Does anyone else despise obnoxious talking Elmo toys? You know, the toys that make the annoying sounds and always get tossed aside whenever a cardboard box is present? I really don't like those toys. I do like the ones that make real (not canned) noises when handled by exploring hands of little ones. It's possible that I like my peace and quiet. Two weeks ago, when my mother-in-law was in town, she suggested that I make Penelope some bean bags. I thought this idea was doubly radical* because my mom had just given me a 5 lb bag of white beans that were starting to look slightly aged. I also had remnant fabric from a few misc. projects including minky fabric from the quilt my mother made for Penelope. Happily, all of the fabric seemed to coordinate very well. Really. What doesn't look good with Heather Bailey fabric? Seriously. Heather Bailey is my hero. I wanted to have a different texture on each bean bag to keep Penelope interested, but I don't think it would've mattered, because she loves them so much anyway. I finished sewing the fourth bag at about midnight two nights ago and less than 10 minutes later, Penelope woke up. She did NOT want to sleep, she wanted to play. I think she knew I had just made her a new toy. Her face lit up when she saw the new bean bags and she giggled and clapped when Christopher started juggling them. It felt SO good to make her something she likes so much. She likes them so much I had a very hard time getting all four bags in one spot to take photos. Penelope kept taking one and running away from me. Sneaky girl.

*Awesome is losing power. Radical needs to take over the world.