Just Chillin'

This was too hilarious not to post. Allyn had the girls outside with him yesterday picking weeds and working in the yard. This was the attire they chose.....the sunglasses topped off the ensemble. At least they have an eye for fashion:) FYI, I did another new post below.

San Francisco

Alyn and I had an amazing opportunity to go to San Francisco for a few days over Spring Break to visit some close friends. Wes and Alexis are there for one year while Wes finishes up a shoulder surgery fellowship, and they are renting a great house in Mill Valley. It is on the top of a mountain that overlooks the city on one side and the Pacific on the other. Talk about a view! We spent one day in the city and the other day driving around/touring wine country. Check out the pics of Allyn driving the powder blue VW bug! It threatened his masculinity slightly, but he later admitted that it was fun to buzz around in what felt like a little go-cart. Thanks so much, Wes and Alexis, for being such gracious hostesses! We can't wait for y'all to get back down to the South this summer:)

Look, no thumbs!!!!

Our sweet little Ella has been a thumbsucker since she was born. She loves to twirl the satin ribbon attached to the end of her "pillow" and suck her thumb. Allyn and I decided that she might be ready to stop, so we bought this book that uses real life illustrations and tells the story of a little boy named "David" who wants to stop sucking his thumb too. She was surprisingly VERY intrigued by the book and seemed like she wanted to give it a try. We wanted this to be a very positive experience for her, so we have tried to take baby steps so that she can feel successful. It started with "Barbie" bandaids wrapped on the thumbs at night. That was chalked up as a failure when we observed her sound asleep, sucking right over the bandaids. The next try was socks over the hands. I know it sounds crazy, but we got the idea from the book. That's what David tried to help him. It was met with some resistance, but she eventually warmed up to the idea. We are now on day 3 of sleeping during naps and at night with our Auburn socks on our hands and no thimbs in the mouth. What you can't see in the pictures is the tape around her wrists to keep her thumbs from accidentally "sneaking out" while she's sleeping. She is so proud of herself and we are proud of her too. My baby is really getting to be a big girl now!

Crazy Weather Weekend!

Us Auburn folk have had a wild weekend.....tornado Saturday morning, wearing short sleeves Saturday afternoon in the sunshine, then snow on Sunday morning. To quote my girls...."God is sending us some crazy weather!" The girls were both thrilled to wake up to the site of snow on the ground this morning. They were chomping at the bit to get out there, so we suited up right after 7:00 this morning and headed out. Much to our surprise, Gray was LOVING it while Ella prefered to be inside where it was warm at read books. Mom happened to spend the night with us last night, so it was fun having her here to get to share in our adventures. As you can tell from the pictures, Gray, Allyn, and I built brother/sister snowmen. Gray helped fetch the sticks for the arms and gathered mulch for the face. She was all about helping Allyn carry the snow and pat it down. Again, Ella prefered to watch from inside. She was content to see the finished product from the den window:) What a fun way to spend a Sunday. The girls are just going down for a nap, and I am about to join them!

New Blog

Since I have had several people ask me about doing some monogramming and appliqueing for them, I decided to put my monogram fonts, applique designs, and fabric swatches on a separate blog. This way, it will be easier to see than having to come over to my house to look at my stuff in a notebook. The fabric swatches are sort of hard to see online, so anyone is welcome to come over and look at what I have in person. Click on the link "Little Originals by Ashley." Hope this helps those of you who are interested:)

Greatest Invention Ever!

I found the greatest invention at Hobby Lobby the other day! It is a foam cornice board that allows you to make a window treatment with minimal fabric (only 1 yard to cover the entire cornice) and no sewing at all. What you need: an iron, scissors, and a measuring tape. Here is a picture of a finished one that I just put up in my kitchen. I added a little extra fabric to the bottom to make it appear like a roman shade. All you do is cut the fabric to fit, do a little ironing, and tuck it all into place. Why couldn't I have thought of this??

Better late than never...

The Thames family has had quite a fun end of January and first of February. Here are a few of the most recent adventures:

Our ski trip to Telluride, Co. with two sweet couples, the Muncies and McDonalds. We are so blessed to be able to share fun times and make memories with such special friends. The girls stayed with my parents/sister while we were gone, and they had several fun-filled days. Some of their outings included the McWane Center, the cat show, going to the Disney Store at the mall, and the zoo. Kudos to my sweet sister who took both of my children AND her 14 month old to the zoo by herself! She is much braver than me! Oh, and did I mention that they even managed to ride the train and the carousel while they were there?? How she managed with all of them I'll never know. Thanks Aunt Lynlee for taking such good care of the girls!


Next was the Sweetheart Party at school. Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Kandy won some major brownie points by giving all the children a stuffed teddy bear. As you can tell by Ella's red lips, they thoroughly enjoyed their Valentine's cupcakes also.




Then it was on to Daddy/Daughter Date Night. The city of Auburn hosts this precious event each year, and this was the first year the girls have been old enough to go. They called it the "princess ball" and were so thrilled to have a night out with the daddy they adore so much. I only wish I could have been a fly on the wall to watch the "dancing" that went on. Allyn looked like one tired puppy when he got home, but said it was a success. I think Ella would have stayed until the bitter end, but Gray had her fill after about an hour and a half.



Last but not least, this bout of warm weather has gotten me inspired to start some Spring sewing projects. I went to the most precious store in Columbus called Sweet Treasures, and you might as well have put me in the middle of a candy shop. I was drooling at all of the adorable fabrics and trim. I managed to make it out of there without spending a fortune, but I couldn't wait to get started on some projects. These are pictures of some of the completed ones. Man, if only I didn't have to make 2 of everything, I could move much faster!! So, that's the latest with us. I'm going to try to do better about posting more often!