August!

Isn't August supposed to be The Dog Days? Well, I guess I can't complain about the 70-80 degree weather, but some mornings we've had to break out the sweatshirts around here. So, that means that my tomatoes are still green! Okay, for those of you that think that Michigan is so cold that we can't even grow vegetables, don't worry. I'm growing them in pots which makes them go a little slower but the cool weather and lack of sun has made them very sleepy.

The above picture is about how far my basil has grown since May! I expected them to be as tall as trees by now, but they are only little guys. I am glad, then, that I planted so many! I'm hoping for a warmer, pesto-laden fall. My little tomatoes are still green, but I'm still hopeful. I'll keep everyone posted (as I browse your blogs with harvest tables full to bursting - grrr).

I am ready to block my toddler tunic! I'll send a picture as soon as I get her blocked. I am very excited. I bought enough pretty red yarn for a long dress, but we all know how that turned out. Sigh. So I have some leftover yarn that I'll turn into these ultra-cute legwarmies. Give it a try if you have some small ones to knit for!

New on the store-front: I've added red, white and blue to my cache of barrettes. My friend, Em, suggested that I add those colors because a lot of private schools use those colors in their uniforms and how great is it to color-coordinate? Thanks, Em! So I whipped up these lovelies for her darling daughter, Taylor Anne. I hope you like them, T.A.! Thanks again, Em. I'll be posting a set of these guys on my store site next week.


New on the kid-front: frozen monsters! I went garage sale-ing last weekend and ran into a really cool mom and her boys who shared with me the fun activity of freezing small animals/insects/dinosaurs in an ice cube tray. The PERFECT toy for bath time, swim time ... anytime! Chandler had such a great time watching the ice melt in the bath last night. Of course, the downside is that fits are thrown when it's time to put the Ice Age animals away and go to bed. Such is life.


And I have been loving the iced coffees this summer. Recipe courtesy of my uber-creative and fun SIL:


You can find the recipe here.

Oh, and for your Mid-Week Lift:


Did that make you smile?

Stay on the path...

Show Your Spirit

I am so pleased to finally reveal a small project I've been working on, planning for and losing sleep over: College Sweethearts!

I have been crazy over the felt hair barette craze and bought quite a few before I decided to finally sit down and try to make some myself. After trial and error, I think I finally have come up with a high-quality formula that turns out the best hair pretties, and they are so much fun to make.

I grew up in a family that was crazy over college sports, I lived in a town that had a specific color scheme, I married a college sports-lover and now live in a college town. So, it was pretty easy to come up with this formula.

I love the fact that I can get T-shirts and outfits for my little ones to show their school spirit, but I haven't been able to find cute enough hair clips that will actually stay in my daughter's hair. So, I came up with these:


And these:


And these:


And then I opened up shop at bigcartel.com:


As you can see, I only have green and white in the shop right now. That is because I am only allowed to show five items at a time in my current status as a Big Cartel shopkeeper. If my business grows, I will be able to post more clips to the site. Don't worry! As soon as one set sells, I will immediately post another set to take its place.

Please don't fret if you are not a green and white fan, I plan on branching out very soon and adding all the Big Ten schools to my site. If all goes well, I will branch out into some SEC schools and go from there.

So, if you have any thoughts or advice, I would gladly take some (please be nice - I'm highly excitable since I am low on sleep). I would also gladly take some free advertising! So, if you know someone who might be interested, please direct them to my shop or email me at jennyem1atgmaildotcom.

On the path...