From a couple weeks ago...

**I started another blog for writing things, and then figured, why separate them?  This is my blog, I'll do what I want with it, so there will be more writing here, probably less sewing centric posts and more things about everything. Enjoy!**

A while ago I asked my kids what love means.  What they think it means to be loved, to love someone else, and to show love.  I was brainstorming something and was looking for some fresh eyes in expressing ideas.

They whispered adorably for a few minutes, and then my oldest said one of those wisely clear things I was hoping for.

"Love is when the place you are in is the place you should be."

Isn't that perfect? I wrote it down immediately.

The day before I asked this was a little touch and go.  There are some days that I find so incredibly full of love, yet so incredibly frustrating!!  Each instruction I give, each reminder for caution, each prompt to be clean is obviously given drenched in motherly love, rooted in my concern for their well being! Obviously, these little cherubs of mine know this deep down in their guts, just as I did when I was their age, but obviously still do things with ignorance, and rudeness, and attitude. Of course they do! They're kids.

I'm constantly wondering how much concern is enough and how much is too much.  How many reminders are too many and what is reasonable and responsible.  How much sass should I tolerate and shrug off and what kind of lessons should I be teaching them?  It's a constant back and forth struggle in my head, as I'm sure it is for all parents.  It can be difficult to take comfort in that, especially when if feels like I'm getting all the levels wrong, everyone is reacting badly, like I've miscalculated the formula by just one number and it ruins the entire equation.

I've noticed how resourceful these kids of mine have gotten, and how much like me they are.  I vividly remember clambering all over the kitchen counters, snooping for my mom's chocolate stash, and then I found a kid spoon stuck in the Nutella jar of our present day cabinets. 

It's exciting and equally terrifying watching them grow up, get stronger, expand their world and their decisions, and become their own people.

I'm also trying to intentionally cultivate my creativity and started with all those feelings swirling around after this rough day we'd gone through.  I drew a bunch of birds gathered in a heart, with a few flying away and wrote "sometimes you have to let your heart fly," which still feels incredibly immature and middle school, but anyway, that's what I wrote and that's what I drew.

I have a hard time expressing my own feelings, they always seem so syrupy, naive, and unproductive that I usually try to ignore them so being creative has always worked to help make sense of things, or at least acknowledge them enough to move forward.   As long as our mothering instincts come from a place of love and reasonable logic, then the next generation should turn out alright.

Samantha's blessing dress

Samantha is now 3 months old and was blessed at our church on Sunday two weeks ago (I'm a Mormon and you can find out more about my faith here).

We had a bunch of family come to town for the weekend and the blessing on Sunday and it was such a great time.  I always get really nervous when we have "events" or people coming around just to see us.  What if I'm not that exciting or they have a horrible time?  This time I didn't worry about that stuff at all once everyone was here!  It was excellent.  So excellent I didn't take many pictures because I was having too much fun and leaving my phone elsewhere...oops!

But anyway, I had to make her a dress!!

I always go through the remnant bins at JoAnn's and had found this lovely fabric there a while ago.  It's like eyelet, but there are no holes...I'm not sure what it's technically called.  Anyone know?

Anyway, I used the Geranium Dress pattern in size 3-6 months to make this and lined it with the lining from a linen skirt that I don't fit into anymore.  That's slippery stuff, lining.  But it worked out.

Traditionally blessing outfits are white to symbolize purity, I wanted a tiny pop of color here and there, and these were the perfect touch.

We put a onesie under the dress, and a white cardigan over, and some adorable little shoes that were a gift, on her feet.

And a tiny pink felt bow from this Etsy shop in her luscious hair.

It turned out just as I wanted.  Simple and adorable.

Aren't those cheeks the best?!  

Maggie Mae Dress

I bought the Maggie Mae dress pattern from Shwin Designs after my friend Holli made an amazing creation from one of their patterns (you should see all the wonderful things she makes anyway, she's seriously talented!).

I found this lovely mustard linen and floral linen both at JoAnn's and initially bought them to make scarves with, but after I stared at them for a while they were begging to turn into a dress.

I wanted to make it in time for Samantha's baby blessing and finished it that morning (just this past Sunday), a couple hours before church started.

The pattern is fantastic, but I got a little ahead of myself in some places and didn't bother to look at the directions after I cut out the pieces.  So I sewed some things closed before I was supposed to and had a "learning experience" that was totally my fault.  ALWAYS follow the directions.  Lesson learned. 

I scored this adorable felt bow at an online sale recently but you can find them here.

It all turned out well, and Abby loved the dress and didn't want to take it off!  That alone is a success! I sewed up the 4T size and the neck is a smidge big because she's still only 3 1/2 but I wanted her to be able to wear it for more than a month!  We added a cardigan for warmth that never came off so nobody could tell anyway.

The most adorable goof in town.  I'm so glad some of these pictures are usable!

The pictures in the pattern show 4 buttons to close, but I only used 3 and had no trouble. 

I love this pattern and the result so much that I've already cut out a 6-9 month sized dress in the same fabrics, and have listed it as a custom made dress in my etsy shop here if you're interested.  The colors are perfect for fall and winter, and all year really.  I've decided mustard is a wonderful color. 

Well that happened fast.

My newborn is now a solid 2 month old little baby!

I didn't even realize what day it was on the 13th (2 weeks ago...) until it was already past picture taking time.

She's still sleeping incredibly well, usually only waking up twice per night at most, with one of those times being between 5 and 7 am and that's practically morning.

She had her 2 month well check yesterday and she's a solid 12 pounds, 23 inches tall, and with the smallest head of all of our children, it's only slightly larger than normal!

She has started smiling adorably at us and the bigger kids adore her.

She's blessed our family tremendously and we are so lucky to have her!

She's the cutest, I know.  ; )  But really.  She is. 

Kid Shorts

So this past weekend I set out to get some things finished that are cluttering up my space, and my head.

I turned some pants into shorts that were too short, or too hole-y for Matthew to wear as pants anymore.  That was easy.  

Then, I tried to alter some of my t-shirts that either didn't fit right or got messed with in the wash into nightgowns Abby....It didn't go so well...but I did end up with one "nightgown" that she thinks is cool, and since she won't wear it in public I think that's cool too.

To redeem myself from that disastrous attempt at whatever it was....I cut out a bunch of sizes of the new Kid Shorts pattern from Dana which you can get here.

I made one pair, and then cut out four more. No joke.

It's really the best, most satisfying pattern I've made in a long time.  And the kids think it's good enough to wear, which is half the battle, so there's that.

If you sew clothes for your kids, then you should get this pattern.  And nobody but me is telling you to do it.  It's not expensive at all, and they're super quick to make.  Cutting and tracing the pattern takes longer than making these shorts. 

Once you look over the tutorials for the different cuts and modifications you can do, you'll have the process down.  And the result is fantastic.

*The only place I get myself into trouble is making the casing for the elastic.  I'm not super precise (or patient...), so I don't usually measure that part, and occasionally I get myself a little stuck and have to work extra hard to get the elastic where it needs to be, but that's it.  And it's a totally self-inflicted problem...  

And now my kids have more shorts!!  Everybody wins.

*And somehow I didn't get a picture of the ones I made for Matthew...his are from brown corduroy I had in my fabric mess.   They turned out awesome too!

A dress for Abby

Reading blogs the other day I came across this post and was instantly smitten with the adorableness of the Baby Slip Dress.

Fortunately for me (and you) it is available as a free pattern, so I printed it out and started cutting over the weekend.

Abby wanted a dress that matched this one I made (newborn sized geranium dress) for the baby and I had enough fabric leftover that I thought this would be a great use for it.

 I made the 4T size, and it's perfect, even though Abby's only 3.  I like longer stuff on her and have found most 3T sizes don't hit her quite right.  Plus, she's growing pretty fast so I know she'll be able to wear it for more than 3 months before growing out of it! 

It was quick to make, and the instructions and pictures are super helpful and easy to follow.  Even the bias tape isn't that scary.  I used store bought bias tape just so you know.  I'm not too good at making bias anything so I don't.  

I'm sharing this totally on my own, just because it turned out so darn cute!  Go make one! And she absolutely wore it for church this past Sunday, but wouldn't be still enough for a picture...of course....

We had a happy father's day

We had a fun Father's Day yesterday and I wanted to show you all (hi mom!) some pictures of our weekend! 

We also celebrated Ben's birthday the Wednesday before so it was a full week!

Now, here's the thing.  Ben and I were both raised by single moms.  We're both still trying to figure out how everything works when you have two parents, but it seems to come naturally to him to be a good father and husband! 

Pardon the feet...I have weird toes...

We got him a grill for fathers day on Saturday and put it right to work! 

We showed the kids how to make s'mores and taught them how to play hide and seek after.  It was adorable because they really don't get it but had a great time anyway!  We spent the whole evening outside, it was wonderful!

 

Sunday was pretty good too.  Ben got to watch some soccer games and we barbequed chicken and had s'mores again!  Oh wow I'd forgotten how good it smells to fire up a charcoal grill...yum!
Made me want to go camping and barbeque everything I eat! 

I love being able to eat outside and stay outside until it gets dark. 

I have good memories of summers as a kid having dinners outside and playing until my knees had grass stains and my feet were covered in dirt.  Those were the best days.  I hope our kids have similar memories, because they were just as dirty!

 I'm really happy to have Ben around. 

It's sooo nice not to have to do all the parenting on my own (which only comes to mind because both our mothers did this whole thing alone.  I can't even imagine what a challenge that must have been.). 

Being able to run out of patience and know that he can fill in for me.  He reads to our children, teaches them to play soccer correctly, to make me laugh, and how to be a good person. 

He is the guy that will pull over to help someone having car trouble.  He helps people reach things on the high shelves in the grocery store.  He picks up trash.  He does the right thing, even if it's not his responsibility.  He has helped me to be a better person and helped me be ok with being me. 

I'm really not super comfortable expressing emotions so writing this is a little challenging...but I really love this guy!  He's my best friend and my biggest supporter.  One thing we've realized during this past year is that "home" really is each other.  It's a wonderful thing to have him in my life, and I'm really happy my children have him for a father!

what the heck wednesday...?

I was getting ready to write y'all a post this morning and WHAM.  An unexpected emergency. 

My husband took the kids to the park this morning and Matthew fell off one of the swings and hurt his arm.  There's no blood and no bones sticking out (that is what I told the nurse on the phone a moment ago) but it looks swollen and dislocated.

So, Ben dropped Abby off with me and rushed off to the Dr.'s to see what's the matter.

I'm being updated by text message as I type and now they're going to get an x-ray as it could be a break and need pins (I want to throw up).

This is the first serious injury we've had in our parenting career of 3 ish years and I feel totally sick.  I talked to our little guy on the phone and he was hurting so bad and being so brave...I wanted to cry and hold him and make my arm broken instead. 

If this is how I feel about a broken arm (or whatever it turns out to be), how am I going to handle all the other stuff that comes along with raising children that will also rip my heart out?! 

Now, I know he will be OK.  It will be fixed and he will eventually not be hurting anymore.  It will pass. 

But, I was not prepared for such intense emotions to come from this, mom-wise, you know?   


...deep breath...


How do you other mom's handle this?!  I feel like a total rookie again...

Stand by...

I'm running a bit behind on some things this weekend... here's why...

Ben and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday! 

Since the 5th anniversary is traditionally a gift made of wood, Ben got creative and turned an old desk we were going to throw away into a flower bed!  Now we just need to get some flowers :)

Friday evening, we went to Ihop for dinner (we like breakfast food here) and saw The Avengers (which was awesome!), and left the kids with a friend.  It was really fun to get some time just the two of us and the kids handled their first non-family babysitter really well!!  

However today has been a bit different.  At almost 7am Matthew woke up barfing.  I really don't like barfing...or watching people barf...or anything having to do with stomach contents...Poor little man.

So, I'll be staying home with him today while Ben and Abby go to church.  But, on the bright side that means I get to stay in my pajamas all day, and that's pretty great. 

We're watching Shawn the Sheep (love that show - no talking, and it's adorable) and trying to get his stomach settled.  We might play with Legos too.

They did give me a lovely handmade card this morning and made me breakfast.  So sweet!  I feel so lucky to have this little family and such a wonderful husband!  

Anyway, I'll have some sewing to share later, along with a sneak peek of what I have to giveaway for my upcoming 50th post! 

Stay tuned!

WIP Wednesday - last minute edition!

I went to sleep at 7:45 Monday night. 

I always have too many windows open in my browser and the hubs doesn't like that because it "pulls" at the internet.... (um, what?)....however, they each represent something important I need to make for a swap, or a bee, or I just need to have it open so I don't forget where it is!!  Does anyone else do this?

I also have too many tops sitting on the dryer and I need to do some basting. 

I use my iPhone for pictures so that's mostly why they usually suck.

This was my to-do pile for today.  In here are 2 bee blocks, 2 fabrics to turn into binding for my Made in Cherry quilt, and the rest of the fabrics for the Patchwork Prism QAL ready to cut.  I've already cut the purples and oranges (I got most of this pile taken care of...keep reading).

Here is the May block for Megan of City Stitches in We Bee Modern.  This was a fun one, as I haven't ever sewn with dark solids before.  Here I used Kona Charcoal and I really like it.  It's brighter in person.

I still have a few more bee blocks to make but it was great to get this one checked off.  It looked a lot more complex in the book and I was a little nervous to get started.

I also finished a long waiting WIP!  My Made in Cherry quilt is done!  I experimented with my new FMQ foot on this one and it was really fun.  I doodled all around the solid purple spots and went in wavy lines over the seams in the patchwork star.

I "finished" cutting out fabric for the Patchwork Prism QAL (I have quotes because I realized I miscut and am short a few green triangles...blah...) and laid the fabrics out.  It's a bit of a hot mess...I am pretty sure the second time I make this quilt will be much better.

 I think this will become a picnic quilt.  I've got some really nice blue fabric that I think is decorator weight.  It's heavier and I hope I'll love it more when it's done...

In other totally random news, we've discovered that my son is absolutely terrified of balloons being popped.  He freaks out big time (this was discovered at the birthday party last weekend).  Shaking, crying, screaming...it's terrible and I have no clue how to help him get over it, except by steering clear of balloons, or anything that could be popped.  Packing materials included.

I am still going to the gym and am dead tired but my biceps have grown so that's good (I've never had biceps before!).  I still look baffoon-ish in the classes I take, but it's growing on me :)

Happy (almost) Thursday!!

I'm last minute linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced!!

A Doll Quilt finish

I just wanted to show you all some pictures of a gift I made for a friend's daughter's birthday this past weekend.  Her little girl turned 5 and my children are quite fond of her!  

Whenever she comes to play she lines up all of our stuffed animals and toys in the kid's beds and tucks them in.  So when we heard it was her birthday I thought a doll quilt would be perfect for her!  We also got her a purple sock monkey to go with the quilt. 

 I thought of this idea on Friday afternoon and the party was Saturday afternoon....of course!!

First, I pulled some 5" charm squares from my never-ending stash of those lovelies, and my kids and I messed around with them until we came up with this!  

As you can see, they're quite proud of it!

We ended up with 56 charms, 8 rows of 7 squares...I like the size of it.  It could even pass for a small baby quilt.  I sewed three rows Friday night and did the rest Saturday morning.  The top measured about 33 x 37. 

(isn't my little helper the best?!)

I used a great bright Amy Butler print for the back.  I didn't want to piece it and fortunately had enough of this print to use!

I also got to use my new FMQ foot for my machine on this and it was really fun!

 

I LOVE the hula hooping girl, she's so adorable!

I really like how it turned out (so did the birthday girl and her mom!) 

and I want to make some more of them!  

Is this something you think anyone would be interested in?

(not this very one of course, but something like it)

 I don't need to make 10 doll quilts all for myself :)

Oh, will be getting some goodies in the mail for my upcoming 50th post giveaway this week.

 I'm pretty excited about it and I think you'll like it too! 

Hint: If you like some of the new collections that just came out you're really going to want to stop by for this!

Thanks for sticking around!  

I've got great things to show you this week! My WIP list is getting hacked to pieces!

Hope you all had a great weekend!  My husband is finally done with school for the semester so tomorrow is officially the beginning of our summer break (aka summer job hunting...)!!