Blossoms and Blessings

Tutorial: How to make a sock monkey out of one knee high sock

2012-01-30T20:44:00.000-05:00

I found a pair of knee high socks that I wanted to use for a sock monkey. I figured that there had to be a way to get a sock monkey out of only 1 sock since to use both socks on 1 monkey would mean LOTS of left over scraps.

Here is how I did it:

Take 1 sock ☺

Turn it inside out so the heel is on top

Sew the pieces.
If you click on the picture it should be easier to see the marks

Cut the pieces apart

This is all that I had as extras!

Turn right side out

Stuff

Sew him together - Ta da!

More Sculpting

2012-01-28T02:04:00.001-05:00

I don't really know why I decided to try sculpting other than it looked like something I maybe could do and so I wanted to try. I didn't really need something else to do!

Well, today (or rather yesterday since it's currently 1:50 am - can't sleep, so I'm blogging!) I hadn't intended on doing any sculpting, but somehow I found myself digging out the clay! "Maybe I'll condition some clay for another time" ...Well, before I knew it, I was forming a ball of clay into a head..."Well, maybe I'll make a tiny 3" baby"...."Okay so the head is 1½" tall, not so proportional for a 3" baby. I guess I'm making a 6" baby again!" "Well, then I'll practice rooting hair into the clay"...Nope this head is saying it needs to be bald!

This is what ended up coming together:

He ended up looking up with his back sort of arched

This is the same footed sleeper I made for my 1st sculpt

The eyes are the hardest, I think, and I put his nose up to high

Since I never posted about the 2nd baby I made, here are pictures of her:

All 3 of my clay babies

I guess it is winter afterall!

2012-01-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

So, we've had two snow days since my post on the 10th about having no snow! The kids had off on the 13th and then again today. It was very windy and cold today! It is 10° with a wind chill of -2°. BRRRR!

Simple Solutuions in Sewing

2012-01-18T10:17:00.000-05:00

I had gotten a cute 101 Dalmatians outfit, but although it was labeled as a 5/6, it was rather short.

I was going through a box of fabric someone had given me and found this:

I thought it would be perfect for a simple pair of pants to wear underneath!

Emily wearing the complete outfit:

My First Clay Sculpted Baby

2012-01-14T19:48:00.000-05:00

I had been wanting to try and see if I could sculpt a baby that actually resembled a human and not an alien. I have a ways to go, but here is my first attempt:

Head before baking

I wrapped a moist towel around the hair while I baked it

Baked-Front

Left side

Right Side

Hair. I attached the hair with strips of clay.
I'll try a different way next time.

All the pieces

Arms

Feet

While I was trying to attach the head, the flange broke off :(

So I tried to poke a hole to sew it on with, and the neck started to crack!

So I added more clay and made a new flange.
I made it nice and sturdy, but it almost didn't fit in the top of the body!

All together

It's jointed

With the little jammies I made.
I trimmed some fabric off the neckline as I thought it was going to be too long.
I guess I was wrong!

Is It Winter?

2012-01-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

As I look outside, it is sunny with absolutely NO snow! Unusual for the 10th of January in Michigan! We've basically only had 3 times where we had any accumulation at all, and none of those was over an inch or two! We had the most so far on the 27th of December and the kids went out and made a snowman (the first without me helping at all!) I don't mind not having snow, I'm just afraid it'll mean we'll have snow in April, and I definitely DON'T want snow that late! We're supposed to be getting some snow by the end of this week, so we'll see if it decides to be winter!

Emily with the snowman

Emily and Andy went back out after dinner to make a mom and a baby snowman

Andy thought they were neat!

Happy Distaff Day!

2012-01-07T06:00:00.018-05:00

Distaff Day, also called Roc Day, is 7 January, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is also known as Saint Distaff's Day, since it was not really a holiday at all. In many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. The distaff, or rock, used in spinning was the medieval symbol of women's work. Often the men and women would play pranks on each other during this day, as was written by Robert Herrick in his poem "Saint Distaffs day, or the Morrow After Twelfth Day" which appears in his Hesperides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff_day

As a noun, a distaff , also called a rock is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in place with a piece of ribbon or string. The word comes from dis in Low German, meaning a bunch of flax, connected with staff. As an adjective the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distaff

Sewing Lesson

2012-01-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

I've been working on sewing sock monkeys lately as I got some orders for Valentine's Day ones. I was looking at the dollar store for new socks (I don't look at socks as socks. I look at them for their potential to be sock monkeys!) and found some really cute infant socks. I had to start one to see how they worked. When Emily saw it, she wanted to sew her own...so we made a run to the dollar store after dinner and the kids all picked out a pair they liked. Back at home, I drew 3 lines on each of 3 papers - 1 straight, 1 wavy, and 1 zig zagged. The 3 oldest kids got an quick lesson on foot pressure and hand placement and they then "sewed" on the lines (without any thread). The next day, they moved on to sewing their names onto felt. I chose all capitals as that would be less curves! I had to put the foot pedal on a stool (and in William's case, had to put a cushion from the chair under the stool) in order for them to be able to reach ☺ Then they sewed around the edges and made little pillows. Next, we moved on to the actual socks. For those, I actually sat behind them and controlled the sock and they pushed the foot pedal. Andy sat on my lap and helped with the sewing of the pillow, but I did his sock monkey completely myself. William helped sew his and stuffed it, but had me do all the hand work. The girls did all the stuffing and hand sewing themselves. We had to stay up a little past bedtime so they could get them completely finished! (Even though Emily is wearing 3 different outfits in the pictures, it was all one day!!)

Emily's turn

Dan liked how William was so short, he could see under the sewing machine!

I controlled the reverse button

Andy's turn

Yes, Andy has blue inside his ear! His legs were also "decorated"

Stuffing his pillow

Sarah's turn

All finished

Sarah picked black for her name, so it dosen't show up very well.

Sarah made an elephant and Emi made a bunny

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T16:59:00.000-05:00

We "opened" stockings on Christmas Eve, the gifts on Christmas morning before church and did the extended family gathering/gifts Christmas afternoon.

William wanted Joel to "play" with his new car

Games!

Emily gave Will a tractor

and Sarah gave Andy a tractor!

Emily gave Sarah a tiara

and Sarah gave Emily a tiara!

Daddy's dragon

Emily's Bible!

Andy kept bringing his gifts over to show Daddy

While we were at the Danish Festival in August, a vendor had "Pillow Pets" for $5.
I made a mental note of which each of the kids prefered and went back later to get them!

Ornament made by Sarah

Picture frame made by Sarah

Ornament made by Emily

Thrift store find for $2.19! It moves and has sound!!

Another $2.19 sale! It also moves & has sound.

Clara modeling my new Yoda hat

Everyone loves Clara!

Andy kept bringing Joel over to where Clara was!

Grandpa reading the Christmas story from Luke 2

Emily holding the "Orphan Annie" doll my sister Rachel made.

See, there's Joel with Clara again!

big smile!

My Christmas Present for Myself

2011-12-24T17:55:00.000-05:00

I am part of a reborn doll forum to try and see if I could sell some of my creations. One of the ladies in Australia contacted me about doing a swap.

This is what I made for her:

3 child sized animal hats

8 pairs of Mary Janes (the little boy slip ons were an extra I threw in)

4 fuzzy sock monkeys

5 smooth sock monkeys

And this is what I got:

I did a little Christmas photo shoot with things I had here:

The kids really like him:

School Christmas Parties

2011-12-23T06:00:00.008-05:00

The girls' last day of school was Tuesday, so they had their classroom Christmas parties that day. I was going to help in both girls' classes again, but Sarah's teacher wrote a note that said they weren't going to be doing any crafts or games, so I figured they didn't need help. I guess they did do some games afterall! I did go in her room for a while, but at that point, they were just watching a movie. Emi's class had a "Grinch Party" and they wore green and did Grinch activities!

decorating cookies

making ornaments

Sarah's class wore their jammies for the movie

Girls and Curls - Part 2

2011-12-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

The girls like to have curls in their hair and I blogged about it before. After I got my perm , the girls said that they wanted to get perms, too. I told them we would during Christmas vacation. So today, we went to Grandma's house and did perms! Last year, (almost exactly) we took the girls to get their ears pierced. I wonder what big thing we'll do next year!

Emily with the before perm conditioner

getting rinsed

Rolling up the curlers

All set for the chemicals

Not liking the chemicals!

Taking out the curlers

All done!

Zonked out on Grandpa ☺ (getting a perm is hard work!)

Sarah with the before perm conditioner

Getting rolled up (Mom)

Getting rolled up (Grandma)

The lovely chemicals

Waiting

Getting rinsed

Neutralizer

Taking the curlers out

All done (and Emi is still zonked!)

It only took each girl an hour start to finish, so that wasn't too bad! The boys got hair cuts this morning, too, so we're all ready for Christmas pictures!

2011 Church Christmas Program

2011-12-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the Christmas program at church. The kids sang "Away in a Manger" and the choir sang 4 songs interspersed with special music numbers and scripture readings.

Sarah is on the left in the back row and Emily is 2nd from the left in the front row.
William didn't want to go up and sat with the director instead

In case you aren't sure, that is me in the front row next to the men

2011 Carriage Rides

2011-12-17T06:28:00.011-05:00

Okay, so since I mentioned the carriage rides yesterday, I figured I'd best get on the ball and post the pictures! My kids have done it enough times that they had started asking about when it was time for the carriage rides! This year, my younger sister and 3 kids came along, so we had to "share" Grandpa and Grandma. We got Grandma in our carriage and they got Grandpa ☺

This is the ride before us, but the carriage we rode

"Our" horse, Nemo

This is the carriage that my sister's family rode on

They had the top down this year

The kids really enjoyed looking at everything

This is my sister's family and dad's carriage

"Bye, Nemo"

Angry Bird Hat Commissions

2011-12-16T06:00:00.006-05:00

I picked the girls up last Thursday for the carriage rides (which I still need to post!) and Sarah's former Kindergarten teacher saw Emily's Princess Leia hat I had made her and asked if I could make Angry Bird hats for her sons. I googled pictures of them and figured I could! I delivered them to her yesterday and she was thrilled with them (Yay! ☺)

Jesse Tree

2011-12-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

I heard about Jesse Trees last year, but it was too late to start that year, so I decided that I would do it this year. I looked online and found several different versions, but decided to go with the one I found here

Emily adding an ornament to our Jesse Tree

2011 School Christmas Program

2011-12-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

The girls had their school Christmas program on Monday. Here are some pictures of their performances:

Emily and her friend held hands for a big portion of their performance

The boys checking out Grandpa's new tablet during the intermission (boys and their gadgets☺)

Sarah got to be one of the "soloist" performers this year ☺

She got to play a shape drum

Secret Santa Gift Exchange

2011-12-08T19:36:00.000-05:00

One of the forums I am a part of had a "Secret Santa" exchange.

This is what I sent to Carolyn in Washington

Close up of the nativity ornament I made (and designed)

my box of goodies from Sharon in California

coffee mug with See's candy suckers

"Spa in a box"

Rocking Chair made of sticks

Cute little fairy my Secret Santa made for me ☺

She fits in the chair

Baby Shower Gifts

2011-12-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

There are 2 ladies in my church that are expecting. One is having their first (a boy) and the other is expecting their 4th (a girl). The baby shower for the first lady was Monday. I unfortunately wasn't able to go, however, because it was the same night as the girls' Christmas program for school. So I gave the gift for her to the other pregnant lady as she was hosting the shower ☺ These are what I made for each of them...

Boy version

Girl version

My Perm

2011-12-05T13:15:00.000-05:00

It had been awhile since I'd had a perm and since I cut my hair, the curls that were left from my last perm were cut off! So I picked up a perm and headed to my favorite hair salon - Mom's house ☺

Getting ready to rinse off the "Before perm conditioner"

All rolled up

Wiping the drips

After - front

After - back

And, after I washed it

It's hard to get a back shot all by yourself!

Girls and Curls

2011-11-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

Emily likes when I braid her hair after her shower so she can have curly hair the next day. Saturday, I decided to dig out the foam curlers and use those.

the boys wanted in on the curlers, too, so they each got one on top!

Blog Follower Contest Winner!

2011-11-27T06:00:00.007-05:00

I drew a number and the winner is comment number 11, Mieal Deneb. So, Rachel the next time I see you, I'll give you your prize!

Putting up the Christmas Tree!

2011-11-26T20:28:00.000-05:00

Andrew came running over saying, "It fit me" and then he tried to put on this ornament shaped like a stocking!

Product Review: "Potty Chair for Boys" by Potty Scotty

2011-11-22T06:00:00.091-05:00

The Potty Scotty Potty Chair for Boys is available from their website for $14.95 and can be personalized for free in a variety of font colors. I actually won the potty chair in Potty Scotty's monthly Facebook Giveaway and I opted for no personalization so that I could pass on the potty when we were finished with it.

Besides the Potty Chair for Boys, Potty Scotty also offers other options for potty chairs and seats, training pants, step stools. training dolls, aids, videos, and books. There is also a companion site, Potty Patty, with similar items geared for girls.

The Potty Chair for Boys is made out of plastic and is approximately 13" long (front to back), 9" wide (side to side), 4½" tall at the seat, and 9½" tall at the back. It is quite a bit smaller than either of the other potties we have in the house.

Here is a picture of it next to the Fisher Price froggy potty we used for William:

Pros:

It is lightweight
It is portable and we bring it with us to church so he has a familiar potty his size to use
It is all one piece, so there is nowhere for him to get pinched

Cons:

It is very short
It has no easy spot for emptying and urine tends to dribble all over the outside
It has a small splash guard and it is easy to get splash over if he has a really full bladder

When we first got the Potty Chair for Boys, Andy didn't use it much, and prefered to use the froggy potty. Lately, however, he has been chosing to use it more frequently than the froggy potty.

Here he is using it: (See how his knees stick up from it being short)

**Overall, I like the Potty Scotty for Boys and would recommend it for others to use. **

My Children Are Hansel & Gretel

2011-11-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

Front of the "Gingerbread" house

Back of house

After the kids had 2 times of eating it

Blog Followers Contest

2011-11-17T05:25:00.004-05:00

Hi! I have the opportunity to maybe test products and write reviews on my blog. But I need to have 50 followers. So I decided that if you become a follower of my blog and then comment on this post, I will draw a name and they will win something. I'm not sure what yet, but something! I will draw a name on Nove 22nd, so that gives you 5 days to join!

William Is 4 Years Old!

2011-11-16T05:51:00.001-05:00

I had to wake Will up for his party, so he wasn't feeling like opening presents at first!

Photo Shoot

2011-11-15T05:47:00.002-05:00

Since it is almost William's birthday, it was time to take his yearly picture. This usually means that the rest of the kids want their picture taken, too!

October Update: Halloween 2011

2011-11-14T06:00:00.029-05:00

We had various activities all throughout the month having to do with Halloween.

Walmart had a photo shoot on the 15th (no trick-or-treating)

Cheese!

Small treat

Family Halloween party hosted at our house this year:

My barnyard of animals I sewed

My sister's family

Old McDonald (and Mrs. McDonald) had a farm....

My brother and his kids. My sister-in-law was 6 days from giving birth and didn't dress up!

Split personality?

Zonked out!

Will's turn to sleep

I got to help out in both of the girls' classes ☺:

Emily was the helper of the day in her class

She got to dress up to go along with the story

After school family fun night:

I thought the chipmunk sitting on the pumpkin was cute

Meijer's event on the 29th:

Walmart had another event on the 29th:

Downtown store trick-or-treating:

Carving Pumpkins:

October Update: Emily's First Field Trip

2011-11-13T06:00:00.012-05:00

The Kindergarten classes always go to Anderson and Girls Orchard. Because there are 3 rooms, they could only have 5 parents per class, so they had a drawing to see who would go. I got picked to go ☺

Emi and her new friend

Picking a gourd

Picking an apple

Feeding the goats

Reindeer

My group for the field trip

October Update: 2011 Family Reunion

2011-11-12T06:00:00.013-05:00

My sister and her family usually make the trek from Arizona back to Michigan during the summer. This year, they came in the Fall instead.

Andy with my doll that Rachel just put a body on

The whole gang! Color coded by family

My girls giving Marissa their gifts (they love her!)

The drawing that Emi did. The words start at the top right and go to the left and then from the left to the right on the bottom! ("Marissa and her family")

My parents' apple tree had some apples and we were given permission to feed them to the neighbor's horses.

The horse had just sneezed apple goo all over!

Heading back to Grandpa and Grandma's house

First Snow of the Season!

2011-11-11T17:04:00.000-05:00

It snowed off and on yesterday, but this morning there was snow accumulated on the ground, so the kids were exited!

Happy 11/11/11!

2011-11-11T11:11:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy 11/11/11 at 11:11! (our time anyway!)

August Update: Danish Festival

2011-11-11T06:00:00.037-05:00

This year, we decided we'd like to make Danish outfits for the Danish Festival instead of just the red shirts with Danish flags on them.

Dad & Mom's outfits

The kids had noticed the tunnel under the street and wanted to check it out, so I told them we would during the Danish Festival:

Going into the tunnel

The walls had these mosaic history of the area

Going out of the tunnel

At the free kids' activities:

Emily really wanted to get her face painted

William getting his hand painted

As we were heading home, we saw hot air balloons and stopped to watch them

This was taken at the end of our driveway ☺

The "paint" rubbed off easily!

Here are pictures from Saturday:

The whole gang minus Grandma who was manning the sale tent

watching the parade coming

The lady in the front holding the Walnut Hills sign was Sarah's teacher last year

Back at the tent, Andy zonked out and everyone is eating lunch

This is about 15 minutes later! See how much darker the sky was?

It was really pouring!

Everyone all gathered in

Cousins having fun despite the rain

August Update: Andrew's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-10T14:55:00.000-05:00

I figured I had best get around and post the pictures that I've been meaning to blog about!

My "Portfolio"

2011-10-21T07:21:00.004-04:00

I decided to try and gather pictures of things I had made into one place to make it easier for people to see what sorts of things I have made or done in the past. This is by far not a complete list! I will probably add things on as I go.

One of many holiday vests (reversible)

Baby nightgown (not the best picture of it!)

I made all of our Civil War clothes except Dan's shirt

Civil War outerwear (I didn't make my mom's outfit)

Close up of Great Coat

Sesame Street characters

Ghost costumes

Duck costume

My wedding dress ☺

Danish costumes

18" doll clothes

Puppet

Hooded towel

Tatted bonnets

Tatted leaves

Tatted hair scrunchy

Knotted keychain

Friendship bracelets

Romanian Point Lace ornament

Romanian Point Lace fish

crocheted food

Filet crochet (if it is graph-able, it's do-able!)

Blankey Babies

A few of the sock monkeys I've made

I've made quite a few knit pants/shorts, too ☺

Knit snakes

Princess Leia hair

Knit baby hammock Photo Prop

Hand knit socks

Pacifier holders

Clips to secure toys, bibs, etc...

My Latest Endeaver

2011-10-12T06:00:00.000-04:00

There are several ideas in my head that I'd like to do and I finally accomplished a few of them this past week! I designed patterns for various hats for kids that look like something else. These will be for sale in my ecrater store .

Pumpkin, apple, and orange ☺

Top view

And, yes, my son is a ham!

Princess Leia hair buns

Working on the Playset

2011-10-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

I have wanted to build a playset for the kids for about 5 years. We've had materials for a couple years and even had a shell of one together. It wasn't very sturdy/straight and I decided it wasn't in a very good spot, so we decided to start over. We realized it wasn't a 2 person job, so we asked if my parents would be able to help. This past week while it was in the 70's, we got to work!

I didn't get a before picture, so I looked through pictures from this summer to see if any showed the area

This was from July, so the area was even more overgrown now

This shows the dead tree and old burn barrel

Getting to work

Start of a burn pile

Andy helps Grandma clean out the undergrowth

Laying out the structure

This branch was hanging low in the way

It's coming together ☺

Making sure it's level

Yes, I did help, too!

Doesn't it look nice now?

As it is now. The rest will probably wait until Spring

Our pile to burn - it's hard to see how big it really is!

Halloween Costume Preview

2011-10-08T06:38:00.002-04:00

I just finished the kids' costumes for our annual family costume party which this year is going to be on the 22nd since my sister-in-law is due on the 27th ☺ I thought I'd give you a preview of the costumes.

Happy Autumn!

2011-10-07T18:38:00.000-04:00

This week the weather is quite warm (76° right now) and I decided to decorate the outside of the house for fall.

500th Post

2011-09-29T16:26:00.000-04:00

Well, this is my 500th post to my blog! I was originally hoping to have some big celebration with maybe a giveaway or something! But here we are at the 500th post and I am immersed in deep cleaning the house, sewing costumes, rearranging the boys' room, plus all the normal things that life brings. Maybe I'll do something big for 750!

Andrew's 1st Haircut

2011-09-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

Before - front, can't really see his hair anyway!

Before - Back, the reason I've waited so long to cut it - the curls!

Before - side

I decided that since it isn't very humid anymore to cause Andy's hair to curl up, I should give in and cut it.

Andy sat very still and didn't fuss at all!

After I got done cutting it, I realized that if I had waited a week, my sister and her family would have been here and be able to see his curls - maybe (if it was recently wet anyway!)

But it was getting pretty long!

After - front, slightly blurry

After - Back

After - Left side

After - Right side

Rogue River Reenactment 2011

2011-09-19T22:01:00.001-04:00

The kids watching the opening ceremonies on Saturday

I'd found this info on a website (that doesn't seem to be working anymore):

Short hair was common for little girls and young teens. The hair was blunt cut, usually at a length to about the base of the neck. The hair was neatly pinned back or a ribbon was tied in the hair like a hair band to keep it off the face.

Long hair was usually braided for play (parted in the middle and braided on each side just behind the ear), then pinned in rolls to the sides of the head. Braided hair was rarely left to hang down, this is only seen on farm/frontier children. Long hair might also be contained in a hair net or rolled into a bun at the nape of the neck. Long hair would only be left down for special occasions, when it would be curled into ringlets

So, since Sarah's hair is longer than the base of her neck, she got a "hair do" (for which Emi was very jealous)

Andy riding the rocking horse

Everyone is nice and warm in their wool outer wraps

Me spinning on National Spin in Public Day!

winding on my new singles yarn I just spun

my basket of wool and my spindle

The cousins playing with the new wagon

Lee Mulder singing tradional Irish folk songs
Lee is the "spinning lady" but I didn't get a picture of her with her wheel

Cartographer

Our camp

Grandpa and Will listening to Lee sing

Will washing dishes with Grandma

man powered lathe

carving a bowl

my attempt at a family picture

nap time ☺

Getting a drink
This is how Will was most of the weekend - barefoot!

Will cooking with Grandma

Emily making her own stew

"petting" a bear fur

Trapper

Huge gourd full of beanpods

shucking beans

Beautiful beans

Sarah checking out the Indian's wares

French & Indian area

The kids watching the Civil War photographer colorizing a photo

S'mores!

Little Red Riding Hood pulling Little Gray Riding Hood

This is how William looked whenever there were "booms"

Boom!
(Opening Ceremony on Sunday)

The photographer asked if he could take our photograph

Us getting our Tin type likeness taken in the authentic Civil War way

It in the chemicals afterwards

The kids look so "period"!

Indian children playing

Chart showing the types of beans he had

The beanpods he gave me to plant next year

From upper left clockwise: Iroquois Cranberry, Potawatami Lima Pole Bean,
Potawanami Rabbit bean, Cherokee Trail of Tears Bean, ? and center ?

Voyageur's cool tent

I liked this rocking chair

Reenactment Preparations

2011-09-15T23:04:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the annual Grand Rogue Encampment. I had set my mind to doing Dan's greatcoat, FINALLY! I got the pattern in 2000! I decided I needed to check if I needed to make Andy a new coat or could alter his old one. In doing that, I found a whole list of things that needed to be done! It is supposed to be rather chilly, so I wanted to be sure everyone's outerwear was in top condition.

The body of the coat fit well, but the sleeves were really short!

So I picked off the edging on the sleeves

cut a piece of wool

Pinned it and sewed it on

While I was at it, I added pockets, buttonholes, and buttons

I added more length to the sleeves than Andy needed so that he could wear it awhile as here is Will wearing it!

I added buttonholes and buttons to Will's coat

My coat was missing buttons

So I sewed on new ones

I finally did the hem on Dan's pants (he tucks them in his boots, so they don't show)

Emily's cape hood was rather small

I had made them with one continuous piece from one side of the face over the top and to the other side

I cut the top of the hood and added a piece the width of the back

Much better ☺

The red didn't photograph very well, but this shows the seam in the back of the hood

As you can see in this picture from August, Emi needed her dress longer!
So I let out the grow tucks. I also let them out of the spare baby gown for Andy and the waist of Will's spare pants

Sarah's doll's arm was coming loose

So it got mended as well as hooks and eyes sewn on the dress (and Emi's doll's dress, too)

And here is Dan's greatcoat - front

and back

Where Were You?

2011-09-11T16:13:00.000-04:00

People always seem to know exactly where they were and what they were doing when tragedy strikes. Like I remember I was in Mr. Nichols' 8th grade class when the Challenger exploded and I was in the dollar store downtown when I heard the news report about the Columbia breaking up on re-entry.

This is what I wrote in my journal/diary on September 11, 2001... [things in parentheses are my added notes now for clarification]

"I went into the office at 1st recess and Deb [the secretary] had the radio on. I thought it was too nice of a day to have a tornado watch or something [normally she only had the radio on for weather reports on possible bad weather days] I must have looked weird because Deb said that 2 hijaked jets crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City! While we were talking, one of the towers collapsed! By this time, my class was back. I didn't tell them anything about it [they were in Kindergarten and I figured I'd let their parents tell them how they wanted]. By the end of the school day, both towers had collapsed and another jet crashed into the Pentagon! The picnic at Ferris with Dan's college was cancelled. The gas prices jumped from $1.56 when I went to work to $1.89 when I got home to $1.99 when Dan got home! 256 people died in the 4 airliners that were hijaked."

Deb's daughter had called her when the first plane crashed into the tower, so she had turned on the radio. I pulled a TV into my room when the kids were at lunch so I could watch some of the news reports to get a better understanding of what was going on. The first thing I did when I got home was call my mom. I remember just sitting staring at the TV and wondering how in the world someone would do that.

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-06T20:28:00.000-04:00

Emily at her locker

Emily at her desk

Emily with her teacher, Mrs. Mier.
Emily is in a K/1 class (she's in Kindergarten)

Sarah at her locker

Sarah at her desk

Sarah with her teacher, Mrs. Nord.
Sarah is in a 1/2 class and had Mrs. Nord last year for 1st grade, too.

While we were waiting for the bus, this is what we saw across the street.

In case you couldn't see it, here is a close up!

Getting off the bus finally! (they were 40 minutes late!)

Emily's first bus ride home from school.

I Really Need to Update my Blog!

2011-09-04T08:35:00.000-04:00

I am really behind in the things I want to put on here! I have Andy's 2nd birthday, Danish Festival and the sewing I did for it, my garden and I'm sure that I'm forgetting something! School starts in 2 days and I'll want to blog about that, too. Maybe I'll get more time once school starts. (Probably not, but we can hope, right?)

I Do NOT Like Sharing My House With a Mouse!

2011-08-23T12:36:00.000-04:00

I'm not scared of them, they are just a nuisance. Sort of like the fruit flies that always seem to hover around the kitchen, or the tiny ants on parade around my kitchen sink! There have been a few "face to face" encounters like when I threw away some trash and found a mouse perched on the front corner of the trash can, or when one came popping out at the top of the couch, but mostly just hearing them scurrying or chewing in the corner. I have tried several types of traps and poisons, but so far, the only one we've managed to kill is the one I whacked with a broom! I hope that we will rid ourselves of the pests soon!

Brain Fog

2011-08-14T13:00:00.001-04:00

I quite often suffer from "brain fog". You know, when you put things in the cupboard instead of the refrigerator. Or you walk out of the laundry room on the way to get the next load and immediately forget that you were getting a load of laundry. When I was pregnant with my first, we were behind a car whose license plate had a "D" in the middle. For the life of me, I could NOT remember what it stood for and I knew I should! (It means it's a Dealer plate, by the way!).

This topic came up on with some ladies from church, so I decided to look up some information on it.

http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/symptoms-and-solutions/forgetfulness.aspx
http://www.pregnancytoday.com/articles/signs-symptoms/forgetfulness-during-pregnancy-4843/

These two talk about how your brain actually shrinks during pregnancy:
http://www.thebabycorner.com/page/1245/
http://www.gynob.com/effects-of-pregnancy-on-memory.html

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Maybe some day I'll be able to remember what I'm doing for more than 10 seconds!
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Jonah and the Big Fish

2011-08-13T17:12:00.000-04:00

I found these pictures and thought it was cool how it shows there ARE fish big enough to swallow a man!

Andrew Is 2 Years Old

2011-08-09T06:00:00.002-04:00

Today is Andrew's 2nd birthday.

Here is his yearly picture to tide you over until I can post more!

If you want to see the post about him being born, it is here.