The newest Monkey

Munchkin has finally mastered climbing the tree in the back yard.  It is her new favorite activity, and will go up there without her siblings.  I can sit in my sewing room and look out at her climbing. It is fun to listen to her talk to herself and make up stories. 

 She is a happy little girl.

I wish I had a better way to upload movies... I have the best movie of talking to her as she climbs up and down the tree.  Maybe someday I will post it.

Two babies

I had a great day watching 2 little boys, Scout and O.  They are just 2 days apart, but totally different boys.  Everything was going well and I was proud of myself for easily handling 2 babies all day until I took them to pick up Munchkin from school before lunch.  I had to put them both in their car seats, carry them to the van,  go to school and carry them in the building.  Scout went on my back in the Ergo, and O was in my arms.  Everything was great until I got home and looked at my shoes, in my rush to leave I was wearing 2 totally different shoes.  No one even told me.   I can handle 2 babies all day, just don't expect me to be able to match my shoes.
Princess was very excited to finally be able to feed a baby a bottle.  She did a good job.

 These 2 are only 2 days apart in age, but totally different sizes.

 Munchkin was my little helper for the afternoon and did great.

Sewing fail

Some days I need a reality check and to be reminded, I'm not perfect and never will be. 
I was asked by church if I could work on a sewing project.  I said, sure, I can do that.  So I get the information.  They need fabric menstrual pads for the orphanage in Kenya.  Not a problem.  I get all the materials and make a sample.  It turns out great, and is pretty simple.

  So I cut out fabric for 12 more, I pin 12 more together, I sew 12 more together, I clip corners and cut curves for 12 more, Then I turn the 1st one right side out...... Oops, I was supposed to sew them right sides together.  I had sewn all 12 with right sides down.  So instead of the pretty pink in the above picture, the top looks like this.  Of course I didn't have any more fabric and I couldn't rip them all apart since I had clipped all the corners.  So I finished them like this.

They are still usable, but I felt really bad that I was giving away something that was not my best work.  I have since made some more... so I am also sending some that turned out much better.

Everyone needs a little humility.

Fall Fun

Fall is fantastic in Virginia, the windows can be open, the humidity dissapears and we can spend lots of time outside again.  (and just ignore the mosquitos)  We have spent lots of time outside. 
Bergeys Breadbasket was one stop. Pie, ice cream old school gospel singing, a corn maze, a hay bale maze and a corn gun.   A perfect fall day!!

 If you got the piece of corn in the hole on the target you won a free milkshake... we didn't win, but it was fun.

 I tried to get a good picture of all 4 kids, but it was a failure... this is the best... my kids will even pick their noses when I am trying to take a picture.  REALLY?

Curtains

I have been trying to help out the kids teachers, it is always nice to have a good relationship with the teachers and helping out with classroom stuff is a great way to get to know them.  I typically can't volunteer in the classroom because I always have to take Scout with me.  I can help them with classroom sewing projects. 

I made a curtain to cover a bookcase for Munchkin's teacher. They are 3 year olds and typically they are busy enough in the classroom they won't touch the things hidden from view.  The teacher had a piece of fabric taped in front of this to hide it.  Then she mounted a curtain rod and taped the curtain on the curtain rod, except the curtain rod kept getting bent by the door opening into it.   I wish I had a picture of it.
We solved all of this by making a new curtain and then using velcro to hold it into place.

I used some waistband interfacing I had in my stash to make the top piece and it worked perfectly.  It does not lay as flat as I would like, but it is a HUGE improvement. 

Boy Bear Pajamas

Some days I am a little strange, but some days it is totally worth it. 
I went to the outlets to buy some clothes for the boys.  Both of the boys needed pajamas, I thought Buddy would love it if they had matching pajama's.   I was right!!  Buddy only wants to wear these when his little brother matches.

 Of course, when you dress like a bear, you have to act like one.

Comics

The competion for the Sunday comics has gotten a lot fiercer lately.  You better be up early if you want the comics first in this house.

Scout pictures

Just because we love him so much and he gets spoiled by everyone, here are some new pictures of the youngest member of the family. 

 He is starting to crawl and has almost mastered sitting up without falling over.  Unfortunately his siblings like to make him sit up and then forget to hold on to him, or they get bored and walk away, then he falls on his face and cries. Such are the joys of being the youngest.

Skirts -2

These are the other skirts I made.
This is the one for Princess, I am not a big fan of this fabric, but she picked it out and loves it.  This picture jus makes me smile... take the picture please, I want to dance.

 Dancing and twirling.....

 This is the version for Cousin J... I like how it turned out.  I am hoping to get a picture of all 3 girls in their skirts at Christmas.

Scout's baptism

Scout was baptised and we finally got a decent picture of the family.  At least no one is openly pouting, you can only partially see the pirate tattoo on my son's arm and you can see everyones face, it doesn't matter that only the adults are smiling.  In my book it is a decent picture.

The kids weren't too sure about dressing Scout up in a dress since he is a boy, so I had to explain the whole idea of a baptism gown, and that they all got to wear it when they were baptised.

Sewing Room

One of my continual projects is trying to keep my sewing room organized, it is horrible. I keep coming up with new projects and I have to search through all my stuff to find what I need. I finally came up with one project to help me.  I organized my ribbon.  Sometimes it is the little projects that make it simple.

Now time to organize the fabric, notions, paint, tools, glue, tape, paper, velcro, elastic, lace, thread, bobbins..........

Happy 8th Birthday

Princess is officially 8 years old.  That seems unbelievable to me.  She started out so little.

Now she is out of a car seat and in 2nd grade.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Boys Backpacking

The boys got to go backpacking again.  Princess had a birthday party for a friend and decided to stay home.

The boys had a great time and even saw a bear.  I don't know what most of these pictures are, but it looks like they had fun. 

Daddy's pack is heavier than Buddy, and almost the same size.

 It was COLD, he is wearing a t shirt, a sweatshirt, a fleece and a rain coat, plus shorts and fleece pants.

 Yes, they took a picture of Bear Scat.... I don't understand boys.

Skirts

My sister gets me motivated to make things some days.  She found a pattern for a skirt that she loved and somehow I ended up making the skirts... I am hoping she does some applique on shirts to match.  I made 3 skirts, one for each of my girls and one for her daughter.    I only have downloaded pictures of the 1st one I finished.  I had her try it on to check the elastic around the waist, and it took a while to get it off of her so I could finish it.  Even if it didn't match her outfit. 
I love them and think they turned out great. 

Scout's Solid food

We started Scout on some solid food, and it is fun to feed him. He is still learning. He is growing fast and is keeping us busy.  I sometimes feel bad that he doesn't get as much of my attention as the other kids, but I think he gets all of their attention.  They love to pick him up and pretend he is a doll.  I am wondering how they will treat him when he starts crawling and getting into their stuff.  We will have to wait and see.