Balloon Critters

We are very lucky to have some grandparents who know just what kids love.

And the kids get spoiled rotten!

Gma June has sent balloons in the past, and they were a huge hit.  However, Mom did not refresh the supply.  And this year, Lucas got more balloons in his birthday package and the kids went crazy with them.  We still have a few limp critters in a box in the bedroom.

Julia is especially patient, although all three of the kids amaze me with their creations.

 I believe all of the above are Julia's except the red dog, which Aidan made.

I could be woefully wrong, in which case I'll edit the post.

 The dog and the red-eyed poodle.  No more eyelash eyes were left.

 Lots of little twists and turns!

And Julia with her collection.  She made the poodle, a green turtle, a white swan, and a yellow giraffe. The giraffe had a tail much, much too long.  So she turned it into a two-headed giraffe in a father-baby combo.

Julia Turns 8!

Happy Birthday, Julia!

A little late to posting, but it was a special day!  We were snowed in.

Although Julia's birthday is not always on Thanksgiving, she is still our little "thanksgiving girl"!  She was born on Thanksgiving in 2005.

This year, her dream was to get the Kaya doll and her extended family surprised her with a few accessories.  She listened to the books on CD the month before her birthday, and became even more excited about getting the doll.  Of course, she wasn't certain that Kaya was among the presents, but I think she felt fairly confident!

                                         
Her Grandma made her a lovely Indian costume, and her Nana made her a bearskin for Kaya to sleep on.  She got some winter clothes and a doll hairbrush from her brothers.

She wanted a Kaya doll cake, and as usual when I'm at a loss, I asked her to draw the cake she wanted for me, so I'd know just what she wanted.  This way, it helps her keep it simple and ensures that I don't disappoint her!

This is Kaya and her horse.

Julia and her brothers:

And Julia's birthday weather:

Letters of Love

The kids were yelling....

The house was messy...

Life was chugging along as normal.

I walked in on the kids while they were playing and bent over to pick up the paper strewn across the floor.
(I tell myself I will never do this; I will make them pick up their own messes!  But it takes a great amount of will-power, so in this instance, I was weak.)

This is what I found on the papers:

"You do kind things."

"I like you!"

"And the greatest thing of all: you are beautiful"

Aidan had written this for Julia.  A warm, life-giving elixir to the heart of a mother!  =)

I also love that more kids are at the stage for spelling things phonetically.  Once Lucas began to spell pretty well, I found I missed these cute little signs and sayings.  So I'll treasure them again while my baby still spells like this!

More Skirts

I made a skirt for Julia not long ago, but it was so full that the gathers at the waist were WAY too bunchy!

So I made a couple more.

This first one, I attempted to create my own pattern out of butcher paper.  And for a first try, it'll do.  But I know a little better how to create a pattern, now. =)  Nothing like a little experience, even if it is truly a "little".  This fabric is flannel, picked out by Calysta.

In the back, I tried to create a bit of a kick pleat, but after cutting out the material, I realized I hadn't thought it through properly.  So it's a nice little random visual in the back.

The second skirt I made using a pattern that I've used before.  A total circle skirt, perfect for twirling.  I made her "blanket skirt" using this same pattern.  But this time, I made the circle skirt in two layers, so that the second layer peeks out from under the first one.  The reason for this was to double up on a thin, cotton material for winter and to add interest.  Built in slip!

You can see a bit better the underskirt in muslin with the edging that matches the waistband.

No doubt poodles are twirly!

The Mother of Invention

You know, necessity.  But in my experience, my personal experience, laziness is the mother of invention.

Which is why I find every possible reason to crochet without a pattern.  Every time I use a pattern (twice) I have to learn something new.  Oh horrors!  So to save me this tedious process of learning, growing and improving, I look for shortcuts.  Which brings me to a couple of hats I made while we spent two weeks traveling to the old hometown of Champaign in Il and to visit relatives and friends in Ohio and Oklahoma.

Pixie hat for Julia:

Kinda hard to crochet with this funky yarn.  But it's cute!

And so is the model!

Circle hat for Aidan:

Classic example of learning something new.  In the past, I have sewn hats from the crown to the rim, expanding as I go.  However, one pattern showed me how to start from the edges and take up stitches as I go.  I like it!

A couple mistakes...  too much slack at the opening, as seen here.  And it is just a wee bit tight halfway through.  I should have taken it in more slowly as I worked my way to the center.  Oh well!  Wool stretches!  =)

A New Skirt

Today I had an itch to sew Julia a skirt.  Her closet is woefully empty.  I should take a picture!  I'm the worst mom in the world because my daughter has so few clothes.

Well, I got online and looked up skirts from fat quarters.  I have a million fat eighths, which work nicely for little girls.  So I looked all about and found some great ideas.  Then I went and made something up out of my head.  And I think I'm tired of gathers.  Maybe a few gathers, but it really makes things too bunchy.  So I'm going to experiment with that some more.  I didn't actually gather this skirt, I let the elastic do the gathering, but either way: too much!

For today:
I sewed 8 fat eighths together, then backed them up to a piece of muslin.  When I do this again, the muslin will be a teeny bit shorter than the skirt fabric, so that it rolls under nicely to avoid showing the muslin.  Right now, I'm just counting on a decent ironing job to keep things in check.

I left the sides open, and sewed the muslin to the front fabric at the top and bottom.  Turned it right side out, ironed it, then sewed a casing for the elastic.  Popped the elastic in, measured it on Julia, then sewed up the back seam!  Oh yeah, before I put in the elastic, I ran some eyelet ribbon across the lower half of the skirt for cuteness.  Looks better than blanket binding!

Note on the previous blanket skirt: Julia was visiting with a lady who expressed surprise that the skirt was not a blanket but was indeed made that way "on purpose"!  

Here, I had sewn the fat eighths together and then a piece of muslin for the lining.

Forgive the bruise, not sure how it got there.

 I turned the fabric right side out, ironed it flat, NO HEM!!!!  

Stitched some ribbon on for good measure.

 Up close of a me and Julia's favorite fabrics.

She likes the dark one with curlies, I like the one on the left.

 Julia models this for me.

Notice how all seams: side, hem and waistband are HIDDEN!

Except the one seam in the back where I sewed the skirt together.

 Only complaint is bunchiness.  Gotta slim it down up top, but then it's harder to line.

I felt that lining was necessary for two reasons:

fabric is kinda see-thru; she'll want to wear it this winter

Bit of a twirly girl!

Not super twirly, but enough for fun.  And generous enough for running about.

I think I might try an A-line skirt, found a fat quarter wrap skirt that looks SOO GOOD!  I'll see how easy I can make it on myself....  

More Glasses In The Family

A few weeks ago, Aidan bashed a chunk out of his cornea with the corner of a book he was reading.

After he saw an eye doc and healed quickly from that injury, I scheduled their very first eye appointment, ever!

Shane thought it might not be so necessary; we can be hands-off that way.

However, it turns out two kids are far-sighted enough to warrant reading glasses!

They were pretty excited to pick out frames and then yesterday the glasses came!

Aidan couldn't keep his glasses on for the entire writing lesson.  It might take awhile to get used to them, but hopefully it will make these early years of learning to read and write less frustrating.

They read and write already, but there is still a lot of progress to be made!

New Bike Riders!

Julia picked up the trick of riding a two-wheeler and was closely followed by Aidan.

All the kids start their bike training here on this little hill.  They can coast and practice steering without having to worry so much about pedaling.

It was fun to see and hear them as they got confidence.  Julia was especially fun as she'd go outside and sing while riding.  She'd say things like "Mom, this is so much FUN!  I didn't know how much FUN it was going to be until now!"

Aidan is pretty good, still a little wobbly, but can ride alone.  His only problem is that he would much rather watch his front tire than the road ahead of him.  So he rides at breakneck speed while staring down between his knees as the tire spins.  We shout, we encourage, we discuss being smashed by a car.  He continues to ride with his head down.  Sigh...  These are the kind of lessons you have to actually live through if you want to learn them.  Or you have to learn them in order to live.

In this video, Julia is singing a song introduced to her by Papa: "I can ride my bike with no handlebars".  

We went on our first Family Bike Ride this weekend.  It was funny, I'm sure.  I had to run beside Aidan on the uphills (it's hilly here) while holding my bike and pushing him.  I got a workout, let me tell ya!  Lots of complaining and such.  But they want to go again! =)

**********

Well, I get back to this post a few weeks later, and you already know about Mom being the one who falls off her bike!  Still, I have some pictures that I want to add to this post and show you my big babies all riding bikes, if not like pros, at least with enthusiasm.

No, Greyson did not run into the street, I promise.  By the time he runs to where the kids are, they've gone back and forth a few times. =)

Making the Peasant Dress

My sister sent me a link to this cool peasant dress, which I fell totally in love with.

I've heard before of this stretchy bobbin thread that does all the ruffling work for you.  If you have a Brother machine, it's all a cruel lie.  Let's just get that straight at the beginning.

But, here are some of the nice fabrics I got!  Julia chose the butterfly print and the purple heart print, I chose the rest.  Of course!

First, I tried making the dress with the blue fabric, and did it wrong.  The dress was way too small, I had cut the fabric the wrong direction.  Bummer!  So I'll go buy some more and try again.  Once I figured out my problem, I made Julia's dress.

Ta da!

The elastic thread is very weak, and the regular, top thread tends to rip and pull out when Julia puts this on.  But.  It's cute anyway, and I'm going to make a few more, although I might just use regular elastic.

I did not draw a line or use a guide for sewing the waist gathers, so I have ripped it out and will be redoing it, oh joy!  However, this goes quick and I'm going to make another dress for Julia's friend so that they can match!  Matchy, matchy!  Sparkly butterflies to boot!

The Skirt ~ It worked better in my head

Last year I made a dress for Julia out of anti-pill fleece.  It was perfect for a dress-wearing princess in the freezing winter temps.  She still ran barefoot on tile, but at least she was in something cozy!  It still fits her this year, too, and still looks bright and beautiful.

The blue looks so good with her eyes!

This year, a clever Mama decided to go with this great idea once again.  I made Julia a skirt out of fleece, this time a super cute print in pink and brown.

I found a pattern for the poodle-style skirt that makes a full circle on the ground.  As I was rushing through this quick little task, I thought how SIMPLE it would be to just throw a satin-y border around the edge instead of hemming it.  Don't they have some great blanket binding and such at the fabric store?  And the contrast of texture, what fun!  Cozy and silky all in one.  So after Julia wore the skirt a few times, I stole it back and put on the trim.

Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, tra-la-la! sang the industrious wife, and sweet Mommy.

Jeez, where are we on this hem?  This decorative stitch is taking awhile.

What?  I still haven't hit the second seam which marks HALFWAY around this dumb skirt?!?!

Hours later, the quick little task was complete, after refilling the bobbin right before the last 8 inches.  But that's just par for the course, right?

THEN.

The great idea that had seemed so cute, so original became clear to me.  And as I gazed at the completed skirt, I wondered if Calysta just felt that it would be too mean to warn me of the obvious dangers when she heard my great plan on the phone.  I felt embarrassed.

This is why other mom's don't make fleece clothes trimmed with satin.  Because it looks like a repurposed baby blanket.

I am happy to report that Julia loves it, wears it all the time, including to both Special Meetings.  Mama gets to eat humble pike or pie as the case may be.

Julia Turns 6!

Waaayyyy back on Thanksgiving Day, our little girl had a birthday.  Actually, this year she got to have TWO birthdays!

Makin' da cake!

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Shane's side of the family and got to see some of his Aunts and Uncles, it was really nice.  And while there, Julia received much love and attention from everyone on her real birthday.  However, we did have our family birthday for her before we left. =)

Excited about her new presents...

One special thing about this year is that Julia was born on Thanksgiving Day in 2005.  This year is the first time her birthday landed on Thanksgiving since her birth.  Fun! =) A few birthday photos...

Her new hat from Papa, which accidentally matches her dolly's hat!

Her dearest love, Bitsy Doll.

Julia's Beehive Cake from the "pre-party"

Her cake from Gma June

Auntie Calysta and Uncle Mike were on hand when Julia arrived in our lives.  Mike helpfully watched Lucas for us, while Calysta was a support to me.  Julia was six days late, but came quickly once she decided to come.  Three hours in the hospital and we were the proud parents of a sweet baby girl.  We have fun being surprised at delivery with the baby's gender, so it was fun to see we had a girl!  The real reason for not finding out is that I have an affectionate attachment to being surprised.  Whee! =)

Brand new-born Julia!

Julia was so round and chubby, especially compared to her skinny brother, but she was always in the 50th percentile for height and weight through the first few years that I kept track.  And during her first few hours after being born, her nose was smooshed to the side of her face!  It popped out again, soon, however.

Julia is her own special breed in our family.  She looks like her Mommy's side of the family for the most part.  She seems to get her personality from a little of both sides. =)  She's the most reserved and shy and has a hard time expressing herself.  She's a snuggler and a caretaker.  She loves to decorate herself and her dollies and her room, loves tea parties and dressing up and playing house.  She loves beauty!

She's a smart little girl, jumping ahead of her school age and being in first grade this year.  She yearns to do things alone with "just you and me, Mom!" and loves the exclusivity of being the only daughter.

Happy Future, lovely daughter!  I love to be your Mommy, and to kiss your sweet cheeks when you are sleeping.  You make me happy!