Favorite Faces

I just had to share some of my favorite faces on some of my favorite little people from the past few months!

Emmett- finally getting happy in water!

Always content... when he is eating!

Keeping him entertained during sisters' swimming lessons.

He loves wearing shades! We've gone through a heart pair already but he doesn't show any signs of growing tired of them!

He loves to copy the faces his sisters make!

He's been a stinker of late about requiring arms to hold him, but we are managing the phase knowing that soon enough he'll be pushing us away bc mommy and daddy are embarassing/crunch his style. This face wins me over every time!

When I ask Caroline to smile, this is what I get. She has taken crazy faces to a whole new level!

Sometimes she shows genuine glee! Feet off the ground!

Not a face, but a nice pic of her naked out in the pasture...she stripped out there so she could get wet in the wheel line! 

close inspection of a worm.

The girl plays hard. I LOVE when she sleeps! This particular day she fell asleep DURING dinner.

Gwen loves being Emmett's older sister! She takes really good care of him and tolerates his constant demands for "lap". 

She is a little funny lately--- I think we are seeing the tip of the moody iceberg. Sometimes she just won't smile. Other times she hides behind food or toys so we can't see her mouth.

But when it suits her, she can still be coerced into being silly.

She LOVES riding her bike!

And swimming underwater

And she still goes crazy/silly when she dances and sings!

And there are LOTS of ridiculous poses.

Can't see her face, but this is a typical view of the top of her head when she is peering intently to examine something. In this case, trying to toast ants with a magnifying glass has her occupied. 

But this is my favorite because it is just SO Gwen: happy 2 seconds before, but now Caroline is touching her and she is just NOT going to be happy about it. 

oh, and while this one is definitely not a "face"... it is still an abs fave photo from the summer!

Easter Dress Mania!

I promised.

and I deliver. :)

So prep your mouth in that "oh" or "ooh" shape and take a look!

  

Easter morning-- girls in their sweet dresses, me NOT in mine (it wasn't finished), but still bright and spring-y!

Caroline's is a slightly altered See&Sew b6038 with quilter's cotton fabrics...I don't know which ones. a bunch of seemingly random selections in vibrant colors that work together none-the-less! Matching fabrics is honestly one of my favorite parts of sewing! Gwen's is a circle skirt attached to a top from the second-hand store in a jersey knit. Those vertical stripes were inspired by a pic I saw online, but there was no pattern. So I used basic geometry math to adjust the myriad of circle skirt tutorials out there and we just went for it. Turned out well!

They weren't too eager for a photo shoot. Gwen later discovered that her circle skirt was extra twirly, and requested another photo, but we never got around to it. 

 Weeks later, my Easter dress is finished. 

 It is a GORGEOUS mint eyelet from Michael Miller called Mist, lined with white voile, contrasting trim is bias tape from Joann's. I bought the mint invisible zipper online from ZipperStop (very affordable!) My o-so-fashionable necklace is from Volunteers of America, my sandals are the most comfy wedges ever because they are Crocs and I've got my Silver Floral on Magenta Jams on too! lol, Writing all that makes me feel like I'm a fashion blog or something (I give myself airs). 

 The dress has a high, modest back and this great lacing detail. (My apologies for the wrinkled view. I am new to 'fashion photography' and such) I added the pleats as a solution for the unflattering way the fabric was draping originally. It gave me more control over where the draping occurred is much more flattering now!

  The sleeves I designed completely myself!  They are raglan with gathering at the top and a sweet puckering pleat at the arm. I have little ones to chase around-- my own AND I am currently in nursery at church-- so I needed flexibility and mobility. The only thing I might do differently would be to add a hint of elastic at the pleat so that when I'm NOT raising my arms or putting my hands on my hips, the sleeve wouldn't 'stand up' on its own so far away from my torso.

Caroline totally wanted to participate in my photoshoot today... Though getting photographed was HER idea, she only wanted to make silly faces. 

I am BEYOND pleased with how everything turned out! Proud as a peacock, actually! I've got new projects in the works, but I am so happy with how these turned out!

Braggin on my Gymnast

Sometimes a mom's got to brag on her kids. Mom prerogative. :)

My Caroline is a gymnast. She was pretty much born that way! It has been very exciting as a parent to see the natural talent (aka recklessness!) being shaped and formed into confidence and skills! Caroline has been taking a cheap-o class at the local rec center for a year and a half and her enthusiasm is beginning to bear fruit!

She rocks at back walkovers!

Has just recently become more confident and adventurous in her gymnastics jumps off the vault! About 75% of the time she does a "helicopter jump" and manages to land on her feet!

She swings around like a monkey on the bars

and touches her toes to the bar like a pro.

She's added a spring to her forward somersault.

Her form on the beam is improving

 She still insists on holding her teacher's hand, but races out in front of her anyway! Her teacher keeps telling Caroline that she can do it without assistance, but that will have to be our next accomplishment because right now she refuses to let go!

She is pretty excited about her beginning cart wheel

 and finishes it proudly!

Of course there is plenty of trampoline and running 

  and leaping!

Sometimes I still see this incredulous timid face, but most of the time she is gung ho about anything!

Check out her forward flip on the bars unassisted... and the awesome celebratory dance afterwards!

 

I'm proud of her for sticking with it and making such progress. It is exciting as a parent to see your child's self awareness and blossoming confidence. When it comes to gymnastics, she hardly ever says "I can't". It is a huge reward for ME to see her so self-assured!

Nutcracker: An Amazing First!

Since Gwen has taken ballet for going on 2 years now and has shown a love for expanding her abilities in dance, AND since she gets an ever-so-slight discount for being a Balletmet student (meaning, she takes her lessons in a school staffed by the same professional ballet company that astounds all of Columbus with their amazing performances year after year!), we decided she should see her first live ballet performance!

And what better first ballet than that of The Nutcracker?

We surprised her with our plans just a few days before the event, mostly so she could become very absorbed in our copy of the story, memorize all the various dances, and be prepared to inform me that they switched up the order on a couple things or whisper anxiously "that wasn't in the book!" when a character like Grandma was introduced or when Mother Ginger was played by a man!

So excited! The rest of these photos are courtesy of my friend, Wendy, who can be credited for suggesting the outing for our daughters, driving our party downtown, bringing chocolate graham crackers to share, and just being excellent company for the production. She also had a camera where I did not. :)

The Grand Theatre downtown is VERY late Baroque, very ornate, and even had people taking photos in the bathrooms because of the fancy tapestry and chandelier! Gwen was duly impressed with all of it. A little too much gold and brocade for my personal tastes, but it contributed to the 'specialness' of the occasion for Gwen. She really thought she was at a pretty fancy princess event!

She got to have her picture taken with the Mouse King and the Sugar Plum Fairy! 

Actually, OUR Sugar Plum Fairy was Asian, but I didn't point out this fact to Gwen, who didn't notice the discrepancy.
I loved Herr Drosselmeier's mechanical doll (the interpretation of dance as a mechanized toy was really fabulous!), the snowflakes with their handfuls of glittery snow, and the brilliant use of a huge silk sheet during the Arabian dance that created such interesting compositions!
But for the record, I have to say our Sugar Plum Fairy performed the most stunning solo dance I've ever seen! I get the impression that matinees are usually the less-prominent dancers and that the big stars are saved for the evening performances (which would make sense), but I honestly can't imagine a more artfully done performance than the one that our SPF gave us! Well done, bravo! I'm incredibly glad I got to see this lovely ballet! (Let's be honest, taking Gwen was really just a cover so I had an excuse to go! lol!)