Reenactment Preparations

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?

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

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!

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!

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

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

.
Maybe some day I'll be able to remember what I'm doing for more than 10 seconds!
.
.
.

Jonah and the Big Fish

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