have completely stressed out the Bride. For instance : When my dress arrived and i pulled it out of the box i thought they had mistakenly sent me a tent. I had been frustrated in ordering the dress over the phone because the woman did not think my hips would fit and wanted me to get 2-3 sizes bigger than the professional measurements (which I paid to have done) called for. Of course it was one of those situations where you need to order TODAY and the dress maker needed EVERYONES order before she would begin. So not wanting to be the hold up I said fine. Please remember that the woman I argued with was on the PHONE - so she had never seen me. Now I do realize I am a large girl since birthing Kate, but the dress that arrived hadthe bust size of Godzilla.

23 flavors my mouth miss

 it has been an interesting few weeks...so full of events that my mind is flooded with stories to relate to you. why you might ask have i not blogged? well, i have been drinking water lately. yes, H20. that is the reason i have been unable to blog. Over the years I have sat down with my Dr.Pepper to surf the net, blog, edit photos and other numerous activities. I sewed a special coaster for my Dr. Pepper can and it ha s a special spot right next to the mouse pad. The "crack-shwwwsh" of a freshly opened can has always signified the beginning of some new Internet adventure. It started back in the days (or should I say the wee hours of the morning) of website designing with a little firm 10 or so years ago. Honestly it was less designing and lots of mind numbing code. (Notice I am no longer in the web designing business)