Socks & Ladybugs

Two more pages down for Sage's quiet book that I am working on.  I am finding that Corban is especially interested in this project so I might make a few pages for him.  The great thing about using a grommet system is that the book can change and adapt with the child.  I still haven't made the cover that will hold the pages but I'm thinking I might need more than one so there isn't any fighting.  There are some patterns that have games like tic-tac-toe and even ones that teach fractions and other math skills that might be appropriate for Corban or Dakota.

I finished the Sock Matching Page that I was working on last post.  We've already lost a sock but thankfully found it with a little couch cushion searching.  Something tells me they are not going to survive too long, which only seems appropriate since you can never find all of your socks after a load of laundry.  I accidentally put the grommets on the wrong sides of the pages but I don't think it matters (the dryer should have been on the left).

The next page was super quick and easy.  I adapted it from this Counting Page but I couldn't find the same beads at my Joanns.  Ok, now that I reread her post she said they were in the kid crafting area.  Whoops, never looked there.  They probably would have worked better than these buttons because mine sort of flip around.  Oh well.  Since I bought ladybugs and flowers I tried to make the numbers look like sticks and then added some leaves and ants to the party.

  

That's all I've got for today.  I'm currently working on a page for her to learn to spell her name and then I might do a camera page with family photos that she can pull in and out.

Sidenote - I decided to use a hybrid of cotton and felt for my pages.  I wanted to use cotton for all of my backgrounds because there are so many fun choices out there.  If you want to do this for your pages then you need to iron on a stabilizer first or the cotton will have difficulty holding up the embroidery and felt.  Also, the back of my pages are cotton to coordinate with the front.  They also have a fusible stabilizer on them.  

Celebrate: Dakota Turns 7! And Starts 2nd Grade!

As usual, Dakota's birthday and the start of school coincided - which is crazy to me because my nephew just started yesterday and we are already in week 5.  Hard to believe.  Dakota was really excited about school starting, in fact, she actually missed it all summer.  She absolutely loves school and I am thankful for her eagerness to learn.  She was a little nervous on the first day because she has a man teacher this year and I guess that seemed a little unorthodox to her.  When I picked her up she said, "He is so sweet!" and has really enjoyed him so far.  She also got accepted into the gifted program and will have a few days a week where she participates in an alternate class that will hopefully challenge her a little more.

 I'm pretty sure I was half this height in 2nd grade.

 First year with short hair - she got gum stuck in it and thought she could cut it without me knowing.  She cut out a HUGE chunk and I could have easily gotten the gum out if she would have told me.  So this was the fix.  It is definitely easier but I think it makes her look older...sniff.

Look how much she has grown up since last year's first day!

Dakota really is such an amazing girl.  I get frustrated over the normal attitudes that come with raising a little girl but other than those expected annoyances - she is such a big help and blessing to us.  I really am so proud of her and who she is growing to be.  

This year Dakota fell in love with Legos - especially Lego Friends.  She got a few sets for Christmas and has since become fully obsessed.  In fact, she currently says she wants to be a "Lego Maker" when she grows up.  I tried to explain that's kind of what I do only with real buildings but I think she meant she wants to get paid to play with them all day.  She can be entertained for hours with her sets, following every single little direction and if she messes up, she will start over.  All of that Lego love lead to an obvious theme for her bday.  We decide to invite a few of her closest girlfriends for a small, at-home dinner and play time. They ate, built a few Lego sets (although I don't think her friends are into them as much as she is), had their nails painted, watched a Lego Friends cartoon and just did whatever little girls do best, which involved a lot of squealing.  I don't think I'm going to be ready for a slumber party for a while...

 Lego offers lots of free downloads which is awesome so I took one of the printable invites and added all of my own text in Photoshop.  I also printed some of the mazes and coloring pages for the girls to do at the party.

 We've already established that I am not a great cake decorator so I went simple here; although I still about had a catastrophe trying to get the 7 to stand up after it fell off of it's base which was already embedded in the cake.

Little ponytail holder "lollipops" for favors.  The girls also got a small Lego set.

  We quickly constructed something to hold forks but the rest of the island was covered with her big Lego Friend sets as decorations.  Her smaller sets we put on the table for the girls to build.

The girls took over the dining room table and it was so cute.  Dakota requested:  chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, strawberries, blueberries, green beans and rolls.

I love these two girls.

Ice Bucket Challenge

Confession:  I didn't want to participate in the ice bucket challenge.  I tend to shy away from trendy social media games, videos, memes, etc.  Every time a friend posted a video I said a little thank you that I wasn't nominated...and then I was.  By my aunt.  So I have another confession:  I didn't even know what ALS was this morning.  Yes, I had heard of it and quite honestly I thought it was a type of cancer.  People always say, "you know, Lou Gherig's disease??"  Um, I don't know anything about him either except for he had a disease.  Oh, and I knew he played baseball.  Or was it hockey.  Or was he the diver that hit his head?  I'm not trying to be funny, I'm just trying to show how naive and/or ignorant I can be when something doesn't directly affect me.  I've never personally known anybody with ALS so I really have had no reason to investigate further.

Since I was challenged to participate I thought it would be in my best interest to do a little research about the disease and whether or not donating was beneficial.  First up - this disease is nasty and I'm sorry that I even shrugged it off.  I pray that I never have any friends or family members with it because I'm not sure I could stand watching it (and that's coming from somebody who at 14 watched her mom die of cancer).  Second up - it appears this little "game" is beneficial.  According to the ALSA website, as of today they have received $41.8 million dollars compared to the $2.1 million they received last year this time.  Hopefully the researchers will be good stewards of this money but that's on their conscience, not mine.  So in a week of lots of bad stuff going on in the world, I'm happy to participate in something that is actually positive.

excuse the hole in my shorts.  oops :)

In honor of my father-in-law's 59th birthday, I nominate him.  Happy Birthday!  :)  Dakota nominates her brother, her cousin Stetson and her buddy Sutton.  Corban nominates Oliver.

$10 to play - $100 to pass:  www.alsa.org for your donation

Beach Break 2014

Catching up on our summer vacation pictures and then I think I'll be up to date except for a few August happenings like back to school and bdays.  This year all 5 of us were able to take 2 weeks for the beach.  The kids and I did that last year but this year Jacob got to enjoy an extended trip too.  

First up was our week at Litchfield with Jacob's family.  The cousins play so well together, appropriately teamed up with their closest in age, allowing us parents a little more time to chat and relax.  This year we took them to Myrtle Waves rather than the rides at Broadway at the Beach and it was a big hit - except for the big, purple slide.  My eldest might have been traumatized by it and so was Aunt Lauren.

Our second week was at my parent's house at Hilton Head.  We enjoyed having some of my aunts and cousins down.  Lots of new adventures since this was our first summer trip there as a family.

 We stopped and had dinner at Shem Creek on the way to HHI from Litchfield so that we could meet up with Ryan, Matt and their kiddos.  We enjoyed a nice dinner, talking in the rain and then they were able to come down to HHI for a night later in the week.  I love catching up with my buddy.

 One day there were a ton of dead jellyfish on the shore so we started collecting them in a pile and called them our "prisoners" and built a fort around them.  Corban found this one and said that it was Master Yoda.  You know you see it too.  The mind of a 4 year old.

 See that gray bucket?  That's the target for these grown men  boys who are jellyfish slinging.

 Tripp and Corban showing off their new ink.

 Playing outside of Salty Dog.

 Aunt Sandy (dad's sister) with Timber and Sage.

 We took the kids to Harbour Town for their first Greg Russell concert.  Hopefully they will get to enjoy him for many more years.

 Dakota and George.

I'm outta here folks!

Shhhh....Be Quiet

I probably could have come up with a more clever title for this post but it's Sunday and my brain is taking the day off.  I've been so excited about my recent project that I wanted to share it.  I stumbled across a pin a while back of a "quiet book" and quickly fell in love with the concept.  Basically a quiet book is a fabric book that has interactive pages for a baby/toddler to play with when you want to keep them occupied.  Airplanes.  Cars.  Restaurants.  Church.  I decided I wanted to take a stab at making one for Sage for her 2nd birthday.  Knowing it would take a while I got a head start instead of waiting until the last minute like usual.  The blog I have found to have the best tutorials and patterns (they're free!) does a lot of hand stitching with felt.  When I first started looking at her patterns I decided I would adapt them so I could use my machine...but then I got nostalgic.  I remember the sweet days of my mom sitting on our couch cross stitching by hand with her DMC embroidery floss and decided I wanted to be just like her.  So I pulled out her old floss that I've been saving:

I remember mom coming home from Piece Goods with her stash and putting them in these little envelopes and preparing for a new project.  I'm not going to lie, when I pulled out the first color my breath caught a little.  They are all in pristine condition like they have been waiting 18 years for just the right project.  Something about using mom's old thread to stitch a project for my baby girl just makes me smile.  I think she would be proud.  Sorry, I didn't really mean to get all sappy on this post but had to open my heart a little.

The first page I decided to do was a Forest Page.  It requires very simple motor skills for a child - basically pulling the owl out of his hole and lifting the leaves to find a baby bird in a nest.  It went so fast and I LOVED the hand stitching.  I am a little OCD and I appreciate the unwritten rule that hand stitching isn't supposed to be perfect.  When I use my machine I get very a little frustrated when it doesn't look just like I want.

My second page(s) was a Cookie Page.  This set will be a little more difficult for Sage but hopefully it will teach her to match colors and shapes and eventually do buttons.  Actually, I've been letting Corban practice with it because he still has a little trouble with his shirts.

The one I am currently working on is a Sock Page.  It will teach matching of patterns.

That's all I've got for you today but I'll try to keep you up to date on this project.  I will make a cover that the pages can fit in and we will be able to add or remove from the book as needed.  There are so many patterns that I want to try and I hope to design a few of my own.  Well, I'm going to pick up my needle and thread and enjoy the rest of this lazy Sunday...

I Chose a Swanky Gym Over Preschool

School is back in full swing here in TN and since I have a 4.5 year old people are constantly asking me, "Where are you sending Corban to preschool?"  Um...I'm not.  That's right, I'm not sending my kid who starts kindergarten in 2015 to preschool and I'm not even homeschooling him.  And you know what?  I don't feel guilty about it.  In February of this year I made the decision to pull him out of his 2 day program.  He loved it and I'm sure he was learning stuff but when he was sick for a day or we were out of town, I still had to pay and that hurt.  I hate throwing away money and at $30/day it wasn't just pocket change.  One of the big reasons I pulled him out was because I desperately wanted and needed a gym membership.  Not just any gym membership but a top of the line, feels like a spa, has it all gym membership.  It just wasn't really in the budget to do both preschool and the gym.  So I chose the gym.  Yes, I realize this could be seen as a selfish move but I think it was the best thing for our family and here's why:

-I truly believe this membership has helped me combat a second round of anxiety disorders.  After I weaned Corban in 2010, my hormones went crazy and so did I.  I was terrified the same thing would happen when I weaned Sage in April and I really believe that being active and getting out of the house daily has kept me from becoming another mess.

-This gym has a rock climbing wall which has allowed our family to do something we didn't normally get to do.  My kids love climbing and Jacob and I love our climbing "dates".

-The gym has a Kids Academy where Corban takes classes while I am in classes.  Today he did a school skills class and gymnastics.  Sage even got to practice tumbling and painting this week.  Some days he does sports classes or karate.

-I get a little break from the kiddos.  I love my kids but momma needs just a little time to herself.  Let's face it, a majority of parents send their kids to PDO or preschool to have a break, not because they really think their kids need it.  I'd rather just have that break while I exercise (or sit in the sauna - not that I've done that...yet).

So why am I telling you this?  I'm not trying to justify my decision (I know it was the right one) but rather I want to encourage other moms out there and let you know that it is ok to do something for yourself, even if it seems a little unconventional.  In the big picture of Corban's life, he's going to remember having a happy, healthy momma a lot longer than the cute preschool graduation ceremony he participated in.  So moms - if you are struggling with a choice between you or your kids - pick yourself every once in a while, it may be just what your kid really needs.

I'd love to hear some other examples...what have you done for yourself lately that turned out to benefit your kids?

Trail Days 2014

We decided to take a spontaneous trip to Damascus for Trail Days this past May.  If you've followed my blog for very long, you'll know that Jacob and I have a special love for this little town and it's surrounding area.  It doesn't take much to motivate us to go visit and since we had been telling our friend Jenna about it, we thought we'd drag her along for some fun too.  Jenna is a very special friend who is becoming like a little sister to us (I hope that doesn't offend her) so you'll see more of her on my blog I am sure.  Our long weekend was a blessing in so many ways and we are looking forward to going back for our fall family trip.

The weather wasn't very great while we were there and we kept complaining about how cold and rainy it was.  We weren't really prepared for this (hence my kids' clothing!) but the blessing behind the storm is that the warmest and coziest place to be for all of the thru-hikers was a church that was offering coffee, baked goods and live classic rock music.  The weather caused people to pour in and allowed the church to minister to these weary travelers.  I am so thankful we got to witness that.  

 I'm pretty sure that when Ikea made their ginormous bags out of tarp material they intended them to be used for babies and camping.  If not, I'd like to recommend it as a cheap solution for baby and snack containment.

 We promised hot dogs on the fire but could barely get one going because everything was so wet.

 Sage's first camping trip!

 Jedi knight?

 You won't find us modeling on the front of any North Face catalogs anytime soon but this is a good, happy life we live and I'll take happiness over fashion.

 Remember little Dakota in this swing??