Technical Dificulties
Ugh, I've been having some computer issues. It's so frustrating to have things ready to go and not be able to get them posted. I'm working on it and hope to be back here very soon with some pics from our annual snowboarding trip, a Santa built playkitchen and maybe even some of those kid made gifts I mentioned so long ago.
Searching for Winter
Winter here in southern Michigan has not been all that we expected. It's not that we don't appreciate all the extra sunshine, it really is lovely. But, all this brown mush instead fluffy white?
This calls for some drastic measures. I mean really, short sleeves and roller skating on January 31st!? I think we may just have to go out and hunt down winter this year.
Oh we've had a few snowfalls, and we celebrate, thinking it's finally here!
And then, it all vanishes as quickly as it fell.
This calls for some drastic measures. I mean really, short sleeves and roller skating on January 31st!? I think we may just have to go out and hunt down winter this year.
Eleven!
Not sure I'm ready for this. But those adventures, the ones I'm not quite ready for, are always my favorite.
Happy 11th Birthday to my beautiful girl! I love you.
Happy 11th Birthday to my beautiful girl! I love you.
Sharing My History
I was able to spend some time this past weekend with some people and places I haven't seen in a very long time.
Sharing this piece of my history with my husband and kids meant so much to me and having them with me as we said goodbye was so very comforting.
It's been a little crazy over here. Two weekends in a row spent out of town means insane laundry piles, a struggle to re-establish a family/homeschooling rhythm and that the Christmas decorations are just now coming down. I want to take some time to absorb all that was this past weekend, to remember those bits of my childhood and, with a birthday coming I'm in a mad rush to put this place back together again. I will be back here soon, there is just a little too much life happening right now.
Sharing this piece of my history with my husband and kids meant so much to me and having them with me as we said goodbye was so very comforting.
It's been a little crazy over here. Two weekends in a row spent out of town means insane laundry piles, a struggle to re-establish a family/homeschooling rhythm and that the Christmas decorations are just now coming down. I want to take some time to absorb all that was this past weekend, to remember those bits of my childhood and, with a birthday coming I'm in a mad rush to put this place back together again. I will be back here soon, there is just a little too much life happening right now.
Chicago
Good food, good beer, good friends.
It was our first weekend away without kids in a very, very long time and it was wonderful.
It helps to have some pretty terrific in-laws willing to entertain your kids while you're away.
So terrific in fact, that your kids, who you've missed terribly, even while having a blast, couldn't care less that you're there to pick them up and would in fact like to stay a little while longer please. (They did let me know they missed me when they asked to skip music class this morning because they hadn't seen me in like 3 whole days.)
In case you were wondering yes, those that wanted to did in fact skip class, spending some time to reconnect instead.
It was our first weekend away without kids in a very, very long time and it was wonderful.
It helps to have some pretty terrific in-laws willing to entertain your kids while you're away.
So terrific in fact, that your kids, who you've missed terribly, even while having a blast, couldn't care less that you're there to pick them up and would in fact like to stay a little while longer please. (They did let me know they missed me when they asked to skip music class this morning because they hadn't seen me in like 3 whole days.)
In case you were wondering yes, those that wanted to did in fact skip class, spending some time to reconnect instead.
The Secret Agent Spy Kit
This handmade, or rather hand assembled gift was my favorite. For
my niece, the one who loves handmade, and her little brother we put
together a spy kit.
The kids and I had so much fun finding trench coats, hats and sunglasses at thrift stores, and Pop pop's closet. Then, while taking the youngest on an emergency potty stop at the back of one of the stores, we happened upon the most perfect old suitcase. It even had a secret compartment!
It wasn't priced and the nice lady working in the store gave it to us for under $3.00. A steal, and perfect for all the gear. We hid our own secret missions in that compartment along with some purchased spy gear from Target.
I made a couple of felt mustaches and we printed some badges from the FBI's website for kids, added the directions and parts needed to make their very own periscope and, finished it off with a book full of fun ideas for kids wanting to be experts in the spy business.
I've heard that the spy games are a new favorite at my sister's house and rumor has it, the secret agents have even started recruiting the youngest members of the family.
The kids and I had so much fun finding trench coats, hats and sunglasses at thrift stores, and Pop pop's closet. Then, while taking the youngest on an emergency potty stop at the back of one of the stores, we happened upon the most perfect old suitcase. It even had a secret compartment!
It wasn't priced and the nice lady working in the store gave it to us for under $3.00. A steal, and perfect for all the gear. We hid our own secret missions in that compartment along with some purchased spy gear from Target.
I made a couple of felt mustaches and we printed some badges from the FBI's website for kids, added the directions and parts needed to make their very own periscope and, finished it off with a book full of fun ideas for kids wanting to be experts in the spy business.
I've heard that the spy games are a new favorite at my sister's house and rumor has it, the secret agents have even started recruiting the youngest members of the family.
The Handmade Gifts
We had a wonderful holiday and a fun time ringing in the new year and I hope all of you did too. I suppose I'm a little late to the party on the handmade holiday gift reveals but, here goes, via instagram.
Every year I drive myself a little crazy trying to make way too many gifts and usually spend most of Christmas eve and sometimes part of Christmas morning putting on the finishing touches. So, this year I gave myself a little gift. I promised myself to let go of any projects or shopping not done by Solstice.
Of course that didn't happen but, what did happen was that nothing new was started in the few days leading up to the cutoff day and all of those last minute, finishing touches were done bit by bit, and, for the most part, with time to spare. It made the whole process so much more enjoyable and I was able to let go and enjoy all of our celebrations.
So, just what did I get finished you ask? I did finish that little something I've been going on about.
Aprons for two of my nieces (pattern for sale soon) along with some glitter doh the kids helped me make and some fun patterned wood rolling pins.
My sister is a derby girl so for her little one I wanted to go a little punk with the apron and it turned out perfect. The other was made with some of the fabric I used on the ironing board cover but, the poor sweetie pie was sick so I couldn't get any pics of her wearing it. I'm so excited at how nice they turned out and, inspired by the apron I made using Meg's pattern, they're reversible!
I was also able to make the hat. He loves it. Pattern from Meg at Sew Liberated, I'm obviously a fan of her patterns. The fabric I used is from a ginormous stash I was given years ago by my cousin. she saved the samples of fabric that were discontinued when she was working as an interior designer for a furniture store then, passed them on to me. They were perfect for this sweet cap.
I didn't get all the handmades done that I'd hoped to and my own girls didn't get any from me but, there are always birthdays or rainy days or just for fun sewing days to work on the projects I had in mind for them. And I did help out with the projects that the kids made each other. I'll have a special post about those fun gifts soon, they all worked so very hard and thoughtfully on their gifts for each other. But, before that, there is one more handmade, or rather hand assembled gift I want to share.
Stay tuned for our Secret Spy Kit post, coming soon.
Every year I drive myself a little crazy trying to make way too many gifts and usually spend most of Christmas eve and sometimes part of Christmas morning putting on the finishing touches. So, this year I gave myself a little gift. I promised myself to let go of any projects or shopping not done by Solstice.
Of course that didn't happen but, what did happen was that nothing new was started in the few days leading up to the cutoff day and all of those last minute, finishing touches were done bit by bit, and, for the most part, with time to spare. It made the whole process so much more enjoyable and I was able to let go and enjoy all of our celebrations.
So, just what did I get finished you ask? I did finish that little something I've been going on about.
Aprons for two of my nieces (pattern for sale soon) along with some glitter doh the kids helped me make and some fun patterned wood rolling pins.
My sister is a derby girl so for her little one I wanted to go a little punk with the apron and it turned out perfect. The other was made with some of the fabric I used on the ironing board cover but, the poor sweetie pie was sick so I couldn't get any pics of her wearing it. I'm so excited at how nice they turned out and, inspired by the apron I made using Meg's pattern, they're reversible!
I was also able to make the hat. He loves it. Pattern from Meg at Sew Liberated, I'm obviously a fan of her patterns. The fabric I used is from a ginormous stash I was given years ago by my cousin. she saved the samples of fabric that were discontinued when she was working as an interior designer for a furniture store then, passed them on to me. They were perfect for this sweet cap.
I didn't get all the handmades done that I'd hoped to and my own girls didn't get any from me but, there are always birthdays or rainy days or just for fun sewing days to work on the projects I had in mind for them. And I did help out with the projects that the kids made each other. I'll have a special post about those fun gifts soon, they all worked so very hard and thoughtfully on their gifts for each other. But, before that, there is one more handmade, or rather hand assembled gift I want to share.
Stay tuned for our Secret Spy Kit post, coming soon.
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