Emskyrooney

Now that we live in the desert we've had to majorly change our sun protection habits.  In Massachusetts we wore sunscreen in the summer and hats if it was "extra sunny" but here it's sunny 99% of the time and hot!  We're wearing hats, sunglasses and sunscreen basically every day! I've been relying on a few baseball caps and some old sunhats I had but really needed something with a wider brim to provide more shade.    When I saw a tester call for the Cote D'Azur Sunhat I jumped on it and was lucky enough to be chosen! This is the first wearable pattern from quilt designer Shannon Mac Designs  and it is fabulous!  The pattern was designed to fit head circumferences of 16"- 24" and has 4", 5" and 6" brim options.   It fits most people 12 months and up! I made my sunhat in size 6 (circumference 21-22") with a 4" brim.  I used quilting cotton that I'd been hoarding on the outside and a more neutral cotton on

I have been totally neglectful and haven't kept track of Things to Remember for Eliza since she turned two.  With Paul I switched from monthly updates to doing one every six months after he turned two and I totally missed Eliza's 2.5 year update.   She's now 32 months and getting closer and closer to what I've been told has now been dubbed a "threenager."    At 32 months Eliza continues to be our drama queen- she's either very very sweet, or very very stubborn.   Her mood can change in an instant from happy to cranky and you never quite know what you're going to get.  She's mastered the evil eye and has begun rolling her eyes and saying "oh Mom..." when asked to do something she doesn't want to do (no doubt she learned that one from her brother!). Eliza loves to dance.   She has a ballet video Nana and Pappy gave her that she ADORES and she and I are doing Mommy and Me dance at a local rec center.   Her usual dance outfit

I've totally fallen out of the habit of blogging since we moved to Las Vegas.  We've been so busy settling in, hosting family for the holidays, having visitors, and just generally adjusting to our new life here in the desert that months have gone by since I last blogged! Although our Las Vegas house doesn't need as much work and fixing up as our house in Massachusetts did, we still have lots of big plans.  Paul and I can't just let things be- we always have a list of projects we want to do and it's rare that we don't have one in progress...   I was good at documenting the changes we made to our Massachusetts house and I still love looking back on it so I want to be sure to document our work here on our Vegas house. To start, here are the before photos- we're settled in, furniture is bought and arranged, but the house is missing personality- it desperately needs some paint on these white walls! My father-in-law drew up these floors plans for us when we

In my last post I dropped the big bomb that we were relocating to Las Vegas.   Two months later, here we are!  And here's a long overdue update (mostly photos taken on my phone!) of our journey from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania to Nevada and how we're settling in so far! Our moving truck (#1 of 2!) was delivered to our home in Massachusetts on a Thursday.  On Friday we loaded up most of the furniture with some hired help.    Saturday morning the kids and I said one more goodbye to friends and then hit the road to Pennsylvania. Paul stayed behind to load up the last few things before starting on his road trip to Nevada. The kids and I drove 6 hours to spend the next ten days in Pennsylvania with my parents- packing in as many visits with family and friends as we could! We were lucky enough to be able to see my grandmother and aunts, my college roomie and her kids, and my brother and his family before we left. While w