A Sunny dress for my sunny girl

The buttons are the best part- I covered them with the fabric that lines the bodice. :)

Silly little one ;)

I want to kiss those elbows. :)

She is so much like her Daddy

I was dreading taking her to swimming last night.

There was a test to see if they could stay on with the competitive swim club or go back to lessons.

I was nervous she wouldn't be able to do it (swim two laps without stopping), and then feel bad if she couldn't.

I explained to her that most of the kids would be bigger and faster than her.
I explained that we were just going to check it out, to see if it was a good fit for her.

I wanted to protect her heart.
I wanted to protect mine.

Because I knew in my head that it wasn't rejection if she couldn't make the two laps- but I couldn't make my heart understand.

I am sensitive, and if I feel rejected, I am sad.
But if I feel like my kid was rejected?
That's just sooo much worse.

So there she stood, with about 45 other kids, most of whom were in the 7-8 year range, just waiting her turn to jump in the water and show what she could do.

She looked so little in her ruffly princess swimsuit, while lots of the others were in their official swim club suits that look so professional and somewhat daunting.

And then she just went for it!

Pulled her purple goggles (perfectly fitted to her head by Daddy the night before) down over her eyes, jumped in and tried to remember the things Daddy told her:

1. Keep kicking
2. Fingers together and hand in a hook
3. Pull hard (swim-speak for strong strokes)

She could see me on deck for her last lap, giving her thumbs-up and cheering her on (I don't know if any other parents did that and frankly, I don't care), waiting at the finish line.

She looked like she was struggling, and my heart hurt for her and I ached to help her along.

But then she was there at the wall, quite honestly beaming with joy!

She pulled herself up out of the pool without even bothering to use the ladder (Noah says that's the sign of a water polo player, ha!) and with the enthusiasm she displays for nearly every activity she's ever tried, said "That was tricky! But it was sooo fun!"

Sweet Claire of mine, my heart just about burst.

I'm sure my smile was ridiculously wide and I was shaking with both relief and pride.

While Noah always knew she could do it and told her so, I worried about how she would feel if she couldn't.

Turns out (as usual) I should have trusted my other half. :)

Lately

Claire:

• playing softball with Coach Daddy
• practicing songs for her end-of-the-year program
• riding her bike
• announcing she no longer wants to come to her Special Bed (on the floor of our room) in the middle of the night, but wants to stay in her own bed
• has decided that on her sixth birthday, she will start taking baths by herself
• loves raisin bran for an after-school snack
• is enthusiastic about almost everything she does
• playing with different kids every recess
• reading Amelia Bedelia, Little Bear, My Little Pony, and whichever books we chose at the library that week
• swimming an entire lap by herself

Alexander:

• playing t-ball with Coach Daddy
• giving each of us aliases from Bob The Builder: Noah is Bob, I am Wendy, Claire is Muck, Lucy is Dizzy and he is Scoop (so he can be the backloader and walk around the house scooping things up and dumping them into baskets, of course). It was pretty funny at last night's game when he called out to me from 2nd base, "Hi Wendy!" :)
• building the most amazing train tracks. Now that he has basically conquered every possibility laterally, he is starting to build upward

one of his earlier creations

It's hard to see, but it has multiple levels and tunnels and bridges. 

• talking about preschool and asking if they will have trains
• becoming a tad less picky with food- for example, yesterday, he ate his pb & j even though the "crumbs" (crusts) were still on
• chose swiss chard and cherries as his items of choice at the farmer's market yesterday
• learning how to buckle his own sandals
• painting several pictures every day
• struggling with allergies- mostly itchy, red eyes
• prefers floating in a tube than free-swimming
• choosing train books at story time- I have about six on my amazon wish list I want to get for him!

Painting eggs, and no, this wasn't Easter, haha

Lucy:

• Wanting to do whatever the big kids are doing, whether that is riding scooters, playing Mario Kart, cracking eggs for cookies, helping me wash floors, or sneaking on the treadmill ( which they know is off limits )

Sometimes her helmet is on wrong, oops

• Playing hide-and-seek
• Messing up Alexander's tracks for fun and mischief (not a good time)
• Insisting upon sliding down the firefighter pole at Claire's school playground (No Mama! You go over dere! My do it!"
• a bit more cautious in the pool this year, and loves taking rides on my back as I swim around
• choosing "The Napping House" every night for her story (and can recite it also)
• strapping herself into her carseat

 Me:

• reading 5 books simultaneously:
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• The Distant House by Kate Morton
• The Whole-Brain Child by Danile Siegel
• Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
• Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
• gardening a few hours a day and wanting to get at least 4 more rose bushes
• keeping up with laundry
• not buying fabric and using what I have (which is quite extensive)
• almost ready to tackle another dress for myself

Noah:

• in water polo mode- planning, researching, emailing, worrying, etc.
• anxious for a new video game literally ten years in the making (coming out on Tuesday, so excited for him!). This is on the level of, I don't know, a new Jane Austen novel being discovered. This is HUGE for him. :)
• training Claire for our local swim club, which begins in a couple weeks- love to watch him teach. :)

So we're good. Really good. :)  

Embroidered Monograms

Monogram for my big girl, and little doll I made for Lucy last Christmas

An off-center shot- it really is perfectly symmetrical

I love embroidery.

I am very new to it, but it is so relaxing, portable and relatively quick to complete.

I can work on it during the day, while sewing at my machine usually has to wait for little ones to be tucked into bed (even though they still might be cutting out paper dolls or coloring in their Bob the Builder coloring books, hehe).

I have so many different ideas and color combinations (right now I'm working on an "A" in bright rainbow hues on a medium-dark linen, and it is gorgeous!).

I would love to have a bunch of these in my Etsy shop in all different colors and fonts and sizes and stitches, but alas, bit by bit is more my pace.

Slowly, slowly, but surely. :)

First Summer Sundress

Last Friday, I had several stacks of fabric out on my bed, and I asked her to choose 2 for 2 sundresses.

The first choice was a no-brainer, because "It's the pinkest!"

It's hard to see the beautiful fabric in these photos, so here is a slightly better shot:

It is so classic and playful, with drawings of girls playing hopscotch, swinging, picnicking, riding scooters, etc.

The pattern calls for pleats in the skirt, which I like and have done before. But as this is the starting point for a very special garment for her to be worn later this year, I wanted to try gathering. Again, hard to see in the pictures, but the gathers are nice and full and even. :)





attempting a curtsy, hehe

Pink sparkly buttons



Great for twirling!

I told her I was going to try to finish it for school today.

I didn't.

She was sad.

I said, "Well if you help me pack your and Daddy's lunch, then I can sew the buttonholes and buttons."

She said, "Let's do it!!!"

And that's exactly what we did. :)

Three more sundresses coming down the pike!



On its way to a new little cousin

A little nursery decor

And some washcloths! :)

Chalkboards

I saw this idea about a year ago, and promptly bought the supplies: chalkboard paint and stretched canvas boards.

Then, true to form, I waited about 3 months before actually painting the canvas, and another 9 months before hanging them.

So now we have three chalkboards at kid-level in the kitchen, where they can each do what they like with them: Claire likes to write messages back and forth with me (complete with a "ding-dong!" when there is a new message), Alexander likes to practice his name, and Lucy likes to draw circles and also clean off all the boards with a damp cloth.

Also, the size is just right for a piece of chalk to rest on the top. :)

Fun stuff people!