Knot Sew Crafty

Summer is a Wonder

--full of many activities, none of which are regular blogging...  The kids go back to school in a week and a half and I can't wait to have a little bit of time to do some writing and posting.  

I hope you enjoy the last vestiges of Summer--unless you are in Australia or New Zealand, in which case, enjoy the last bits of Winter!

Auntie J on The Hidden Seed!

My sister's design was featured on The Hidden Seed, which is a fashion/style blog by the super-humanly talented Elsa Mora!  I'm not kidding about Elsa's talent either-- I think there must be something divine about her, and if you look at her papercuts and other 

artworks, I'm sure you will agree that a mere mortal could not make such things.

via elsita.typepad.com

Is anyone else having trouble formatting their posts on Typepad?  Everything is coming out wonky.  :(

Birthday Coincidence

Tuesday was India's 4th birthday, and we had a lovely family party, complete with Carvel Ice Cream Cake. That seems to be the birthday cake of choice around here these days, and I'm not complaining because I do love those chocolaty bits.

The dark circle under her eye is not from shadows or bad photography.  It's a shiner that her sister Willa gave her by hitting her in the eye with a frisbee.  The bruise is a lovely shade of yellow/green today.

It was also President Obama's birthday--48 years to the day from when he was born in a hospital in Mombasa, Kenya...  I hope I'm not offending anyone here, but what's with the birthers?  I think John Stewart said it best:

What is the coincidence alluded to in the title of this post?  India shares a birthday with Obama, Beatrix shares a birthday with Bill Clinton, and Willa shares one with JFK, jr.  Does this mean that John Kennedy would have been President one day?  It's impossible to say, but if the foretelling power of my children's birthdays is any indication, it seems pretty clear.  Of course, Amy Grant, Christina Applegate, and John Larroquette also share Willa's birthday, so maybe it's the fate of one of them to be President someday.  

I'm just saying.

Love La Vida

I have a six year old who is obsessed with Love Story by Taylor Swift.  She wants to perform it for us pretty much anytime we will let her.  I've drawn the line at her coming into my room in the morning and waking me up by serenade.

I happened to see this version on be yourself, create art everyday and I really like it.  It's a combination of Love Story and Viva La Vida by Coldplay, played on piano and cello.  Be forewarned that it's quite long, and that it might just get stuck in your head all day.

And this is for Willa, to prove to her that the song is indeed about Romeo and Juliet, not Romeo and Julian:

Wall Decal Crazy!

The whole world covers my bad patching job of Bea's wall:

Allows the fairies easy access to the kitchen:

And one more door for the upstairs fairies:

All these decals are from Wilson Graphics on Etsy.

Fleeting Glimpse

I've been feeling guilty lately that, while I have featured my nephew Eli several times, I have not yet shared a picture of Eli's brother, my very funny, very sweet, and very handsome nephew Theo.

This is why:

The kid will not sit still for more than one second!  This is the best picture out of the bunch that I took.  You can see that India is valiantly trying to hold onto him, while maintaining her picture smile.  Sadly, my perfect picture was not meant to be.  I'm going to have to get much faster to catch up with Theo. Either that, or snap his picture when he's sleeping.

In Case You Were Wondering...

what to get India for her birthday, she has made up a handy list.

She taped it to our front door so that passersby would have an easy way to find out what they could give her.  

Her birthday is coming up in August and we've been making lists like this since shortly after her last birthday.

I will naturally be getting her the "Candy Scratch Tickle Machine."  I'm told that it also has a bed-building feature and also pops popcorn.  Boy, I could market that thing like crazy if I could invent one!

Vintage Photo Friday...er...Saturday

OK, it's one of those fake vintage photos that you take in touristy areas, but it is actually one of my favorite pictures of my family from my teen years.

I think we were in a ghost town in Colorado, on one of our two family trips "Out West."  Auntie J, do you have any idea?

I'm the one in the middle with the jaunty chapeau.

That Kind of Day

Today is stormy and we all feel lousy and I'm a bit cranky, so I'm going to share a picture that cheers me up.

This is from a series that I took last Thanksgiving, in a futile attempt to take a holiday card photo of all three girls at the same time. Willa was fidgety, Bea didn't want to wear the itchy dress, and India was howling the whole time. This is by far the best picture I got. Needless to say, I did not send out a holiday picture last year.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

I couldn't resist...

posting this picture of the delicious nephew Eli being held by his proud Oma.

And yes, Oma's nose is pierced.