Joanne Heim

African Children's Choir

We went to see the African Children's Choir last night with my parents. It was awesome!

Audrey and Emma loved it and we've been listening to their CD ever since.

This is the choir that was recently on American Idol--go check out their website and go see a concert if they come to your town!

It's good to be home!

As much fun as it is to go visit friends and hang out at the beach, there's nothing quite like coming home. It really is my all-time favorite place to be.

My interview on Tuesday with Homeword went great--as soon as I find out when it will air, I'll let you know. We ended up doing two programs for the show. I so prefer doing interviews in studio to on the phone--it's nice to sit across from the person you're talking to and I love wearing those ESPN kind of headphone/microphone things. You can hear really well, you can move around without worrying about getting too far from the mic and it's just kind of fun!

Homeword is a cool ministry--go check out their resources if you have some time.

Audrey and I headed up to Irvine Spectrum Mall after the interview for some lunch and a ride on the carousel and ferris wheel. The flight home was uneventful and Toben washed the sheets, so I came home to my own bed with fresh-smelling sheets.

I thought I'd get all unpacked yesterday and sort of back into the routine of things, but we got up and played tennis, dropped the girls off at Mom's house to play with Ava, and then went to the golf course to hit balls and play a few practice holes. Then we picked the girls up and headed to the pool before coming home to baths and hair washing and scrambled eggs for dinner. (Well, scrambled for me; everyone else had tummy eggs.)

I am not good at golf. Toben says I have a good swing and I can hit the ball, but no matter which club I hit, the ball always goes the exact same distance (and usually in all kinds of random directions). The ball should really go different distances based on the club you use. Oh well, it was good for me to walk away from it and know I don't have to be good at everything! (And to walk away without getting horribly frustrated--something I've tended to get in the past. Growing up and getting older has some good points, I guess!)

Back in San Diego

Audrey and I flew to California on Saturday morning. I have a radio interview tomorrow with Homeword in San Juan Capistrano, so I brought Audrey along and came a few days early. (The interview will be taped in their studio and then aired later this summer or early this fall...I'll post details when I know more!)

Anyway, Audrey and I flew into Orange County with lots of families going to Disneyland and then drove down to San Diego to stay with Terri and her family for a few days. It's fun to be back and see those things that we've missed--friends, the ocean, yummy Mexican food, palm trees. And it's nice and cool here compared to the almost 100-degree highs we've been having in Denver.

We've spent some time with Jim and Susan (Toben's aunt and uncle), been swimming, and had a barbecue with our friends, the Corsis, last night. Their daughter is one of Audrey's best friends and they've really missed each other. As Audrey told me on the plane, "Mom, you need to plug your ears when I see Alexandria because we're going to scream--a lot!" They did and it's so fun to see them pick up right where they left off.

Jennifer and Lauren and Audrey have been sleeping in a huge pile on the floor each night and having so much fun playing games and American Girls. This morning, they started tennis and golf camp, so Audrey, Terri, and I are going to hang out before picking them up at noon and heading to the beach for the rest of the day.

Inspiration

Look what the UPS man brought to my door the other day:

(Sorry about the crick in your neck...I really did rotate the picture, but it's not staying rotated when I pull it into Typepad.)

I've looked through these books over and over again and am so excited to get sewing. I can hardly decide what to make first. Definitely the lounge pants from In Stitches and the child's smock from Bend the Rules Sewing. And there are are so many other great projects to choose from!

Living in the moment

One of the things that I try to do each day is to live in the moment--to focus on what I'm doing right now, rather than worrying about what's coming in the next hour, the next day, the next week. It's one of the things that helps me to live simply--that paying attention to the now--and to enjoy my life.

Living in the moment can be hard sometimes.

It's hard to focus on the task at hand when it's something I tend to view as a chore (cleaning the bathrooms or unloading the dishwasher) or when I'm really looking forward to something (vacation coming up!) or dreading something (vacation ending too soon!).

It's also hard to live in the moment when so much of the world doesn't.

Case in point. Summer officially begins June 21--tomorrow. But when I was in Target yesterday, all of the summer stuff is on clearance and they were moving out deck furniture to set up school supplies. SCHOOL SUPPLIES! It's not time to back-to-school shop; it's time to enjoy the hot weather that's finally arriving with the start of summer. I came out of Target feeling like summer's already over and that I need to start worrying about class placement and whether the girls have enough pencils. I felt anxious and hurried and worried. Uck. Uck. And double uck.

So to combat living like summer's already over when in reality it's just beginning, the girls and I went to the pool to float around. And now I have to go so we can go back to the pool this afternoon too.

Happy summer. Not back to school. Summer. Right now. Really. Despite whatever Target's thinking.

Sleepover!

My friend Emily is in Denver taking a three-day class at DU, and Toben's in Mexico for the week, so Emily is staying with the girls and me each night for sleepovers. It makes me think of being a kid!

After dinner last night we ran to the fabric store ("I think I have to make a skirt!" says Emily) and came home to sew, sew, sew. Emily set up her machine and worked on her skirt while I worked on my half of the quilt we're making for Josh and Sarah's (belated!) wedding gift. It was fun to have someone to chat with while we worked until late last night.

Emily's skirt turned out so cute--she's wearing it today--and the quilt top is almost pieced and ready for borders. Photos coming...

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the dads in my life...my dad and Toben.

Toben and Dad are very different in many ways, but they are both wonderful husbands and fathers (and they both really liked the shave ice the other night at Bagnell Dam!). I know for certain that both of them put the best interest of their families first and would do anything for us.

They are both thoughtful, caring, and romantic. And I love them both dearly. Thanks for being the men in my life!

Friday night on Bagnell Dam

Plus batting cages and lots of hand sanitizer when we were done!

Prettiest put-put anywhere

We played mini-golf last night at Sugar Creek--the prettiest put-put anywhere.

During the day Mom, Kristen, and I went treasure hunting, but were sad that our favorite antique place has gone out of business. Found some old strawberry baskets and a vintage Trixie Belden for my collection, though.

Then we floated around the pool for much of the afternoon.

Spent today on the water again...this is the life!

We skied and floated around and then came back to spend more time floating around the pool with a book on the big green raft. Ahh...

A day on the lake

We headed to Fort Leonard Wood Recreation Area this morning to rent a deck boat and spent the day on the water. Such fun!

Skiing, floating, fishing, swimming, feeding friendly ducks...all in all, a pretty terrific day!

Ozarkland

Today our big outing was to Ozarkland. This is the place to go for souvenirs. They have silver charms for our charm bracelets--something we always want to find.

But they also have cowboy outfits, mocassins, coonskin hats, and everything imaginable with your name on it. Not to mention a whole line of John Deere, Elvis, and Betty Boop home decorating stuff. Lots and lots of things for the girls to say "PLEEEASE!" and for me to say "NO" about.

We also played tennis and spent time at the pool. Emma's swimming like a little fish--all within the past two weeks. Two weeks ago there's no way she'd put her face in the water; today she was jumping in and swimming halfway across the pool.

Welcome to Missouri

After 12 hours in the car we made it to Lake of the Ozarks yesterday afternoon, in time to send the kids and guys to the pool and for Mom and I to head to Wal-Mart--our traditional first outing at the lake. We bought food for the week and piled our cart insanely full.

The woman at the checkout wasn't too friendly or talkative, until the end. "How do you know what everyone will want to eat?" she asked. "Well," we answered. "If they're hungry, they'll eat what we cook!" And really, it's not like anyone usually complains to have Mom and I cook for them. :)

We woke up to pouring rain this morning, so it was a great first day of vacation--stay in your pjs and read Dirk Pitt novels until dinnertime! Wade and Kristen and Ty are on their way here and should get here sometime after dark. I'm guessing that tomorrow will be another lazy day since they'll be tired from driving all day and Ty will need some good naps. The weather's supposed to be better so we'll hang out at the pool and play tennis and such.

Popsicle time...

Sewing Audrey

Here's Audrey in the outfit she made!

She sewed all the seams in the shorts and the headband. I put on the rick rack and did the hems. She also sewed the beads in the center of the flower applique and I zig-zagged it on to an Old Navy tank top.

***

We're just about all packed to head to the lake tomorrow. I searched for a swimsuit cover today, but couldn't find one, so I made this one from a chenille bedspread (thank you, Janna!) and a vintage Simplicity pattern. Mumu is such a fun word, don't you think?

It's basically two squares (the skirt part, gathered at the top) and two rectangles (the sleeves and yoke) sewn together at the sides and top with an opening left for your head. No hem on the bottom because of the bedspread fringe. Very simple. (The pattern can also be made from purchased towels.)

See you at the lake this weekend!

Shorts for Audrey

McCalls 4006

Been making some shorts for Audrey...inspired by this awesome surfboard fabric. Found a white tee with a small hole in her closet, so we appliqued a surfboard on over it to cover it up and complete the outfit!

I've made another pair for her, and she sewed a pair today too!

Read and reading

I love to read, though I haven't been doing too much of it lately. I used to read just about everything, but have become much more discriminating about what I spend time reading. No more romance novels and serial killer books for me. I do love them, but they're way too addicting, and hours and hours pass with nothing to show for them.

We are getting ready to go on vacation on Friday, so I do need to find some things to read while I float around the pool on my raft. Think I'll head to the library tomorrow and see what I can find.

All that to say, I read way more nonficiton than I used to. (Actually, I never used to read nonfiction except for work. I was a book editor/copywriter in my pre-children days.) And I find I enjoy it more than I ever thought I would.

I recently read Robert Benson's Digging In: Tending to Life in Your Own Backyard. Robert is one of my favorite writers and this book offers lots of life lessons as he chronicles the journey he and Sarah made in landscaping (and relandscaping) their backyard. After reading it, I'm up for dinner on his patio any time!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"We had an old house to live in and a new home to make."

"My gardening expertise has some limits, but I do know this much: any patch of dirt, no matter how large or how small, if tended a little bit, holds within it the possibility of enough beauty to take your breath away. It can grow something that will catch your eye and touch your heart. It can give you something to look forward to when the days are dark and cold."

"If we are to have any roots at all, we must find them in the places where we are now, on this day. If we are to make a home, if we are to deeply belong to the places in which we find ourselves, we must dig ourselves in somehow."

Makes me excited to start some work on the backyard when we get back from vacation...

I've also started reading Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life by Margaret Kim Peterson. I'm not that far into it yet, and am saving the rest for the trip. But so far, I really like it. Here's a quote from the preface:

"Keeping house can be a very mundance activity. It is certainly repetitive, and the kinds of work that it involves are varied enough that few people enjoy all of them equally. But at the very same time, housekeeping is about practicing sacred disciplines and creating sacred space, for the sake of Christ as we encounter him in our fellow household members and in neighbors, strangers, and guests."

Treasures and more sewing projects

The Paris Street Market was this past weekend again. It's so fun to wander up and down and see what kinds of things people buy. I bought this drying rack. My mom has one like it and I've searched for one, but haven't wanted to pay the $100 or so they seem to be selling for most often. This one wasn't for sale, but the gal said I could have it for $25. Done!

I wandered around wondering what I'd do with it since I have a great drying rack in the laundry area already. Then I realized it would be perfect for storing fabric. I love seeing all the fabric in my stash--and looking at it like this feels inspiring to me.

Saturday afternoon I finished the dress I was making from one of those Urban Outfitters bedspreads. Here's the finished dress--made from Simplicity 3833. It was an easy pattern to make and follow if you're looking for a retro A-line kind of dress. You can also put long or short sleeves on it.

I wore the dress to a birthday party yesterday. The birthday girl turned two and received her very first baby doll from her parents (Bitty Baby, from American Girl--a great baby doll if you're little girl needs one; Audrey still plays with hers that she received when she turned two). The girls thought that Katie and her new dolly needed a quilt, so we made this one from the pink fabric in my stash.

Audrey and Emma picked the fabric; I cut the squares; they counted and arranged them; they handed me the squares to be sewn together; and I embroidered Katie's name in the corner. Audrey wants to make a doll quilt for herself this summer (Emma already has one the three of us made together) so this was good practice for her.

***

We've spent the morning cleaning house and doing laundry; we're off to the pool as soon as Toben comes home from playing golf.

Happy Monday!

P.S. I've been reading some good books lately. I'll write about them later today...

Sleepover

The girls are having a sleepover at Mom and Dad's tonight; Toben and I just got home from seeing Pirates 3 and having dinner. If you've not seen it yet, I won't give anything away other than to say it's a three-hour movie once you add in previews and such. I could hardly believe it when we came out of a matinee at 7:30.

I do love going to the movies even though I don't go very often. And I also love going to the movies by myself. I'll definitely be going to see Nancy Drew and Oceans 13 when they come out later this month. Toben doesn't want to see Nancy Drew (big surprise!), but after seeing the preview today, I think he'll go with me to Oceans 13.

Did some yardwork today--pulling out a huge juniper shrub and raking gravel to clear space for a path around the side of the house. I'm tired and a little sore and off to bed.