As I'm typing this, I'm letting out a looooooooong sigh.  It has been one of "those" weeks. 

On Sunday, it hit the fan around lunch time.  Katherine had been getting used to the whole eating solids thing until recently, when she decided it might be fun to suck her thumb while eating her food.  She then likes to rub her face and rake her food-caked fingers through her hair, causing a huge mess, usually ending in a quite necessary bath at the end of the day.  During lunch on this particular day, she decided to accessorize herself and me with green beans.

{Spitting green beans everywhere}

{Halfway through lunch, we looked like this}

After an outfit change for her and me, it was time to make my lunch.  As a very needy and fussy Katherine cried on her pallet in the floor, I managed to get my lunch in the microwave.  There wasn't much time for my breakfast this morning so I was starving.  As I was taking my food out of the microwave, for no clear reason this happened:


I mean, really.  I still can't explain what went wrong.  Several expletives flew out of my mouth as I got on my hands and knees to clean up what was supposed to be my lunch. 

Monday was a new day.  Jason was off so we decided to get out of the house and go visit the new outlet mall in town.  I'm super excited about the J. Crew and Kate Spade outlets.

The day went smoothly until it was time to leave Katherine with her babysitter while we played our last night of softball.  She completely lost it.  It broke my heart to leave her while she was so upset, but she would eventually calm down.  We lost the first came of the playoffs by the way, and were officially done for the season.

Tuesday came with a moody Katherine who simply refused to let me get any work done.  She fussed and whined until she was held.  This made it particularly hard to sew any projects for potential Etsy customers.  I was officially a day behind getting things made and shipped out for customers.  That night, we went to a Cardinals game with my mom, brother, and Mandy where Katherine was a perfect angel. 



Wednesday was spent catching up on the work that didn't get done on Monday or Tuesday.  To reward both of us for our productivity that day, Katherine and I headed out to Food Truck Wednesday, where we met my mom and some friends.  Even though it was a million degrees outside, it was fun.

{Food Trucks!}

{Delicious shrimp tacos}

By Thursday, I was exhausted and still had several things on my to-do list that didn't get accomplished.

This stay at home mom stuff is no joke.  I had always heard moms say it was a full time job to stay at home.  I had never doubted them, but you just don't know how hard it is until you're actually doing it.  I sit down at the end of each day and think "where did the day go?"  Katherine decides what we do and when we do it.  This has been the hardest part for me to accept.  I'm still used to going and doing and getting things accomplished. 

As we were out and about checking things off our to-do list Thursday afternoon, Katherine and I ventured off the trail for her first visit to Trader Joe's (one of my favorite places to go!).  We came home with a bag full of semi-necessary purchases including strawberry jam, sourdough bread, croissants, and cookie butter (it's exactly what it sounds like and it's amazing). 

Nothing like kicking back after a long week with some pretzels and a jar of cookie butter.  I'll probably have the whole jar eaten by the end of the weekend. 

Etsy projects are completed for the week, orders have been shipped, and we officially kicked off the Labor Day weekend with a trip to Historic Downtown St. Charles for lunch and shopping on Main Street.  Happy Labor Day weekend!

Right on time this month.  August's chocolate dessert is Choco-Toffee Bananas.  Despite it's odd look, these were pretty good.  It was the perfect week to make a frozen banana treat since the temperatures decided to rise into the upper 90's. 



These were pretty easy to make.  You just need bananas, chocolate, pecans, and crushed Heath bars.  Frozen chocolate covered bananas on a stick?  Yes please! 

{Finally summer!}

 

{4th of July snacks}

{Happy 4th of July!}

{Katherine's first Cardinal game}

{Favorite summer playlist:  Jack Johnson}

{Katherine's first time in the pool}

{Sno Cones!}

{A trip to the Science Center}

{Summer must:  Ted Drewes}

{Shark Week!}

{Taking in a River City Rascals game}

{Visits to Creve Coeur Lake Park}

{Spending time on the deck}

{Summer beverage:  Peach Tea}

{Loving the pool!}

{Katherine's first 4th of July}

{Zach's birthday party}

{Lots of walks}

{Successful summer softball season}

{Trips to the Farmers Market}

{Summer snack:  S'mores and Sangria Punch}

We had a great summer, but I'm officially ready for fall!  So until Labor Day is over, I will soak up every last moment of summer.  After Labor Day, it's pumpkin time!

I'm liking the new upcycled t-shirt trend (have you seen my Etsy Shop?).  I had been looking into the whole "make a tank top out of your old t-shirt" design on Pinterest.  Needless to say, I needed a design that was quick and required no sewing.  I had dabbled around with a couple of t-shirts and finally made this t-shirt tank work.  I can't take credit for this design because lots of people do it this way.  I'm just sharing this quick and easy way to make a tank out of an old t-shirt. 

Take an old t-shirt (the bigger, the better) and cut the sleeves and neck out.  Instead of scissors, I used a rotary cutter.  It's a little easier to manage.  Make sure you don't cut too deep, otherwise you'll have a booby shirt.  I would cut a little off at a time.  You can always cut more.  When you've got the neck and sleeve part where you want it, cut 2 or 3 strips off of one of the discarded sleeves.  Cut those open to make a long strip of fabric.   
Bring the back straps together and start wrapping around them with the first strip of sleeve fabric.  Tie it off at the end, then start with the second strip, wrapping it around.  You can wrap a third strip of fabric if you want.  It depends on the size of the shirt you are using.  Tie off the last strip and tuck the ends away to where they're not showing. 
The t-shirt I used here isn't as big and is more "fitted."  I personally like the bigger "oversized" design better.

When I washed my tank, I didn't put it in the dryer.  I let it air dry. 

Make sure and check out the Etsy Shop this week.  Use coupon code BAGSALE for 30% off of the TOTES while supplies last.  Sale ends August 25.  And don't forget to also check out the "Shop My Closet" page on the blog!

I love mummies.  My fascination with mummies and Ancient Egypt started in the 3rd grade after watching a memorizing episode of "Reading Rainbow."  In the episode, LeVar Burton (haven't heard that name in a while) featured a book on Ancient Egypt, which lead to a detailed interview with a real archaeologist about digging up artifacts and finding mummies.  Then, when I thought it couldn't get any better, we learned that advanced technology (in 1993) could determine what a person looked like, what social class they were, and how they lived by examining their coffin and mummification.  I mean, wow!  My obsession with mummies started that very second.  For a few years after that I wanted to be an archaeologist.  I wanted to travel the world digging stuff up.  My interested slowly fizzled away when I realized that archaeology was in fact science, which wasn't my best subject in school.   

I still watch the history channel and read articles about things that archaeologists find, and I still read about Ancient Egypt and mummies.  So you can imagine my excitement when the St. Louis Science Center opened an exhibition called "Lost Egypt."  My mom and I took Katherine to see "Lost Egypt" this week.  I should say, my mom took me to see it and Katherine was along for the ride.  It was Katherine's first trip to the Science Center and she actually seemed to enjoy it.  She was more interested in looking at the lights in the ceiling than the artifacts, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 


We got to take our picture on a big fake camel AND see a real mummy!  Overall, a great day!  This was the first of many, many historic places in St. Louis we will visit throughout Katherine's life. She had better get ready!

Katherine is 5 months old this week.  Time seems to be flying by. 

Sometimes getting home from being on vacation is so stressful that it cancels out the relaxing time away you've just spent.  We got back home to St. Louis and I felt like I immediately had laundry to do, the house was dirty, and I needed to unpack. 

Instead of doing all of these things, we all went to the park.  The weather was perfect and I got to use my new jogging stroller.  The dogs loved being out of the house too.  They rarely get to go to the park these days when I take Katherine out.  I can't manage a stroller and two dogs by myself.  I tried.  It didn't work.



I'm hoping to get a few more summer activities in before summer actually ends.  Katherine got to go to Ted Drewes for the first time this week.  It will be more fun when she can actually eat.  


And Happy belated Shark Week!

Last week, we took a much needed break from the city and visited our hometown.  My parents have a pool so it's like a mini vacation staying with them.  I tried hard to keep Katherine on her normal schedule while we were away from home.  For the most part it worked.  I was only slightly sleep deprived.   

This pretty much sums up our week in Kennett.

{Katherine loved the pool this time.}

{Granny came up for a visit.}

{We love swimming}

{We spent lots of time in the pool.} {We swam so much we fell asleep in our boat} {Kennett summertime favorite:  Sno Cones} {I went through some old things in my childhood closet.  If you saw my Instagram post, it does not fit.}

 Other Kennett activities included visiting with family and friends, driving to Arkansas for date night, local shopping, and having southeast Missouri watermelon.  Pretty uneventful, but relaxing.  I can't believe the summer is almost over, but I'm excited for Katherine to experience her first Autumn.  Bring on the pumpkins!