These are fun and busy days.
Sometimes I get bloggy-tongue-tied when there are just SO many things to communicate. Hence the silence the past couple of days. Does this happen to you? Well, I’m pushing through, unloading what feels like a million things that are going on right now and enjoying sharing it with y’all.
{Also, I haven’t forgotten about the big, humongous, secret box in our driveway. But I’m also not telling what it is yet. But I’ll give you another clue. It’s out of the box now. And we’ve been taking turns using it a ton in this nice weather. Guesses?}
Okay, onto the newsiness:
We had a sweet and lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday. Oliver felt to festive about the whole business and though Ryan was trying to let me sleep in just a bit, Oliver kept sneaking gifts off of the dining room table and into my room. Surprises are enough to make him explode.
Speaking of my firstborn, Oliver is wrapping up his 1st year of preschool this week (seriously, can you believe it? It feels like just yesterday he had a hiccup in his lunch!) He has Bike Day tomorrow and his end-of-year program on Friday. I believe they will be reciting the Westminster Children’s Catechism that was put to music by the incredibly talented founder of his school. We have been loving this cd all year and can’t wait to see it all come together out of our little guy’s heart and voice, complete with sign language! (I’ll see about sharing a short video clip if I can manage.)
Hazel is threatening to become a real, live walker! Eeeeee!! She’ll be fourteen months old next week and she’s been crawling since she was 5 months old, so it’s definitely been a looong time coming. Ryan and I coaxed her into her first tentative steps at my Mom’s house last week. We’d been trying for weeks without success, but turns out all it took was the promise of a bite of a Mint Milano cookie to get our girl motivated. :) She still hasn’t taken more than three steps consecutively, but just yesterday I caught her trying (with success!) to stand up on her own in the middle of the room. My heart is full and running over.
Now just to catch that on video!
I’m also working on a real, live pattern of my very own. Like the kind people buy! The kind that you devise and design from scratch, test a hundred times (Hazel is wearing one of my most recent attempts in the photo above! And she’s wearing an earlier version here.) The kind that is actually sized. The kind where you call on your friends to be pattern testers, and eventually make into a proper pdf tutorial and actually sell on Etsy. So exciting. So intimidating. So exhausting! (Also, so cute!!)
I’ll keep you posted. It’s going to be great!
I have been trying to keep on top of Etsy orders today – trying to clear my plate in anticipation of HSD* 2.0 this weekend.
*Hardcore Sewing Delight
You may remember back in March when my bloggy friend Keight became my IRL friend when she came to visit for a weekend of sewing fun. (You can read her take on the weekend here.) This time she’s bringing her husband and son along too, so we’ll have a houseful. Counting on Ryan and Jesse hitting it off and taking the kids to the zoo or something fabulous so Keight and I can sew fabulous things and share them with y’all. (We hoping to do some pattern testing for an Etsy shop, so it will be fun to show you what we’ve made and give our recommendations.)
Also, hoping no one gets pink eye this time.
{menu planning this morning for company this weekend}
I imagine we’ll work on developing a camera strap tutorial worth sharing while she’s here. Hopefully. Here is the result of my second attempt this week:
Man, it’s tricky to photograph a camera strap that is actually attached to your camera. (Yes, I was too lazy to take it off for the photo.) I’m going to try to give y’all lots of variations to meet everyone at their skill level and style.
On a non-sewing note, Hazel and I took Oliver to get his very own library card today. Big deal. Except that really, it was mostly a big deal to me. He was more eager to get to the children’s part of the library so he could play the Dora game on the computer. Ah well, I was excited. And I did manage to get him to sign his own name.
(I totally remember my first library card. I had my name scrawled on mine just about like he has on his. Sweet.)
And now we’re off to tackle that big pile of books we brought home.
Nothing like a big stack of books and two little wrigglers to read them to!
Happy Tuesday, friends!
>Is it a hammock???
*Sarah from Charlotte
>best BELIEVE i had my head tilted trying to read that menu. OMG did i know that date night was PF changs? SO excited!!! and birthday french toast is GREAT news since i am still thinking about it from 1.0. we are SOOOO pumped. where the heckfire? is the clipfolder with metro tiles from. LOVE it.i love a good potpourri post from you!
>also, the pilot G2 in blue is the ONLY pen i use. ultrafriends!
>ha, i love the camera strap bit! sounds like something I'd do. camera strap sistas!!
>LOVE that little sunsuit! If you need another tester, I'd love make one for my niece!
ourbusylittlebunch(at)hotmail(dot)com
>That little romper you made is adorable!
>trampoline….?
>i will own that i am one to tear up over first library cards. my highest hope is that my kiddos love Jesus and treasure people, but my second? is that they grow into full-blown incurable bibliophiles. :)
>I know exactly what you mean about all the miscellany floating through your brain and how to condense it into a somewhat coherent blog post. :) Sometimes those are the best ones though!
I'm really curious where your portfolio is from, too. Gorgeous!
>Keight & Anna,
Ryan brought the portfolio home for me from Target as a "just because" gift the other day. :) It actually has a clipboard clip on the front cover too. Glad you like it!
-R
>Since I know what it is, I won't guess. :) Glad you're enjoying it! My kids can't stop talking about it. lol
Also, I'd love to be a pattern tester. Just an FYI.
>adorable romper! I'd love to be a pattern tester. I'm an beginner/average sewer and have a 6 month old little girl. Just scored some fabric from a Pottery Barn Kids pillow case that I could make something cute out of.
I know you didn't ask for testers but I just thought I'd let you know that I'm available :) HA!
THanks!
>How did you keep Hazel contained for so long? I have twins- my son started crawling firs@6mon and then my daughter started walking first@9mon…by the first birthday (last month) they were both going in different directions!!!
>Lots of exciting things going on in your house!! Both of my kiddos walked at 10 months, so it was chasing from early on! I almost wish they would have crawled for longer. :) I have a question, where do you get the tags for your Esty items? I have been searching the internet for options, but there are just so many and I need direction! Thanks!
>Kameron –
Hi! I actually make my tags using printable fabric paper that can be found at JoAnns. I just dip the raw edges in fraycheck to secure them. But honestly, even with the fraycheck, they're really not idea. I don't believe the printable paper is intended to be washed a bunch of times so with my bibs, you do have to trim the tag off after a while.
But, the tags are great for things that aren't washed as often like oven mitts, camera strap covers, etc.
I am also on the hunt for good, proper tags. They sure are pricey, but you get what you pay for and I'd like to have something that will last much longer.
Hope that helped!
Raechel
>Thanks! That's good to know. I thought of trying the printable fabric, but it wouldn't be good if the tag just wore off after a while! I'll let you know if I find any good ones that don't break the bank. :0)
>looking forward to the camera strap tutorial as i just got my first slr camera! so inspiring you are… putting up our picture collage in our new house, making the pillow covers from your tutorial, and now a camera strap woohooo!