Cozy Claus

I think one of the very fun things about having little girls is dressing them up. It's so sad when they stop letting you choose their clothes....or make it such a horrible drama that it's no longer worth trying to inflict your outfits on them.

Thank goodness Cozy is still in the fun phase. ...and it pays dividends to her sometimes too. After Grandma Cozette saw Coze in her Santa dress, she offered to make her a Mrs.Claus baby. Yea! It came in the mail with Annika's sweater...how many weeks ago?....and it's taken me this long to get a picture of it!


The very first thing Cozy did was take off the hat and shoes (because she knows from personal experience that babies hate hats and shoes).

She may not have wanted it on her baby, but Cozy really did like the hat, especially the little holly beads. I think she spent as much time pointing them out as she did naming the babies facial features. "Eye!" (poke! - good thing it's a fake baby.) "Nose!" (poke!) "Ears!" (poke!)


Oops - I told her to smile.


That is her real smile - the "pleased" one.


...and she cradled her baby all day long - just like a good mommy.

I am a sewing ninja

Every once in a while I do something that's impressive...well...impressive to me, and last night was one of those times. Sofia's Irish dance costume has been making me C-R-A-Z-Y. I did a terrible job on the hem (my first circle skirt), the bodice was way too loose, and I don't know what kind of primates they had in mind when they made the sleeves on her shirt (who has arms that long?...not short people like us)!


I re-hemmed, took in the bodice, and yes, removed the cuffs, cut two inches off the sleeves and then sewed the cuffs back on. You can't even tell (except that they don't hang down over her hands now). ...Ninja!

Everything was washed, pressed and perfect for the Pacific Northwest Feis (pronounced FESH - like fresh without the "r") this morning.


...though Sofi still has a little bit of dress envy going on. You have to be a novice to get that novice dress!


Still, I think there's something in that bag that's making her happy...


...two second-place medals (in the Light Jig and the Slip Jig)!

For Hazel

I finally finished the quilt to go with Hazel's little apron!



It took forever - which was my own fault. From the design to the quilting, if there was a choice I could make to complicate my project...I made it.

When I was working on Annika's quilt, I realized it was really just a modified tumbler pattern (with sashing between the rows). My only thought was: why would you do that to yourself? ...then I went and did it.


And then, once I got to the quilting, I found out that my straight lines had nowhere to go in the sashing. I had to start over...and line each block. Bleh. ...but I do like the result...and the butterflies (from my stash).


And the little Bo Peeps on the binding and pillow...thrift store remnant, for 25 cents. (SO grateful I still have a bit left!)




Happy Un-birthday, Hazel!

"Once Upon a Time..."

We made the trek over to Grandma's house for a cousin birthday. I managed to scrounge up a hand-sewing project for the drive over. (I'm so glad I put together this little sewing bag to grab on my way out the door! It keeps me from accumulating too many spools of thread and pairs of scissors in the car.)


I'll give you a full view of the project once it's washed.

As always, it's wonderful to see everyone. (I wish it wasn't so long between visits -I'm starting to get those Oh no, I'm moving panics.)

The kids had tons of fun cousin time...even more, since they like to get up at the crack of dawn to play (oh so quietly...drumming, running in "packs"...)

Also, Grandpa has been selling Mason Bee supplies at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show all week. He loves to include his children, and, although Tony wasn't eager to see me leave, he dutifully dropped me off at the Seattle Convention Center on his way home. (Afterwards, Dad gave me a ride to the ferry, so Tony could pick me up in Bremerton.) What a sweety!

It was awesome. I got to hang out with my sister, niece, and Dad - telling people about mason bees...and sneaking off to look at displays. (I made it to a seminar. "What the Cluck!": (Be sure to say that one clearly.) about pasturing chickens in your garden and what it takes for them to be compatible. (Cute and fun, with live chicks to encourage people to sit in the front row!)


Sis and I being awesome together! :)

"Once upon a time...spectacular gardens with stories to tell" was the theme of this year's show. Some designers took a very whimsical approach to the theme.


The straw house, belonging to the first little piggie. (They did all 3 pig houses, plus the wolf's den.)


The white rabbit from the Alice in Wonderland garden.

My favorite garden was "A Day Well Spent" - a visit to an old-fashioned family nursery. It was homey and beautiful.


...with my dream steps.


I also thought the Urban Farm Co. display was charming. Chicken tractor on the left. Beehive on the right. Pretty path between the two.


Definitely a day well-spent.

The Nursery

I swear this is the last time I will post about furniture for a long, long time. Weeks even. (I have lots of other lovely stuff waiting to be shared....but most of it is also waiting to be completed.) Just this last time....

I've rearranged the Cozy half of my room...


....in preparation for her new(ish) bed....


...which will be repainted as soon as it stops snow/hail/raining outside.

Now Coze has a nice enclosed nook, full of her play-things. I know it's adorable and fun, because I catch Annika in there organizing and tidying up just for kicks.


I definitely, definitely need to make my laundry room cuter...just in case it could have the same effect.

My PB Moments

I've been having some Pottery Barn moments this week.

Now, please don't think that I'm obsessed with PB. I don't think it's the end-all be-all of decorating. I know that cleaning my house makes it look nicer than having expensive things (...and I don't like to waste my money...too much....except on fabric.)

Still, every once in a while I see a good deal, and I do really like the things I've bought there.

Anyhow, I was leafing through a bed and bath catalouge this week...and saw that they brought back my PB quilt!


I bought it a few years ago when we switched to a king. I got it for a mere $60 and $10 per sham. Woot-woot! Now it's selling for $250. Gave me a little warm fuzzy feeling to remember what a good deal I got.

Even cuter on my bed...because of my cute accessories (toys, kids, laundry...)



Then yesterday at Goodwill, I had another PB moment: these adorable chairs for $4 ea.


Apparently my sister has a set of 4 that she found at a garage sale. (Yes, she does everything twice as well as me. :) It just makes her twice as easy to love!

Play

As much as we have enjoyed a few sunny days here and there, for the most part, the kids and I have been feeling some cabin fever. The little kids have seemed especially restless...and I've been looking for some new (or at least newly revisited) ways to entertain them.

We had a pompom fight. It lasted 10 minutes - tops.

I tried to introduce Cozy to painting with watercolors. She refuses to use the paint and goes straight from water to paper. ...and then she loses interest, because her picture is so boring. (I have big plans for finger-painting!)

The only real success I've had has been with playdough. I already had a bunch of playdough, rolling pins, and cookie cutters in the kitchen...we just never used them. After watching Meg's video of her toddler packing up his playdough (kept in a readily accessible spot), I thought we should give it another try.

The first thing I did was buy a toddler-friendly container for the playdough, which has made it so much easier to get out and clean up the dough....and whether or not it turns brown when you mix it depends on your color choices! Our blues, pinks, greens, and yellows mix in very artistic, pretty ways!


We also had to get placemats for our highly, highly textured table (probably the main reason we'd been avoiding our playdough!)

Now the littles can get it out whenever they want (which is several times a day). It keeps them at the table with my homeschoolers, busy and happy - cutting out stars and bunnies (those are the big favorites).


Last time we lost power (which seems to be happening EVERY time the wind blows), even the big kids joined us to play by flashlight. (It was way more fun than sitting around in the dark.) :)


Cozy - ready to roll. Remind me not to tell her to "smile" before pictures.


I think she's over-thinking it.


...looking forward to years of cheesy smiles.