like it or lump it

We are back from a lovely week in Pittsburgh. I purposely didn't take my sewing machine along on this trip so I would be forced to have time to play with the girls (that sounded awful).
We went to the Children's Museum...and Phipps... and we ate ourselves into more than one food coma. It wasn't all eating out though. One day we stayed in and made two big pots of soup for UD to have in the freezer when we aren't there with him. I was having a very June Cleaver moment. We also got to see Lian and Terry and the triplets which was so fun. Here is C3 with 2 of the trips...

AND we made a couple trips to the yarn shop down the street. They were having a Presidents Day Sale so I stocked up on some organic cotton with which I promptly started making some miniature Maezy dresses for the still unfinished doll floating around in my head (so far it's a very well-dressed little imaginary doll).This week I'm hoping to dye some fabric to finish the dresses. Next Saturday is a big 5 year old birthday event so I'm hoping to get the doll design finished in time for the big gift!

Speaking of birthday's- yesterday was my 31st birthday. My mom made an amazing chocolate cake with peanut butter fudge filling (all vegan!). UD gave me this sweet pair of shoes (totally unexpected). They are summer shoes but I just had to try them on... M1 made me the nicest card...and M2 said "Happy Birthday Mama" every time she saw me:)

It was pretty great day even though I spent the better half of it at my great aunt's funeral. It was actually nice seeing lots of distant family members (although I'm usually too shy to converse too much). Seeing them all interacting and remembering my Aunt Presh, who died very suddenly last week at the age of 75, made me feel good. She was a very kind woman and she raised a really great (and huge) family. It was a beautiful event. At the lunch following the ceremony they broke out the beads from their Mardi Gras party and M2 announced "We're having a celebration!" as she danced around the room while everyone clapped (I'm not sure where I got her from). I actually agree with my daughter- funerals can be really nice celebrations and this one was a special way to spend my birthday too.