Baby Chicks!

No, I don't have any chickens, just Semperviven (or "Hens and Chicks"). ...and my Hens have had chicks in abundance this summer. My brood hens came in a baggie, in my Mom's carry-on from WA.

See the little ones nestled under their mama!

Next year I think I'll be passing these pullets on to someone else...

...or I could get a bigger bowl...?

We got Annika's ears pierced! 

She was super brave (in spite of the horror stories Sofia told her on the way there!) 

Sofia on the other hand, used the momentary distraction of piercing to get into trouble.

I should have know from her Loki-ish attire that she was in an "I do what I want" mood.

She ran to the store across the way and spent most of her dollars on "awesomeness". 

Said awesomeness being a Captain America sweatshirt that will fit her someday, future college boyfriend/husband (because it sure doesn't fit her!)

Nice. More supervision required.

The front of my yarrow dress. 

I told you the back was cuter. Actually, Sofia has stolen this dress occasionally, and I must say it looks better on a tinnier person. (...not that that is going to stop me.)

Jonny's new haircut....if you can call it that.

I don't especially like it and did not participate in the cutting...not that I'm in a position to judge such haircut choices...

Still....I think he looks like a chemo patient....Tony (who maintains a similar cut), thinks he looks like a giant baby. 

We're nice parents, right?

The Other Project

Here's the other shirt I made Cozy while we were out of town. I know it looks all Instagramed...but really...my camera lens just fogged up the second I stepped outside.

I had this beautiful skirt from a thrift store and there was just no shirt at Target to match it. (Or Old Navy or Walmart. Those are pretty much the only places I go, so it was time to sew something.)

The top (which came with that cute embroidery and beads) and bottom of the shirt belonged to Sofia, when she was a tiny little person, but the middle was full of holes.

I just added a strip of  orange from a scrap t-shirt. I didn't even hem the bottom edge. It's a nice soft jersey that rolls up and doesn't fray, so I figured it wasn't necessary.

...and there's our red, polka-dot bloomers! I knew they'd come in handy!

And, check it out, I figured out how to fill a bobbin from the original instruction book.

No, I'm not sure what made that such a fun experience for me....but it was.

Now I'm home to my modern Kenmore....but I'm thinking I need to do some sewing on the Pfaff Rachel gave me....in 2009! (Why does that seem so long ago? It's amazing what can change in 3 years.)

Thrifty Fun in PA

Wanda took me to her local thrift store and got me her awesome senior discount (50% off on Tuesdays - the general public gets it on Wednesdays, when it's mega-busy). Some of my favorites:

Cute brown skorts and red, polka-dot bloomers for Coze.

Tiny shirts.

Tiny pink purse, that's stitched just like a mama one!

...and Annika, who had no shorts for summer, got a few outfits.

These shorts were my favorite! They make me want to sew something hexy!

...and she got these....plus 3 more pairs of shorts. Score.

Wanda found this for Sofi, who does want to date a super hero:

...and these shoes for me....

Pretty guilt-free when you only pay $2.50 a pair.

Cute tote.

Messenger bag that goes over the body. As my brilliant husband said, "It's like a pocket you wear."

...and I got a bunch of boy stuff, but it's boring, so I won't waste your eyeball power on it. If you've seen one plain t-shirt, you've seen them all.

Large sack of clothes and stuff: $67

A Cozy Shirt

I always like to stow away a couple of projects in my bag whenever I go out of town.  Trust me, it's better this way. (If I don't bring one, I'll probably start one.) So, believe it or not, Cozy needed shirts. (I know! Kids just keep growing!) This blue shirt is patterned after a shirt of Sofia's (that I love).

I got to sew it on one of Wanda's vintage Singers. (...in her pimped-out sewing room.)

It was pretty simple. I started with the shirt shape and some strips of fabric.

Gathered the strips.

I sewed the first one on upside down to hide the seam.

Flip. See?

Then ya' flip it back up to sew on the next strip.

Once they were all on....

...I sewed the back to the front, just at the shoulders.



Laziness. Since I cut the neck out with pinking sheers, I just tucked the neckline under and sewed it. Hey, it works.



I sewed the sleeves in, with a little pleating in the middle,

pinned the sides together,

and sewed it up.

Ta-da!

...and she's still one of the cleverest, cutest things I've ever made.

G-Ma and G-Pa's

So, there was this giant storm...lightning so constant it looked like there was a strobe light outside our window...accompanied by widespread power outages. 

No air conditioning. Sounds like a great time to visit Grandma and Grandpa! (...which we've been waiting to do anyhow. Luckily this storm hit right after Tony finished finals.)  What a good call.  Cozy didn't want to come home at all.  I think all of the yummy food contributed. Jonny walked thru Grandma's front door and said, "Mmm. It smells like beans!" Sure enough, Grandma had a pot cooking, and Jon ate burritos all week.

The kids also caught up with the new Avatar series. Lovin' Sofia's Korra-inspired hairdo!

SWAG!

Jon must have waxed nostalgic for the old last airbender series...because he just got an Aang haircut. :(

We got just enough fireworks to feel July 4th-y. Thank goodness we're from out of state. PA will only sell you the good stuff if you have an out of state driver's license. (Uh...yes...we're going to drive to Washington state to light off these mortars...) There were plenty of snakes, sparklers, and smoke bombs too (the legal ones).

And, darn it, I forgot to draw cute little faces on the spent smoke bombs, so we could pretend they were little creatures and keep them under our beds in a shoe box. The kids would have loved it. (I always did!) ...and Tony would have hated it! 

I also forgot to take pictures of the gardening I did while I was there. (Darn!) Well, I actually did remember...at about Gettysburg (our half-way point). Sorry Wanda.

When we finally came home today, I looked around and thought, "Wow. It looks like last July, when we were moving in." (But really, it's not nearly as bad.) Tony made a trip home to deliver some furniture his folks gave us (and clean out the frig), so his delivery was waiting for me to find it a home.

After much measuring and rearranging, I think we found a way to fit in Annika's new dresser. Yes, it's the one with the mirror! Adorable - I know! (Her old Ikea one was breaking daily. Those pressed-board pieces can only handle so many moves. This one is much more charming anyhow.) Cozy's nightstand is new too!

Cozy's dresser is now shoved in a corner, waiting to be cleaned off and cute-ified.

Amazingly, her wall decals moved pretty easily...no paint peeled off or anything.  I took the opportunity to make a couple of changes. I ditched the creepy squirrel and stuck the cute hedgehog in instead. SO much better. I case you don't remember, their room used to look like this...and then this.

...and I can neither confirm not deny throwing out a huge bag of toys. (Don't tell!)

Tomorrow I'll show you what else I was up to in Pennsylvania.

Stencils

Little James and I have found another common interest. Stencils.

This just came in the mail:

I've promised myself not to use it until I have my kitchen painted...and then I'm planning some fairly experimental painting for Anthony's room. I was hoping he'd go for the houndstooth, but he likes something a little more geometric.

James is finishing his projects a little faster.

My favorite was the birthday card he made for himself...so cute!