The Graduate

This was the last week of pre-school. How proud are we? It's been a wonderful experience. We all enjoyed the field day celebration.

Butterflies. How fitting. She wore them on her first day, too.

An apron for every artist

My new apron!

I love it!

I made this apron using the pattern from Craft Apple. It was so easy to follow! And, it has already made a difference in my sewing rthym...no longer am I misplacing down a pair of scissors, my invisible pen, or my trusty seam ripper.

I made two at the same time, one for myself, and one for Steph. Learning many things from her (and more to come I am sure), I cut both the aprons out at the same time. I stitched up one, then put that one on and utilized it in stiching up the second.

She had no idea it was on the way. Sometimes it's fun to send something "just because".

Baby Girl Blanket

I made this gift a while ago, but have been waiting for the right light to take the picture. This is a gift for a friend of mine who recently had a baby girl. I intended to make a blanket that the child can enjoy through toddlerhood, rather than newborn baby hood.

Learning from my experiences, kids love very, very soft blankets with the satin binding. I made this blanket with materials that were super soft. The back is a soft pink polka-dot mink, the front a soft flannel with small roses on it. I added the flower patch for some more interest in the front.




I found the satin binding very difficult to work with. I don't like to hand-sew, so I thought I could just stitch in on in one sitting around the blanket. I wasn't sure how it would press against the mink, so I thought, sure, this would be no problem. Um, no. I must not know how to work with this stuff correctly because it took me way too long, and way too many ripping of seams. I ended up hand-stitching some of the binding in the back. This was not one of my best works. However, I think a small little girls hands will still love to rub the blanket against her face, and pinch and rub the satin with those little fingers. She won't notice the bad stitches for years to come....

Spring gardening AND Mother's Day 2008, Version 2

Last weekend was a super busy weekend. Not only did we go Strawberry picking, but I got a chance to play in the garden. After picking the berries, I planted about 19 plants! Yes, 19! They are all summer blooming, so the fruits of my labor will be enjoyed throughout the summer.

Can you believe this is my garden? I am in awe. We planted this patch when I was pregant with Nathan. It is turning out so well. The grey small plantings are lamb's ear from our dear friend, Connie's garden. The flowers are various peonies. They are nothing but pure enjoyment for the eyes and nose. They are so fragrant. I only wish they bloomed year round! The tree in the back is a pink Japanese Dogwood. They bloom later than the normal American Dogwood, but they are worth the wait.

The plants that I planted will bloom in the summer, so this garden will have year round interest now. The show starts in the spring with the Azaleas, to the peonies, to the Astillbe, the Stella D'Oro day lillies, the Black Eyed Susans, and the grasses will show all year long (not shown in this picture). I am very proud of this patch (can you tell?)

Closeup of the pink dogwood.

Here is a picture of my lovelies in front of the garden. Corinne is wearing the ladybug dress that I referenced a few posts back. It came out great. It was a pre-shirred fabric that was sold by the yard. In most cases, all you have to do is zip up a seam, hem the bottom, and the item is done. However, in this case the fabric had a strip of ladybugs at the bottom that I didn't want to loose in the hem. Instead, I took up the fabric right underneath the pre-shirred fabric. I added the red strip at the waist and I added ties to the top for straps. I think it came out very cute, and Corinne enjoys wearing it.

The same day we went to the patch, and planted 19 plants throughout the yard, Corinne and I made a cake to take to Mother's Day #2. We were inspired by a kids cookbook given to her as a gift. I think the cake came out very much like the picture in the book. It was a lemon cake, and it was GREAT!

Strawberry Picking

Last weekend we went strawberry picking at a local pick your own farm. It was a great day to enjoy the weather. The strawberries were EVERYWHERE! This was our first experience doing this as a family, and I think we can say we all had a great time.

We all worked hard, picking the juicy berries warmed by the May sunshine....

Really hard at work....

All hands pitched in.

Little hands just couldn't resist the taste of freshly picked berries. What could be better?

I think this face says it all. :)

I have not had a lot of time to post lately. I have a list of projects I want to share, and I have pictures of my garden that I want to share and save here. But, today, I saw this article written by Stephanie Pearl, and referenced by Amanda Blake Soule (whose book I am going to purchase as soon as I can get to the store to use my Christams gift certificate from Kenny) and I couldn't resist sharing with you moms out there. You have to read the part about dress-up play.

I love being a mom. I love it. And I love sharing my stories, reading others, and trying to remember to cherish each moment. When my young children are doing something that is either annoying, or exhausting me or Kenny by pushing our limits, or trying to define out their boundaries, I try to tell myself that I will miss these days. I really don't look forward to the day that my daughter or son tell me they hate me, or "I don't know what it's like to be a teenager" in a teenage rampage, or the day they don't want me to hug them when I leave them at school. I am eating up this wonderful time of play, sharing, learning, and pure enjoyment.

Some photos of fun play. A favorite past-time activity: building. These were taken at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. We didn't make it to the actual museum part, rather we hung out in their GREAT play room, but one day we will return to learn more about building...

Nathan's castle.

His humble servant, helping to build that great castle.

She decided she needed her own.

A Homemade Mother's Day

What a cute little box! What could be inside? Is it a lunch box?
No, it's a Mother's Day gift for my mom, who loves her cup of tea DAILY. :)

I knew I wanted to make her a handmade gift since she knows how much I have been sewing lately, and I didn't want to do something that she has already received as a homemade gift from one of her other daughters. The handmade items - scented tea coasters and a personalized coffee cozy. All items are lined with Insul-Bright, so they can be used with hot drinks.

I used a modified version of this tutorial for the coasters. I liked the idea of making the coasters washable, but I didn't want bias tape all around the coaster. So, I cut the back in half and used bias tape for the back split, but I sewed the front and back pieces right sides together instead of adding the bias tape all around.

I also sort of quilted the top. I fussy cut some fabric, added binding, and stitched along the lines of the fabric. I tried out different decorative stitches to make each coaster unique.

The spice insert is removeable, as shown in the above picture.


I followed this tutorial to make the coffee cozy, as my mom also enjoys a trip to a coffee shop occasionally. This was my first experience embroidering by hand. It was not hard to do, and I got into a rythm at the end. I used Steam-A-Seam to connect the pieces instead of Wondertape (I could not find Wondertape at the fabric store). I think if I make this again, I may add velcro instead to make it more adjustable. I told my mom that she'd have to let me know what she thought of it not being adjustable.

I enjoyed putting this together think it was a well received gift.

In Recovery

Well, it's done. I had my LASIK on thursday and all went well. I was not too nervous right before, but was a little during the surgery. The worst part was the cutting of the flap and then the drive home. After a small slumber all felt better. I woke up this morning and couuld see clearly. I felt almost normal. They say it takes a few more weeks for best vision, but already it is better than my vision has been since I was in middle school.

I spent some time running in the morning outside in the fresh air the day of the surgery. Morgan came along with me and seemed to enjoy her trot.

I also got to finish a few projects (see previous post) before heading to the doctor. I am happy with the end products, but will have to wait until later this weekend to share. ;)

I am not sure what to pick up next. I have a long list of things I desire to create!

Simplicity 3750

It's finished! This is the shirt that wouldn't quit, in my mind. I bought Simplicity 3750 pattern back in oh...January? Well, March had me picking up the pattern and make the attempt. I am very happy with the final product, but the process to get there took longer than I expected.

Turns out, I think this is going to be a great summer shirt. Now, after a few alterations.

It didn't start out looking great. Simplicity 3750 first go round:

The picture above is the shirt put together as the pattern calls for. I orginally did View C, with the capped sleeves. I thought it looked OK, if I walked around with my hand on my hip all the time.
Without my hand on my hip, I felt like I looked a little square with the sleeves.

I took lots of pictures because I couldn't decide if I liked them. Well, I didn't like them, but the sleeves took so much time to put on, I didn't want to think that this shirt needed them removed. After showing the shirt, as it was, to my mom and sister, I decided to remove them. I felt more comfortable with this shirt without the sleeves. So, off they went.

Here's the side view, before the sleeves were removed. See all that extra fabric, and the tie in the back? I thought that once I removed the sleeves I'd be ok with the shirt. I attempted to wear it out, sleevless, with the tie in the back once. I took the shirt off before leaving the house. There was too much ease in the waist, and the high umpire tie in the back made me feel like I was wearing a maternity shirt. That's the last way I want to feel when I walk out of the house!

So, today, K. took the kids shopping and I stayed home. What a great mother's day gift there - time. Time to pick up this shirt, rip out the side seam, remove a tie, attach the other tie across the back, take it in on each side, and add an invisible side zipper. Ahhh, much better! Now, you may actually see me wearing this shirt out in public!

View from the back.

Side View, with the invisible side zipper.

Would I make this shirt again? Yes, with the alterations that I put in place. I would make a size 8 (pattern sizes run bigger that store bought clothing sized) for both the top and bottom pieces. I would also add a 12 inch invisible zipper down the side and take the pattern in. I like my clothes to fit a little more closely to the body than the pattern called for.

Plans Change

Ah, aren't they adorable? They are really best friends at this age. What fun.

I loved the light at this time in her room after her nap. She's always in the best mood after she's had a good rest.


Someone got new shoes that looked just like mommy's. It's still a big deal around here.

See what I mean about best friends? If she's around, he's her little follower. She has a full time, built in fan. And, he's got the same thing - even though she sometimes gets upset when he HAS to be working on the same puzzle she is, or playing with the same blocks, or when he knocks over one of her block creations....

This week I had big plans to finish a few projects up. One was the ladybug item I referred to in my last post. It's still there, and I am glad I didn't finish it. My final plans changed on inspiration from another blogger. I'll go into those details when I finally post the finished product.

This week we had unexpected things come up that had me in other places. It was not fun hanging out at the hospital with my son, but I am thankful he was there just to be checked out. We now know to watch out for some small breathing issues come weather changes: the pattern was very familiar to the pattern we experienced in the fall. We thought we were over it, but we're not, and it's not uncommon, and we've got a treatment plan. We know what symptoms to watch out for now, and that is a good thing. This time, though, Nathan's breathing issues were resolved quickly, and we did not have any accompanying fever. That means, he was back to his happy, playful self in no time.

Tonight I had some free time after work to do some shopping (Thank you mom and dad G.!!!!). I returned some clothing that was not going to last Nathan through the summer and found a DEAL of clothing at Kohl's for bigger size clothes. Woo hoo. I also spent some time at Joann fabric store and stocked up on some necessities. I got the cutest boxes for organizing patterns and I rushed to my craft space to put them right to use. I love them. That space needs some livin' up, and it's going to get there!

OK, so LOTS of rooms in my house need some decoration attention - so little time to shop, so little money to go to things like "accessories" when we all need clothing, food, shoes, gas for the car...sigh. We'll get there...eventually! I've got some decorating goals this year that ARE going to get met in that area. My new sewing machine is going to help me along the way...that's been a big motivator.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I have not had a lot of time to think about it this week due to the busy week with the hospital visit. I am excited, nervous, and tired. I hope to sleep for a LONG time after the surgery as I am told the hardest part is the many hours right after the procedure.

With that being said, I am not sure if I'll be on this weekend at all. So, until then, Happy Mother's Day!

Spring is in the air!

Don't you just love playing outside on warm spring days? We had some time today to enjoy the weather and all the wonderful things that start to happen in the spring.

Every year for the past two years, I have taken Corinne to the garden center to pick out her "garden". It's really a pot or two of annuals, but we call it her garden. We got to do that today. But this year, she changed it up on me a bit.

See those vegetables? Yes, those things that grow in the ground that you can eat? We added some tomato plants and some pepper plants this year. It will be interesting to see her enjoy the fruits of her labor.

I got to enjoy some buds that are awaiting to show their display and those that are in full bloom...

So did this little guy.

It's been a day of ladybugs....

More to come on that last image. The dress got its final fitting today. It's awaiting my return to the sewing machine for the finishing touches and the fashion show!

Welcome!

Hello Family and Friends!

I am going to use this site to share some adventures with the kids, crafts, and home projects. I hope you will enjoy. I was inspired to do this by my sister and so many other bloggers out there who willingly share their stories. So many amazing projects out there to do and enjoy. I hope to make a lot of things for my kids, family, and friends to enjoy. As I have time, of course...

To entice you to return, here is my favorite recent picture. Don't you just want to give them a squeeze?