A few months ago I found this pink felt cowgirl hat at a second hand kids store.  It was on their after Halloween costume clearance and I snagged it for about $1.50.  And it’s real felt.  Like, the kind I could take to whatever place you take them and they could reshape or dye or whatever.  Not that I am interested in dying it.  Creamie might be, her favorite color for the past few months has been blue.

Not too long after that I saw a Western store that was going out of business and stopped in to check out their sale.  And I found boots.  Little girl leather boots.  Real honest to goodness cowboy boots, and they were 70% off.  And it was all I could do to not buy four or five pairs.  I picked these ones with a few sizes to grow so she can wear them for a while.  They are really big on her now, but I couldn’t handle her growing out of them anytime soon.  I gave them to her for Christmas and she wears them all the time.  It’s hilarious.

In this crazy unseasonably warm winter weather we stopped by a historic cabin in my little town to take some pictures.  And I am so glad I did.  I didn’t get to take pictures of her for her birthday (yet).  But these will be a really good reminder of what she looked like right now.

Her hat, sweater, denim skirt and tights are all thrifted, as is her vintage embroidered top.  This is one of my very favorite of her outfits, even before she had boots and hat.  I’ll be sad when she has grown out of all these pieces.  This sweater is already in the too small box, she’s been wearing it for two years now, haha!

Boots, stripey tights, ponytails and  a hat.  I love this girl.  Also, I really need to remember to take pictures of her wearing more of my favorite clothes.  She doesn’t care, but I sure do love looking at them.  I think I am going to do one post in the next few days with my favorite pictures from the past, oh you know, like two months since I fell off the blogging wagon and then I’ll be all caught up.  And I’m already working on a few Valentine projects (February is my favorite month!) and a few secrets.  Be back soon!

But today my little girl turned three.  And this is what we had for lunch.  We had a real party last weekend for her with our family, the morning after my sisters wedding.  I had 27 people in my house.  My very small house.  But it was wonderful. And now I’m back to mostly normal, I slept a full 10 hours last night and I hope that in the next few days our computer will be recoverd enough so I can get to all my photos and my camera software and photoshop and blah blah blah.  I’ll be back soon.  I have a lot of things to share!

I didn’t know I was going outside to keep her from falling into the engine.  But I love this picture!

There she was, face in the engine right next to her dad and fingers getting greasier and blacker by the minute.  And she was as happy as could be.  The headlight box took a while to get out (one of the clips was broken and it took a while to wiggle it out) and she was completely entertained “helping” for almost an hour.  And it wasn’t even the kind of helping that isn’t really helping, but is mostly just getting in the way.  She stayed out of Scotts way for the most part.  She just wanted to be right by him.  It was so sweet.

Daddys toolbox was her favorite.  I think she pulled out every single tool and used it to fix something in the car.  Moneky wrench, screwdriver, jammer, chisel…. they all went under the hood for a few minutes before she’d put them in a little stack on the sidewalk next to his box.  When his box was empty she declared the car fixed and was done playing.

She was so completely hilarious banging away under the hood with whichever tool she had in her hand at the moment.  And I was also really glad she didn’t drop anything in there.

We did find a big old screwdriver in there, it was almost 18 inches long.  Who knows  how long it’s been inside the engine.  It wasn’t one of our tools, so it has been in there for at least four years, maybe more.  This car has been in the shop over and over for minor repairs and I was shocked no one found it before now.

It wouldn’t be a car repair without getting under the car to check things out.  And she was more than happy to help out.  It was a great afternoon, and I am so glad I had my camera handy to snap a couple hundred pictures of the whole thing (you’re lucky I only posted six…)

Last night I made some pumpkin spice frozen yogurt.  The recipe still needs a little tweaking but oh my goodness it is delicious.  I’m off to finish off the last of the batch before I settle into a little sewing.

I made her apron, bloomers and hat and then on Monday afternoon decided she needed a matching candy sack too.  I finished up her bag about 4:00 and then hurried to take pictures before we went trick or treating.  Unfortunately I forgot to put the little polka dots on her face until I was nearly finished.  Bummer.

I tried painting a pair of white tights with green stripes and it was a total failure.  I ordered these stripey tights on Thursday and was beyond ecstatic when they arrived on Monday afternoon.  Yay for $6 expedited shipping! (Of course, that made her tights about $12, more than everything else combined!)

I had to fix her hat one more time before we went trick or treating.  I made this hat about 4 times before I got it to look and fit right.  And after we were done taking pictures I pinned an elastic headband to the inside which kept it on much better.  I sewed one of my bath loofah’s to the inside to keep it all puffy.  And if I hadn’t had to make it four times I would have had time to make a little strawberry pincushion for the very top.

Last year on Halloween it was rainy and cold and just plain awful weather.  This year it was 70 degrees and perfect.  Creamie loved trick or treating, and her bag got so heavy she wouldn’t carry it anymore.   But the only thing she wanted to eat was one dumdum sucker.  Then she told me she’d had enough and she would save the rest for tomorrow.  I don’t know where she comes from sometimes.

I can’t wait to figure out what she is going to be next year!  And maybe I’ll actually make myself a costume for next year too.  I better start in January, or it might not happen. Ha!

I’ll share the recipe this week, but these three were just too cute not to show you.  Also, they tasted delicious.  And I ate all three in under a minute and didn’t feel bad about it one teensy bit.  Sugar free!  Nearly carb free!  That is practically health food.  And now that I know how well this mini pie tin works I can see myself making a whole lot of mini pies this month.  Man, I love pie.

Also, Creamie’s Halloween costume turned out to be, like, the cutest thing in the world.  My own Mini Strawberry Shortcake!  I’ll share some more pictures of it tomorrow, but wanted to give you a little peek.  Eeeek! She was so happy, and spent the whole evening telling people her name was Merry Berry Shortcake. I love her.

She is wearing a thrifted vintage sweater, white cardigan from aWalmart,  thrifted skinny jeans and her favorite boots I found a few weeks ago for $3 at a thrift store.  She wears those things almost everyday!

If you ask her what her favorite part about the cabin was it was making a fire and eating dinner in front of it.  When we move a wood fireplace is high up on the list of things we don’t think we can live without.

Last night we picked a few boxes of apples from my mom’s neighbors tree.  I think most of the rest of the week will be consumed with making applesauce and apple pie filling to can.  With my little helper at my side it is sure to take 100 times longer than necessary and be a lot messier than usual.  And a lot more fun.  See you soon.  And one day maybe we’ll remember to bring a tripod so we can get at least one picture with all of us together.  But whatever, she’s the cutest one in the family anyway.

Creamie started taking a dance class with some of her little friends.  It is just once a week, and her teacher is a teenage girl who is earning money to continue her own dance class, which I am thrilled to be supporting.  Watching her dance around is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.  Last week she insisted on wearing Batman with her tutu.  And rainboots.  I found these boots at the thrift store for $3.25 last week and she will hardly take them off to take a bath.  I love it.

We have been busy here at Casa Pinksuedeshoe.  I’ve been working on a lot of projects, unfortunately none of them are for me.   Well, except this raspberry peach pie me and my mom made the other day.  Recipe is still in the testing phase, but holy crap.  This might be the best pie I’ve ever eaten.  And I kind of consider myself a connoisseur of pie.  I’ve also been doing a lot of thrifting.  And I’ve had some amazing luck.  I don’t usually shop for clothes for me at the thrift store, but my sister has converted me.  And I’ve purchased a new fall wardrobe in the past few weeks that I love.  I’ll share pictures soon.

I completely lucked out on Saturday.  I don’t usually go thrifting on saturdays, but since Scott is working 12-16 hours EVERY SINGLE FREAKING DAY  it didn’t actually feel like a Saturday.  And I found this whole stack of vintage Pyrex for $10.  Those two on the bottom are really big, 4 quarts each!  I was so excited!  I’ve also found a lot of new sheets lately.  I finally found the perfect sheet to make this dress.  And it was brand new, still in the package.  Score!  Proper thrifting post soon.  I promise.  I have so many new treasures, I love it!

I made myself a new skirt a bit ago.  I’ve worn it a few times, and I love the color and the fit, but one thing always bugs me.  I didn’t have green serger thread, so I left it white and just hemmed it under.  And when I am standing, it’s totally fine.  No problemo.  But when I walk and my skirt moves and swishes you can see this awful white stripe of serger thread on the inside of the hem.  So I colored it with a sharpie.  Problem solved.  I’m resourceful like that.

Scott’s birthday was on Monday, and Creamie and I met up with him for lunch.  We went to a great Brazillian place and ate as much food as we could hold.  This was dessert.  I don’t remember what it was called, but it’s like a churro that was filled with a creamy pudding and topped with caramel.  Amazing.  We took a good long lunch and it was so nice to talk to him in the middle of the day.  He used to work right next door to our house, so I got to talk to him at lunch everyday.  I miss it.  I can’t wait to move closer so we can do lunch together more often.

I was pretty sure that neither of us would be eating dinner after what we ate for lunch.  And I was right.  And so instead of making a REAL birthday cake, Creamie helped me make him THIS birthday cake.  I did the cutting, and she did the choosing and the gluing.  And she wrote his name up there at the top (the gray “letters” across the top of the page.)  She was so excited to give it to him and sing him Happy Birthday (all by herself)  when he finally came home.  I need to do more crafty projects with her.  She is in heaven with a gluestick and a pair of scissors.

So, to continue this post’s theme of complete and total randomness, here is my newest favorite picture.  Target has vampire teeth in the dollar section.  Thanks to my friend for sharing some with us.  She loves to wear them!

And, one last bit of randomness for your Wednesday, fall is officially here and I can smell winter in the air.  Last Saturday there was snow on the mountains when I woke up.  I can see the leaves up there starting to change color and just in the past week there are a lot of new patches of red and orange.  I have been making a lot of soup and bread, and I can’t wait to wake up to snow!

We’ve lived here for five years, and it was just a few months ago that I ventured out to our city library.  And it is awful.  Dark, dirty and a place where old books go to die.  Thankfully, they have a deal with the neighboring city library and I can go there.  Thankfully.  Anyway, after the first time visiting I realized that I really needed a library bag.  Because there was no way I could carry my stuff, Creamie’s stuff and the books and still chase her and/or drop everything at a moments notice for a potty break.  So, I started looking around my collection to see if I had something that would work.

And I found the perfect bag.  A great big bag made of heavy duty canvas, thick straps the perfect length and a zipper pocket inside for keys, phone, chapstick, handsanitizer, library card, and the printout of the books I need to remember to bring back.  Too bad it was ugly.  A handmedown from my sister, who used to work for a scrapbooking magazine and ended up with boxes of swag.  But I am so not crazy about the logo on the front and the sponsor list on the back.  So I improved it.

See, much much better.  I used some cute fabric and sewed on panels to cover up all the ugly labels and logos.  I just cut a piece to size, pressed the seam allowances to the center and topstitched it in place. The hardest part was getting my sewing machine down inside the bottom of the pockets to stitch across the bottom.  This would be a much easier fix on a messenger style bag.  No trying to fit sewing machines inside small pockets!

Our latest trip to the library was a good one.  I am so glad I brought my camera.  It fit right inside that giant bookbag with plenty of room for the 22 books we brought home.  One day I’m going to max out my library card in number of books brought home.  But I think my bag could still handle it.

I found some of my favorite books from my childhood to bring home to read to Creamie.  I have loved reading her the books my mom read to me, and some of them books my mom read to her littlest sister.  The Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books, Snip, Snap, Snur were always my favorites.  Creamie is in love with the Little Bear stories.  She is particularly interested in his mothers sewing machine. (Cue heart swelling with pride music here.) Most of these books are still a little old for her, but that doesn’t stop her.  Or me.  I am constantly amazed at how much she remembers and understands from books that seem too involved and stories that seem too complicated for a 2 year old.  Yeah, my kid is awesome.

She laid down right here and read books to me for more than a half an hour before she remembered the big park that was outside.  And as soon as we got home, she was ready to read stories again.  It is one of her favorite things to do.  The other night I think we read 15 books in a row before she had her fill.  And that makes me happy.

The past few days she has been requesting one ponytail “like mommy’s one big ponytail.”  She is so sweet sometimes.  I love it.  Though that one ponytail makes her look a lot more grown up to me.  Maybe it’s just me.

Yesterday after school she had a picnic outside with all her new classmates and their parents.  She was beyond excited to show everyone her sandwich, her carrots and her applejuice.  Don’t worry, she didn’t actually eat any of it…

She is having a great time, and I am so glad that she gets to play with my mom for a few hours each day.  She is doing great, particularly for being the youngest kid in her class by at least 6 months.  And some of those kids are more than a year older than her.  But, we probably won’t live close enough next year for it to be feasible (I can’t stand Scott missing so much of Creamie’s life because he is commuting.  We’ll move sometime next year.)  So this is their only shot.

I found her dress and cute red maryjanes at the thrift store for $2 each.  And when some other mom complimented her on her cute dress at the picnic she proudly said “My momma find it at D.I. (my favorite thrift store).  And I got some surprised looks from a few, and some “oh-my-gosh-you-must-be-poor” look from the mom who drove the fanciest car.  And she’s right.  We are poor.  And happy.  And if I can buy a $35 Baby Gap dress for $2 I will.  And Creamie will wear it proudly.  So there.

And since we live close, but not super close, I have been spending the mornings while she is in school spread out on this quilt at the park with a notebook and a pen and trying to get my brain and my ideas all organized.  But I found a picnic table near a power outlet, next week I might take my sewing machine…..  Also, I can’t tell you how happy I am that summer is over.  I’ve been wearing a jacket at the park in the morning and it’s still chilly.  Hello Fall!

But she’s not.  She woke up from a much needed afternoon nap by running into the bathroom, and has been in and out of there all afternoon.  She can’t keep anything down.  I’ve put her in the tub five times today.  She’s almost ready to go back to bed, and I hope that by tomorrow her little body has recovered.  A lot of laundry today, and I don’t think our bathroom floor has ever been so clean.  Scott has washed it six times today.  Thankfully the carpet has remained unscathed.  For now.