I'm not old

Do birthdays make you feel old? Remind you of your aging? Send you down memory lane? Make you wish for other years? I feel like my birthdays have become less significant to me as I've gotten older. I still love celebrating my children's birthdays, but mine are just... well... I just don't feel compelled to have all the pomp and circumstance for my own day. (Mother's Day, on the other hand, has become a much bigger deal to me!...)

Eric scattered little collections of flowers and post-it notes of love throughout the house so I'd find them when I got up. It was a wonderful surprise that kept on surprising me as I'd discover each new vase! Even when I thought I'd found them all, they just kept appearing! Best one was the laundry room. :)

I had a great birthday with a fun workout in the morning, well-behaved kids, a nice piano lesson with Gwen (I'm her teacher this year and my lessons are hit and miss in their awesomeness), time to work on some sewing, treats brought over, socializing with friends when collecting children from a playdate, City Barbeque deliciousness, and Graeter's ice cream with the gals after bed time. It was a wonderful day!

Birthdays are so interesting because you are celebrating an event you had little to do with successfully accomplishing (we should all give my MOM presents on my birthday!). You are also acknowledging your aging. But you know, I've never felt older on my birthday. And I still don't. I still feel like I'm 24 not 34. (Okay, I don't feel 14 and certainly not 4, so I guess I can measure SOME change!)

Here are a few things that keep me feeling young:

CREATE. I love to make things. Add to the beauty around me. Sew it, bead it, paint it, sing it... I just love to create! Above is a lace tee I made from the lace I had leftover from the wedding dress. Not enough for front and back, so I added a floral pattern for contrast on the back. I LOVE it! My new favorite shirt!

 DANCE. I love to move, to feel the music, to push my body and not be bored while doing it! I get the best workouts when I'm dancing because I push to the end of the song instead of talking myself out of as many reps or slacking off my intensity. Can't slack off when that beat is driving me! I love music and I love having a good time with my friends! I am so happy that I get to teach a "Zumba" class (I'm not a licensed instructor, so technically I can't call it that) once a week!

 EXPLORE. Eric and I are doing monthly stay-cation dates this year. We have had so much fun traveling around the world culinarily! I look forward to visiting some of these destinations for real some day, but in the mean time I'm happy to just explore from a distance!

 MOTHER. My kids keep me on my toes. Keep me busy. Keep me searching for new things and new places and new books and new ways to experience the world. I love seeing simple things through their eyes. Things I take for granted are kindled anew and become magical! Mothering gives me opportunities to help lil ones learn how to cope with imperfect moments (Emmett was not happy for this picture, but I still love it).

 LET GO. I am not always so good at this, but I try to not worry as much. To just enjoy living and not stress about what other people think of my house, my parenting, my financial choices, my occupation choice, my clothes... or my dance moves. These moments are when I can look back and know I was truly, blissfully happy! Photo cred goes to Breanne Weston Photography

 LEARN. I have a voracious appetite for learning new things, whether it be new places and cultures, or history, or skills. I love to read and non-fiction has moved up to my favorite genre of late. Best non-fiction reads of the summer? Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. And 2 others I read last year that were also fabulous: Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language and The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold in the 1936 Olympics. There is so much to learn and eating it up all keeps me young! Best learning is hands-on and we loved our sight-seeing this summer!

 LOVE. Oh, how can I express. My Eric keeps me young. Our love keeps me young. Our intimacy keeps me young. I. Absolutely. Adore. This. Man. We celebrated 10 years just recently. It was an exquisite excursion!

LAUGH. My mom once told me, "if you can laugh at it, you can live with it." I see the wisdom in this and have tried to find something happy or quirky in every day to keep the stress and worry from creeping in. It works wonders for keeping our family happy!...I will admit that this is soooooo much easier to do when Eric is around. He just makes me laugh so easily! He knows how to diffuse my angst like no one else!!!

 I don't have any great pics to illustrate the remaining things on my list. But I am quite certain that SERVE and FAITH belong there too. Whenever I start to think I've got a lot on my plate, I think of someone else I know whom I've had the opportunity to serve. and I remember to count my blessings. And most definitely my faith in Christ gives me hope and purpose, providing the joy to each day that makes life so wonderful. Without faith all the above things would become dull and lose their luster. Service and faith both keep me young because I remember I am more than myself. Keeps everything in perspective and helps me to appreciate each day. 

 nah, 34 isn't old. Not when I've got my wonderful family around me to keep me young! Happy birthday to me!

Summer Sewing Projects!

Ready or not, here comes a huge assortment of our sewing adventures from the past few months!

Child Sewing Projects

Summer is the perfect time to tackle 'skills' sewing projects for the kids. As I've fallen in love with sewing, I have had an increasing desire to share my skills with others; first and foremost, with my children. I want them to learn that they can create something beautiful and functional, that they can be inspired by gorgeous fabric and allow that to fuel their creativity. But they need basic skills to do this. I chose simple projects that would teach specific skills and could be completed in just a coupld hours (which means 3-4 hours with kids doing the work). We worked on these projects on rainy days when parks and swimming were not an option. This summer there were fewer 'indoor' days than usual, so we actually didn't even get to the kitchen aprons that were also on the books. 

The towel ponchos they made! We used a tutorial from Polka Dot Chair and the kids LOVED the result! We got lots of compliments all summer on these. I will say it is pretty challenging for kids to work the ribbon through the 'tunnel', but they needed that skill for the next project and I thought this one would be good practice. No. Just do the ribbons yourself unless your 'students' are preteens or teens. It will save everyone stress and frustration. 

THIS backpack project (tutorial also from Polka Dot Chair) they got to pick out coordinating fabric! That was exciting! Selecting fabrics feels like being  kid in a candy store...something about the colors and the patterns just satisfies me-- like looking at row upon row of pretty beads arranged by color in the store-- choosing fabric is THE most fun part of the project for me! I was eager to share that portion of the sewing journey with the girls. And they loved it too! Gwen picked out some blue fabric that looks like mermaid scales and a fish fabric for her lining. Caroline went with a mommy cat and her kittens with a lining of kitties playing with yarn. 

They both did the cutting (with assistance) and sewing (with me behind to help if needed). And Gwen braided all 4 yards of her cord! I sewed the appliques, but they chose the designs and helped me cut them out and iron the interfacing. 

They turned out just too adorable for words! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

 For Me

Cute 3/4 sleeve tee I made. Based my pattern on It's Always Autumn tutorial, but was eager to customize the shape to my own figure. Adorable floral fabric from Girl Charlee. 

The Grecian maxi dress I made for my SIL's blush and gold wedding. I used a dress I own as a pattern. I wasn't completely thrilled with this dress at the time because I had to throw it together last minute when I messed up on the lace-y dress I was working on and the fabric was on back order. But I loved the freedom and comfort and I DANCED like a happy woman at the reception!

The lace-y dress after I got what I needed to finish it. And guess what? I like the other one better! But working with the stretch lace was really fun and educational. And I designed this one from the ground up... which was fraught with error, but definitely a learning experience!

Creme de la creme: the gorgeous tribal pattern maxi dress I made. I used Simplicity pattern 1881 to start, but altered the waist yoke because I'm short and it was designed for long torsos. I ADORE how this dress turned out and have gotten so many compliments on it! Plus, it makes me look GOOD!!

 School Clothes

I mentioned in Wednesday's post that Gwen needed lots of new clothes. She has sprouted long legs, but her waist didn't grow that much (an enviable problem!) So all her skirts were too short and she only had winter leggings rather than capri style. Cheapest solution? Volunteers of America!

I got this entire haul for 20 dollars. Clothes for the girls, swimsuits for next year, undershirts, ballet leotards, and even a shirt to fit Eric (which is truly a rare find at a thrift store). 

From this tee, I made these capris. I used Zaaberry's capri pattern and tutorial and loved how easy she made this!

These were alterations. Size 10-12 that needed taking in for little skinny legs. 

recognize that cute Girl Charlee fabric? Remnant from my shirt project!

This skirt was a size 10-12. I took it in and then added in shorts so she can hang upside-down on the monkey bars. I learned how to make skorts from Make It & Love It.

I made Gwen a new Toothless shirt. Just used a shirt that fits her well as a pattern. The Toothless applique was her special request. Don't be fooled... it was just as tedious to stitch around all those edges as it looks! The skorts were actually 2 shirts (random, right?)

Caroline's dress is pink and yellow (her favorite Fluttershy colors) using a sundress as a starter pattern. I was so happy to find a sweet yellow floral knit to use as the sleeves and trim. The waist is a quilters cotton I had in my scraps that I shirred to make the gather elastic. The little daisy applique was also from my stash (bonus!) and coordinated perfectly!

Oh, it was a happy happy sewing summer!

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!

Conquering a Fear...And the Beautiful Result!

Once upon a time a sensitive mother purchased yards of expensive silk brocade for her daughter as a pre-wedding gift... mostly because said daughter had been fawning over the Asian design and rich royal blue color for a long time and this mother thought it would go a long way towards soothing her 'day-before-the-wedding' jitters...and a kimono pattern so that yardage would go to good use. (Wait, at this point the daughter didn't even own a sewing machine! What were they thinking?)

Sadly, GUILTILY, the fabric sat in the daughter's fabric stash for 9 1/2 years because this gal didn't know HOW to read a pattern and was terrified of destroying the gorgeous fabric.

Until last week.

I am that daughter. I do sew, but the only clothing I've made were very simple/forgiving projects for my kids (costumes, straight lines, online tutorials for easy things, ya know)... Until I decided enough is enough. After all, the logical accusation was that I was wasting the gift just as much by NOT using it as I would be if I messed up the sewing. Time to put on my big girl pants and JUMP IN!

I decided I would rarely use a kimono, so why not try something I could wear more regularly? The brocade lent itself to a fit-and-flare design because of the weight of the fabric. I bought a pattern (Simplicity 1418), made a mock up in muslin first so I could learn a few things, and read and reread those instructions! I am really proud that I stretched myself to a) figure out how to read a pattern, b) sew darts, c) sew pleats, d) sew fitted sleeves, e) sew in a zipper and f) make adjustments to the pattern so that it was a custom fit! Weight loss not-withstanding, I still have my original body shape with which to contend, so adjusting the pattern to my specs proved a challenge indeed! I'm happy to say, I conquered! (and I think my next dress will be even better!)

and you know what? I've really been bitten by the fashion sewing bug! I whipped up this argyle peasant dress for Gwen for Valentine's Day (free fabric from a friend! Thanks, Rach!) and I've already got fabric and plans for Easter dresses... and even a couple more projects that should keep me busy into summer! Wondered where I've gone? Check my sewing room! I'll be there for a while!

Moral of the story? In conquering a fear, I've unleashed a monster!

Been Livin it Up!!!

"Where have you BEEN all summer?" you ask... my answer is, "LIVING!"

I can't believe we've only got a week of summer left. This time has truly sped by! Perhaps it is because we have seen so much growth, learning, completed projects, and a healthy dose of fun?

Emmett went from scooting in an army crawl...to full on crawl...to pulling himself up and toddling his first steps with a walker! He's in the "troublemaker" phase of life and we LOVE it!

Caroline went from crazy athletic bundle of energy to a crazy athletic bundle of energy who is pretty much ready for preschool (she has been working on her letter recognition and early reading) and she is looking so grown up in her FIRST haircut ever!

Gwen went from being scared to put her face in the water to swimming like a fish (actually, she insists she swims like a mermaid) and trying to see how long she can stay underwater. She also went from a toddler bike (her gangly legs were WAY to long for it) to getting a big 20 inch bike that she can balance on up and down hills without training wheels! (We haven't put the pedals on yet, so can't officially say she rides a bike... yet). She's really excited to start 1st grade and show off her reading and math skills that she's been honing with daddy all summer! 

Both girls also learned a few sewing skills this summer. From small hand-stitched pillows to mini quilts...but the crowning achievement was definitely Gwen's completed cute little bag! Yes, she sewed that herself! (I helped with the cutting, ironing, and turning it right side out. whew getting the whole bag through that tube was a chore, I tell ya!)

As a family, we took a trip to Virginia for a Hart family reunion---  we experienced the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!

  So here's to a great summer, as it begins its departure. The Ohio Allans have definitely enjoyed it!