Trip to the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica

On Tuesday, my sister-in-law Beccie, who is also an avid "crafter," and I went on a trek up to the Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica. I picked her up at her house (on the way), we got our coffee and tea, and were ready to go. The UCC did not disappoint! Although we went up there with lofty ideas of it being actually bigger than it was (the store portion, in particular--hey, a girl can dream, right?), we were still in glorious crafty heaven wandering around the store.

While we saw a lot of crafting items that she and I both had "mastered" the art of creating (quilting for her, scrapbooking for me), there were still some new techniques and items that she and I are both dying to learn. Felted animals (BIRDS for me, MUSHROOMS and WOODLAND CREATURES for her), new t-shirt screenprinting techniques, how to machine quilt on a sewing machine, as well as some hip and modern shrinky-dink jewelry...so much to learn! We were so enthralled with what we saw, that we are going back on Friday for a free demonstration that they are having, and bringing my brother along with us.



On a side note, MOST of the house I live in is now painted! Woo hoo! I'm still putting the "finishing touches" on things with the help of my decorating-maven friend Sharon, but pictures will soon be available! During the rest of the summer, other home renovations will be happening where I live (new slider, new flooring, new downstairs bathroom) but they will take more time to complete. So, in the meantime, Beccie and I are focusing on some summer projects at her house, mostly pillows, curtains, and furniture re-arranging--all VERY fun! I am teaching Beccie how to sew cording in pillows (the easiest thing EVER), and Beccie is teaching me how to quilt with leftover scraps that I have from making pillows at my place (no-cost, low-risk if I mess up!). So my few blog readers will have a peek into some other projects later in the summer as well.

Stay tuned for further updates on my "CRAFTY" summer!

New nephew...#15 from my two families!

Joshua Michael Rinehart

Joshua was born to Liz, Jay, and Abbie on June 19 at 1:35am, just a few days before Father’s Day. Jay was delighted to get a SON so close to Father's Day! Josh was 9 lbs. 9 oz. and 20.5 in. long with a 14 in. head . . .a real whopper!

Last week, I went and spent a couple days with Gramma Shirley and Poppa Bob to have some play time with Abbie while they were watching her during the first few days of Liz and Jay's adjustment period to the new baby. Abbie is so grown up now! She speaks in complete sentences, is amazingly bright, and has a hilarious personality. She loves introducing you to her little world in Bob and Shirley's living room (she has a play corner there) and even to her routines in the bathroom. "This room is called the bathroom. And this is my stepstool. And these are my animals that go in the tubbie with me. And this is the soap...". This was all during a brief trip to wash her hands after walking Buddy, the dog.

The next day, I went with Bob and Shirley to bring Abbie back home--and also, of course, to meet Joshua. He was SOOOOO adorable! His cheeks and chin were so chubby and cute. His eyes were still very blue, and he had a little bit of brown hair (not as much as Abbie was born with). Abbie kept telling us what she would teach Joshua: how to play peek-a-boo, how to play hide and seek, and of course, how to pet their kitties "gently." (Somehow I think the gently part was taught to her as greatly important).

The funniest part was when Liz and Jay were changing baby Joshua and Abbie stood up tall on their bed to see what was going on and she said, "What's that?"...pointing to their obvious gender difference. So all of us got to hear Liz address the birds-and-bees watered down, fit for a two-year-old talk about the difference between boys and girls. Abbie didn't seem convinced, which was the most hilarious part. Ahhh, the joys of parenting. At least now I know what to say if I have a boy and a girl--Liz did a great job with that whole topic!

So...this makes #15 in my line-up of nieces and nephews in my biological and adoptive families:

Madeline
Julia
Carson
Seth
Dylan
Olivia
Alexis
Madison
Macy
Noah
Mason
Zach
Abbie
Jessica
and now...
Joshua!

WOW! Too many to keep track of!!! I do have to say, I really enjoy being "Ant Jeny." You get the joy of having children around who are fun but you get to send them back home at the end of the visit. :-)

Finally, here is a picture of grown-up Abbie loving her brother's "teeny tiny hands."

Big Sister Abbie and Little Brother Joshua