Concert

We went to Charlie's first violin concert tonight. Although truthfully there were some sounds only a mother could love, I was very impressed with how well 1st through 3rd graders play the violin. Some highlights of the evening were .....

Charlie singing "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" in an opera voice. He even held his hand out in front of him like a regular Pavarotti. He definitely had us in stitches.

Scratching his back with his bow during some downtime.

He played wonderfully. I can't wait until next year when his repertoire has expanded!

*Oh - and click on ANY of the pics to enlarge them - YES! After two years of blogging, finally figured out WHY most of them don't enlarge.

Pincushion

I made this very easy pincushion today with an old cup, polyfil, square of fabric, and hot glue. Oh, and itty bitty ric rac around the bottom. It will be on its way to its new home tomorrow in New Mexico, as part of a package for an apron swap. The theme - tea party.

I'll let you see the apron in a few days after my partner has received it. I'll just go ahead and tell you that I did not stick to the tea party theme for the apron.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Lily Top by Pink Fig

I made this very QUICK dress last week, well I say quick - but it did take quite a while for me to figure out the shirring. I used the Lily Top from Pink Fig Patterns. I think my problem was that I wound the elastic in the bobbin too tight. Once I loosened it, and loosened my bobbin tension, it was smooooth sailing. Doesn't it look great up close?

I used Amy Butler fabric that I got from Glenna, in fact - I got the pattern from her, too. The only thing I didn't make is the sash to go with it. I have a different fabric to make that, but I decided she wouldn't wear it, anyway.

I will definitely make more of these. In fact, I'm going to make some not near as long as little peasant shirts. I fell in love with shirring. My Mom tried it, too - got completely frustrated, so maybe she'll be kind enough to pass her elastic thread along to me!

Should I be letting them play this?

Visit with Papa, part 2

Just look what we found in the backyard. Australian Shephard PUPPIES! Folks, I am NOT a dog person. My poor kids are begging to get one of these cute little boogers. I am trying to tell them the cons of having a dog - poop in the yard, a little dog chasing them on their bike, feeding it, etc.

They are trying to convince me that they need a dog to love, feed, and walk. It will teach them responsibility they say.

I say that soon it will grow out of its sweet puppy breath and will be stinky smelly. This precious little guy will grow up and be bigger than Anna in a few short months.

Don't these last two pictures melt your heart? I love them!

A visit with Papa, part 1

My Papa went through a season of life where he planted Jonquils every year. And I mean a couple of hundred bulbs year after year. Today there is a sea of Daffodils in his front yard. Let me tell you, it is beautiful.

All the little ones kept picking them and offering them to Papa, whom my oldest is named after.

I got so many good pictures, it was hard to chose which ones to post. Although the above isn't great of the kids, I thought it showed a lovely shot of the flowers.

There will be more pictures coming in the next post of what we found in the backyard - even cuter than what was in the front yard. Just wait!

Redondo

I whipped this another Redondo skirt up in about an hour last night. I love this pattern, it's so easy, quick, and different. I've only made it with one fabric before, and I wanted to see what it would look like with a 2nd fabric at the bottom of the flounce. So instead of using my nice fabric, I used some $2 Wal-Mart fabric. I love the way it turned out, don't you?


It passed the twirl test - so much that I couldn't get a clear picture because she was bouncing around so much. Twirly skirt + a trampoline for a picture shoot = bad idea.




Do you notice the bare feet? Quite a change in weather from Sunday (the picture from my last post). Spring is a coming!

We had our only snowfall this winter on Sunday. It all melted within a couple of hours, but it was very pretty coming down. Derek, always one to make me laugh, came out with full ski gear on.

What 33 looks like

Another birthday, another year gone by. Boy did Derek spoil me today. He made me my favorite dinner, country fried steak with gravy and rice. Then it ended with the most chocolaty pie ever, recipe courtesy of Paula Dean.



The kids gave me the Big City Slider Station, and Trivial Pursuit family edition. I also got a pink tennis racket, some pink balls, and pink wrist bands. I think someone is trying to tell me I need to get in shape. My Mom made me two beautiful pillows out of some special fabric - more on that later.

Here I am with 6 of my favorite people. The poor boy to the right of me has the flu, hence the droopy eyes. Let's pray the rest of them don't catch it!

Chuck has been BEGGING me to teach him to knit for weeks now. He took to it pretty good. As you can see, he was deep in concentration. I ended up having to leave him to get some little ones showered and in the bed, but he kept on by himself and did 4 or 5 rows. Here is his progress so far.

Pretty good for a 7 year old, huh? He has some major plans, he's going to knit each of his sisters a purse and a coat. Oh, and Anna wanted everyone to see her "tony" nails and fingernails in a beautiful shade of purple.

playing around

Remember the pic I posted a couple of days ago of my two 10 year olds? My good buddy told me about Picnik, and I've been having a lot of fun with it. You should try it, just upload a photo, go to create, and have fun! My favorite is the 60s effect.

The picture is not quite clear, but I just loved it and wanted to share. She didn't know I was taking the picture; and for some reason she reminded me of Christopher Robin marching. But what I really wanted you to see is her skirt. My Mom made this from my Dad's old corduroy shirt. As you can imagine, it's soft and comfortable and Red loves wearing it.

Another birthday

We celebrated another birthday last month, and now I officially have two 10 year olds. No, they are not twins - they are 9 1/2 months apart and are the same age for a couple of months out of the year. This two are, although they probably won't admit it, the best of friends and do most everything together. Matt, on the left and sporting the braces, is the newly 10 year old. Nate, on the right and sporting the glasses, will be 11 next month.

Thanks to everyone who gave him birthday and Christmas money the past two years, Matt was able to save up and buy something he's been dreaming of for 3 years now. A bow! They just started an Archery club in our town and he is beside himself. He's been out everyday shooting since last Friday when he went and bought it.

Hmmm, maybe I should've moved the grill so you could see the arrow better. Doesn't he look like a pro?

Well here's my booga bag, in all of its felted glory. I love the size, it's perfect! I lined it and added a big pocket, and then decided on grommets for the handles. I'm going to add a brooch to the side since I chose just ho hum colors to the outside to give it some oomph. But as a whole, I enjoyed my first felted project.