sometimes love hurts...

did you ever watch tiny toons? 

there was a character on there...elmyra

 

she was known for her deep love for animals, that actually looked more like animal abuse. her hugs were headlocks, her pats a slap, and her attempts to care for her animals always left someone hurt.

well, i have my own elmyra. her name is mackenzie. and she is in love, big time, with her little sister. she equally loves being the big sister. she likes to have addison watch her do her daily tasks (go potty, bathing, eating). and shouts ever so loudly, "see addison!"  or "see me addison, like this!"

that's not the problem though, that's pretty sweet. the problem is her desire to love on addison. teeth clenched, knuckles white, she gives addison daily...scratch that...hourly doses of elmyra-like affection. it leads to tears (addison, usually hurt or startled) and more tears (mackenzie, confused why sister isn't cooing and smiling at her hugs or fearing she's in trouble). 

i am happy to report, despite these moments of sisterly love,  addison is as happy as ever. 

smiling addie, notice war wound from morning hug

DIY hair-flowers-things

i was inspired by my gals' hair  

 addison, givin' j. bieber a run for his money

mackenzie is our curly girly

 

so i thought i'd give these hair-flower-things a shot. they turned out pretty cute, were incredibly easy, and took no time in all...like maybe ten minutes. a great accessory in a bind.

step one: choose your fabric

the flowers can truly be made from scraps...i have a bit of a love affair with fabric so i had plenty on hand to choose from.

step two: cut your circles

i found (by trial and error) that the flowers look best with at least 4 layers of fabric. it also pops when you use different textures. another lesson learned is to put the busiest/smallest print fabric as the first layer, so that the larger patterned prints aren't blocked...duh! (opposite of what i did below). play around with the different sizes you cut, they do not have to be perfect circles by any means. also, using different types of scissors adds some funk. i have a sweet vintage pair of shears from my great-grandma that did the trick

step three: sew circles together

with a simple stitch through the center you can attach all the circles, but i did a large stitch and then cinched it tight and it gave it a gathered/curled-in look.

step four: add buttons

again, i have inherited half of my sewing supplies, and with it, a bunch of fun buttons. i attached the desired button with a hot glue gun.

step five: attach to hair accessories

i picked up a collection of hair things from the dollar store. i attached them with the hot glue gun, positioned asymmetrical. i am still playing around with different size flowers for the bands, so bare with me on some of these pictures. little curly likes the big girl plastic hair bands, and bieber hair girl rocks the soft ones. 

finished product:

challenge

"are you crazy????"

that is a direct quote from my dear ol' mum when i explained to her what justin and i had just signed up for. and for the record, she did call back and promise to support all my efforts even if they are a bit loony. 

the decision in question is the deschutes dash. all my bend friends have probably heard about it. justin and i both have competed in it in the past, but this time i decided to take on a little more.i signed up for the duathlon...olympic distance. 

that means that i am going to be getting this postpartum booty movin'! a duathlon for this race entails a 3.1 mile run, followed by a 25 mile bike, finished with a 6.2 mile run. no sweat! errrr...

but this is one of my core truths, one of the things that defines my very being, i like me a challenge. seriously, i live for pushing myself, not just physically. i like to push the limits to see how much i can handle, which is funny because then there are other areas of my life that i refuse to take one step out of my comfort zone.

in truth, the reason why this is so rewarding and such a challenge is because this june marks the 7th anniversary of my L4, L5 bilateral fusion. at 20 i got four screws in my back. not only was that real painful, and a sluggish recovery, but i also had to face that there were just some things my body simply could no longer physically do. that's a hard pill to swallow at 20 when you have your whole life ahead of you. but this is a happy ending, because each time i cross a finish line, or meet a goal i've set, it is the sweetest gift. so stay tuned as i whine and complain and celebrate my way through this training time. (which i can't even start for another few weeks but still half of the battle is gettin' my mind ready, right?)