Thursday, June 30, 2011

180/365:2

180/365:2 by daisy plus three
180/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

coffee is even better when it's in a cute mug. thanks, mom!
--
This morning was definitely a two coffee morning. I always try to drink enough water during and after derby practice, but it seems like the practices where I try to push myself harder (and sweat a lot, which is 100% of the time) I tend to wake up with a headache, despite taking ibuprofen before bed. I went through 64 ounces of water during practice and on my way home, and I had about 24 ounces after I got home. Not to mention about 32 ounces before practice. That's a lot of water, yet I still get what I think are headaches related to dehydration. I also try and have an after practice snack like Greek yogurt or something protein filled. I almost always feel better after having a good protein filled breakfast and coffee. That was definitely the case today. Not to mention the two cups of coffee too.

Practice was fun last night and on the plus side my feet weren't killing me like they were last week. We skated a lot and did three different pacelines. We did "10 minutes in hell" which is pretty much what it sounds like...1 minute of skating low, 1 minute of skating low and fast, and then 1 minute of variations of plank, and repeat. The skating I don't mind. The planks? While on skates mind you, not fun. We also did a speed test at the start of practice. Ideally we want to aim for 25 laps or more in 5 minutes. I managed to do almost 20 laps. If I pushed just three more strides, I would have had 20 laps exactly. There were quite a few of us skating, so it was hard to keep a constant fast pace without coming up behind someone slower that you had to get around, but it was great to get an idea of what I should try and work on.

179/365:2

179/365:2 by daisy plus three
179/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

near ogden and grand
chicago, il
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On Tuesday I went for a 4.50 mile walk with the kids and dog. So I snapped some photos on the way. Aubrey napped for awhile. The dog was pretty tired, but I think she was happy she got such a nice long walk.

Monday, June 27, 2011

178/365:2

178/365:2 by daisy plus three
178/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Top stitching of this stack of burp cloths will hopefully happen tomorrow. The kids keep me pretty busy, so everything has to be done in small steps. When these are finished, I will hopefully have 3 new sets of two and one or two singles.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

177/365:2

177/365:2 by daisy plus three
177/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Osaka Garden at Jackson Park
Chicago, IL
--
We went to the Osaka Garden at Jackson Park today. We had never been there, and since it was so nice outside we decided to go and check it out. It's small, but still really nice. It was built for the World's Fair and is located near the Museum of Science and Industry (which that building was also built for the World's Fair). After we checked out the garden, we took a walk around the park that is on Wooded Island, then headed over to the path along the lake. I think I may have found my new place to do some outdoor skating. There were definitely less people in the area, and the pathway was really nice and would be perfect for skating.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

176/365:2

176/365:2 by daisy plus three
176/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

three aces
taylor street
chicago, il
--
a couple of friends stopped by and we headed over to three aces for dinner and drinks. this is definitely our new favorite bar/pub in the neighborhood. they have a more gourmet menu than your standard pub fare. the beer is good and the people that work there are all really cool. plus it's a punk rock bar, and it just has a really cool vibe. not to mention the huge patio with tons of outdoor seating.

Friday, June 24, 2011

175/365:2 /// Week 25 of 52

Naturalizer Natural Soul
Pink and white polka dot wedge heel slingback sandal
--
I was pretty busy today. I went out to get some fabrics to start work on a new item for my etsy shop. Then when I had the chance I just tried to get as much sewing done as I could. I also made new labels for my baby booties and other items. Between all that I was taking care of the kids. Aubrey's been really active, and wants to crawl around everywhere. She does not like being confined, so it makes it really hard to try and work on stuff without constantly being interrupted. John helped with the kids tonight, so I could get some sewing done. Tomorrow I'll take photos of everything and hopefully get everything added to my etsy shop.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

174/365:2

174/365:2 by daisy plus three
174/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

grabby hands
--
she always tries to reach out for the camera, which of course, when she's sitting on a bench I can't capture the photo I was going for because I have to reachg forward and make sure she doesn't fall.

I was busy today trying to get a custom order of baby booties finished. Fortunately, I was able to keep the kids entertained enough that I could do just that. I wanted to get some more booties started this evening, but lack of parental help from the dh prevented it (insert angry face here). I'm still going to try and get some of what I planned finished before I am too tired, but I know there was a lot more I could have worked on if I wasn't constantly distracted by the kids.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

173/365:2

173/365:2 by daisy plus three
173/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

the clouds were huge and so dimensional today that I had to snap some photos. they were also moving really quickly, and I was afraid we might get caught in the rain while I was out walking the dog with the kids. fortunately, the rain held off until sometime after 5 p.m.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

172/365:2

172/365:2 by daisy plus three
172/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Strawberries from our weekly produce pick up.
--
It was a hot day today so we just stayed inside most of the day. I took the kids to the store to get groceries and then we went to pick up our produce after John got home from work. Apart from that and doing laundry, that was pretty much my day.

Monday, June 20, 2011

171/365:2 /// 259/365

Day 259
--
Today was BlytheCon 2011 in Portland. I had originally planned to go, but then it just never really worked out. So instead of meeting up with lots of Blythe collectors and having a mini-vacation I stayed home with the kids. I intended to take some doll photos, but never got around to it. I'm trying to get a custom baby booties order completed and get more pairs finished for etsy. And even that it taking longer than it should. Especially since Aubrey is much more active these days and crawling everywhere and getting into things. She gets bored in the activity chair, but when she is on the floor crawling around I can't focus on sewing. I got the playpen out today and set it up in the living room. I wasn't planning on using it since it takes up so much space, but we need a place for her to be when we are busy with cooking or cleaning or just other things going on. Not to mention I was hoping she would nap in there since she is really fighting napping in her crib. Fortunately, it did work and she played in there and eventually fell asleep with all her little toys all around her.

Friday, June 17, 2011

168/365:2

168/365:2 by daisy plus three
168/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

I picked up this book today while I was out shopping with the girls. Have you read it? It's completely silly and a major tongue twister. I was reading it to Kenzie and felt like I was speaking another language.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

167/365:2 /// Week 24 of 52

Rocketdog striped canvas slip-ons
--
Went to bed with a slight headache and woke up with one that was much worse. So needless to say, we didn't do much today. We did get out and walked the dog, but that was pretty much it. Fortunately, my head is feeling much better now.

Currently listening to:
artist: Meg & Dia
song: Summer Clothes

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

166/365:2

166/365:2 by daisy plus three
166/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Tonight I finally got to skate again and started intermediate derby lite. We had a week off between sessions, but then last week was too hot (no properly working a/c in the space) so we had to cancel. Finally, after two weeks, I got to derby skate again. It was fun. We did a weaving paceline, worked on t-stops and plough stops, did a plough stop drill with a partner, and did some scooter pushes and even a scooter push paceline (a line of 6 and the person in back had to push all 5 of the other ladies). we even did the kick the milk jug relay race to end the practice. looking forward to next week's class!

I didn't take any photos today, so just snapped this one while sitting here at the computer. It's a stack of baby booties just waiting to be sewn. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have time to get them started.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

165/365:2

165/365:2 by daisy plus three
165/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

new makeup fun
--
I ordered a few things from sephora last week and they arrived today. I always love getting the little samples too.

Monday, June 13, 2011

164/365:2

164/365:2 by daisy plus three
164/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Finally a warmer day again. This past weekend it felt like it was autumn outside. Today definitely was not warm June weather, but at least it wasn't as cold as it had been. She was being silly and speeding away on her bike everytime I tried to snap a photo. She was screaming just for fun while riding around and I just lucked out and got this one.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

163/365:2

163/365:2 by daisy plus three
163/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

I went skating this morning with a couple of girls from derby (and took Aubrey because I could push her in the stroller). Spent time with the kids in the afternoon, and watched some bad Sunday afternoon tv. When the kids finally went to bed, I decided to finally work on and finish a photobook for Aubrey's first 6 months. Now I'm just trying to get these photos up so I can go to bed.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

162/365:2 /// 249/365

she had food all over her clothes, so she was just hanging out in her diaper until I ran upstairs to get her pajamas. she was having fun jumping up and down.

we were busy with cleaning out the basement crawl space today. 3 big garbage cans later and we got lots of the junk out of there, which means we could get some other boxes put up into the space and get more room in the basement.

Day 250
* I'm behind a day in Aubrey's 365

Friday, June 10, 2011

161/365:2

161/365:2 by daisy plus three
161/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

"A million miles of running and
I hit the wall,
I bounce back and I run some more."

- veruca salt, volcano girls -

I tried Zumba out again today. Earlier in the week I gave it a shot and thought for sure this was not for me. After trying it again, it wasn't so bad. It was actually fun. The key is to Feel the Music. Once you do that, it's kind of fun. I'm already thinking about when I am going to do it again. Not sure I'll have time this weekend, but I'm thinking Monday looks like a good day for it.

Thursday, June 09, 2011

160/365:2

160/365:2 by daisy plus three
160/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

I really hate waiting around. I also really hate when you are given a time frame, and the person you are waiting for shows up at the last possible second.

We had been having problems with our cable again (most likely because of all the rain we have had) and a tech was out on Saturday. He scheduled for a new line to be run outside our house, but also suggested we change the cable in the house. We did that and our service greatly improved; however, our dvr was still not working. So I called on Tuesday to get the dvr fixed, and instead of making things better it was worse. We ended up losing our cable Tuesday around 4 p.m. (when I called) and were out of luck until a tech could come out today to replace the box. The earliest appointment was today between 1 and 4. Of course, I figured if I went anywhere this morning they would have called and arrived early like they were on Saturday. But I also figured if I didn't do anything or go anywhere they would be late. And late is just what they were, showing up right at 4. At least the cable is fixed now and we have a brand new box. It was still frustrating though having to wait around all day, though I did manage to get laundry done and even reorganized some kitchen cabinets, which needed to be done anyway.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

159/365:2

159/365:2 by daisy plus three
159/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

margie's candies
chicago, il
--
intermediate session for derby was supposed to start tonight, but because of the extremely hot temperatures and the lack of properly working a/c in the space practice was cancelled. I was all set to go, so was bummed I couldn't get out and skate tonight. I joked that we should go to margie's for ice cream, but then once I mentioned it, John was all for it. we decided to go ahead and see if we could get a table. we lucked out and were seated right away. when we left there was a line of people of waiting outside, so we timed it really well. the place is so old it's both creepy and cool at the same time. and every table has these little mini jukeboxes on them. you don't see these that often anymore.

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

158/365:2

158/365:2 by daisy plus three
158/365:2, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

Grandma Susie and Grandpa Guy (my parents) gave Kenzie this little tricycle yesterday. She was so excited. Even though it was really hot today we went out for a little bit before naptime to ride the bike. I had planned to stay just in the courtyard, but she wanted to go around on the sidewalk. I pushed Aubrey in the stroller while Kenzie had fun on her bike.

Monday, June 06, 2011

157/365:2 /// 245/365

Day 245
--
real baby and fake baby

Sunday, June 05, 2011

156/365:2 /// 244/365, 8 months old today

8 months today!
--
She started crawling much better this past week and has been getting around pretty well. Tonight she pulled herself to standing not once, but three times. Pretty big steps!

I went back and checked quickly on when Kenzie pulled herself up for the first time, and as it turns out she pulled herself up in her crib at just about the same age as Aubrey...243days...1 day shy of 8 months. Looks like these two are more alike than we thought.

Saturday, June 04, 2011

155/365:2 /// 243/365

Day 243
--
Saturday update:
Sick dog meant lots of cleaning.
And more cleaning.
And frustration about the amount of cleaning that took place starting sometime after 11p.m. last night.
Escaped for a few hours to run errands and grocery shop.
Hoping that whatever made dog sick is gone and there is not a repeat tonight leading into tomorrow.

On the plus side? Our floors have not been this clean in ages.

8 months tomorrow!

8 months tomorrow! by daisy plus three
8 months tomorrow!, a photo by daisy plus three on Flickr.

154/365:2 /// 242/365
Day 243
--
Things were hectic on Friday, and I realized that I never took a photo until I was already going to bed. So using two from today to make up for it.

Friday update:
Yesterday, I went to Stroller Derby in the morning. Basically it's just an opportunity for us derby moms to get together and skate while pushing our strollers. It's open to anyone who wants to skate too though. It was fun, with the exception of Kenzie crying each and every time we skated past the playground. I stopped skating after about 7-8 laps (about 2.50 miles, I think) so she could just run around and play. Note for next time....do NOT skate around a park with a playground when your child is obsessed with playgrounds. Afterwards I met with a friend who wants to put together a website and John and I volunteered to work on it for you.

Since I was already sweaty from Stroller Derby and hadn't had a chance to clean up, I decided to try out my Zumba dvd that I ordered. I am much better suited for skating. I don't have the rhythm for Zumba, but it seems fun and I'm going to keep at it. I can only hope that once I get the steps, it will get a little easier.