Christmas Sewing

I'm getting started a little earlier on my Christmas sewing this year.

It isn't even December and I'm half-way through Cozy's pajamas!

Target has had some really cute little girl jammies lately, so I've had to up my game...

...by adding cute bows...

....and ricrac on the cuffs and pockets.

Christmas pillowcases are also in the works. 

I've been showing a remarkable amout of self-restraint (in deference to Tony) and haven't yet put up a single Christmas decoration. ...but the second Thanksgiving is over, all bets are off.

So, I bought these fabrics with specific children in mind....and said children are being difficult...and not liking my choices.

Cozy wonders why on Earth I'd think she wanted little dogs in snow gear.

It isn't as though she tries to spend every free hour of her life watching Pound Puppies...oh, wait....she does.

But nope, she wants the much more grown-up Merry Christmas deer I chose for Sofia.

Really, Coze?

Lucky for me, Sofia is happy to have the Moose fabric (that somehow refers to one of her many crazy "fandoms"), which Anthony rejected. He claims his favorite color is red, but he really wants the blue snowman print on his pillowcase.

Silly children. At least they will have soft, christmasy pillowcases to rest their silly heads on.

Time for Dirt and Leaves

It finally happened! The weekend with no obligations...and my husband home! The stars magically aligned, so that the leaves in my backyard could be raked!

No, my husband didn't rake them all himself, but he's much better at leading the family work party than I am. (...not to mention, he's a much faster raker.) I tend to get tired and then let all of the kids whimp out too.

It always ends in a half-raked yard and everyone playing in the leaves.

I know. You aren't that impressed.

...but check our yard out compared to our neighbor's yard.

Leafy.....not leafy. See? It was a lot of work.

And we have a giant pile of leaves on our curb to show for it. They're just waiting to sucked up by the giant leaf truck!

If only we could pile them into the shape of our van...that would be impressive.

Since Tony and co. were working hard on the leaf problem, I got to do fun stuff.

I filled the bird feeder for the first time in months.

(Our poor squirrels were wasting away to nothing.)

...and Annika helped me plant a ton of grape hyacinthe bulbs.

(The clock was ticking on those. We've already been having freezing weather for weeks.)

There isn't a lot of immediate gratification with bulbs.

Right now all of my bulb patches look like this:

(Dirt and grass seed covered up with straw...to keep weeds and birdies away.)

But, if the squirrels don't dig them up and eat them, I'm expecting our backyard to be somewhat meadowy, scattered with blue and white flowers in the Spring!

Also, thrill of thrills, I had time to mow the front yard.....half of which is almost recovered from a summer of total neglect. Next summer, Yard, I promise not to abandon you.

How about you? Have any fun this weekend?

Warning: Whiner Post

Today I feel like whining a bit.
It has been a long, long weekend, and next weekend promises more of the same.
It began with picking up Sofia from play practice and my husband coming home from Georgia (yes, the one in the United States). He brought home two big coolers full of beef, and promises of carriage rides (pulled by draft horses!) if we visit Berriedale Farm. Yay!
Snuck out to see Thor...because we have to be responsible and preview movies for the kids, right?
Then, up early on Saturday to take Cozette to her last ballet class and James to his last basketball class (which he hates, btw. Wonder where he got that from?)
Next, making child write talk and  forcing another child to finally clean their disgusting pit of a room, while baking for bakesale.
Driving kids to see Thor 2...after nearly spoiling the movie for Sofia. I'm really bad about that lately.
Picking up pizza. Taking Annika and baked goods to variety show/bake sale.
Taking everyone one else to never-ending variety show. (Poor Tony.)
Finally escaping, putting everyone to bed, and sitting down to finish my YW lesson for the next morning.

I love my kids.
One of them needs to learn to drive, so that I can have some free time.
Having Tony back is huge help. It solves so many logistical problems...and he's been doing laundry all weekend. :) (Yep, I've been saving it for him. I'm that kind of wife.)

So far, this is the agenda for next weekend:
Sofia's play, Thurs.-Sat. at 7pm, with a matine at 2 on Sat. And, no, I will not be seeing The Crucible four times. We've discussed it. I will go once.
Anthony has a campout Fri.-Sat., and on Saturday there is a Youth Conference and a dance.
Oh, also, it's my anniversary on Friday.
I really want a weekend that is a weekend off. For me. To do whatever I want. Sit around and sew...or even clean my house? This summer maybe?

There's my whine. I'm done...until next weekend.

Now, adorable pictures of Cozy at her pre-ballet class. Taught by a real ballerina. We're going to go see her as the sugar plum fairy in our local Nutcracker!

Warming up.

Practicing positions.

On her toes.

With friends. (This was the class where she noticed she was the only one without a skirt. Oops.)

Her teacher brought all of the little girls a rose at the last class,

 because ballerinas get flowers when they perform.

Cozy, quite content with her flower.

She looked well-behaved in these pictures, but she ran around and talked through the whole class. :)

That's my Cozette!

Spooky Candles

I made some crafty candles for Halloween...because I had to plan a craft for our Young Women Halloween party. Sofia picked this one out on Pinterest. Not too little kidish.

...and can I just say - Martha Stewart silkscreens are FABULOUS.

I want a million of them now - they're so easy to use.

The girls at the party seemed to have fun making them (from prayer candles that I got from the Dollar Tree).

They got quite creative. ...as you can tell from Sofia's candle...the one in the middle...with the Halloween Deer on it. Silly girl!

Now I think I want to make some Christmasy ones....without the spiders...but maybe a deer or two.

Guess What?

Pumpkin butt.

My Fair Share

Thank you, girls, for saving me 1/4th of the bed to sleep on. I'll try not to fall off...as it might disturb your beauty rest.

 

Halloween Day

Our Halloween started with the tiredest Minnie Mouse ever.

Me: Are you sure you want to go to your preschool party today? 

Cozy: Yes. Just carry me to car...

...and somehow she manages to be awake and chipper by the time we get there.

I love Halloween.

I love walking around the neighborhood with my kids, everyone is outside and friendly.

I think it's quite nice.

That said, I also find it pretty exhausting. There's so much prep involved. Costumes. Candy. Decorations.

Sometimes I find it all a bit overwhelming. Whine, whine, I know.

In an effort to get past my lazy attitude, I found an easy, fun lunch for Halloween. 

We made hotdog mummies from an idea I found on Pinterest.

Cozy loved it, but really just wanted to eat all of the crossoint dough...and make pretend facial hair with it.

She also had a soul patch...and then a beard.

One of my kids didn't quite get the concept and made a pig in a blanket. :)

Ta-da!

My friend Amanda brought us banana ghosts - yum!

...and popcorn hands.

(They were actually kettle corn hands - SO much better!)

 The other thing that always sounds like a horrible amount of work to me:

carving pumpkins.

...but, dang it, we grew those pumpkins in our yard, and I did not want them to go to waste!

Anthony said he was just going to read while we carved. (He brought home a giant stack of Manga for the weekend.) ...but he totally made an adorable pumpkin. ...the big cutie.

...and, of course, the little kids were just thrilled with their tiny jack-o-lanterns.

They wouldn't even put them on the porch. I believe they're still playing with them downstairs.

I love this picture of Cozy, looking at James like "you're so clever!"

Both of them knew exactly what they wanted their pumpkin faces to look like.

When I called the kids to carve pumpkins, Cozy ran in saying, "I'm going to carve my butt pumpkin! I'm going to carve my butt pumpkin!" 

I said, "Cozy R- you are not carving a butt on your pumpkin! That's gross!" 

Then we turned around the tiny pumpkin she got from the pumpkin patch. Yep. 

The back looked just like a rear end. I guess that's why she chose it.

Annika, deep in the smolder, with her pumpkin.

 ...and this is how I found James' pumpkin later. Kinda spooky.

Lastly, Sofia's sad, sad Jack-O-Melon. Another Gravity Falls reference for ya.

(When this pumpkin was first growning, we thought a watermelon vine had volunteered from last year's crop. It looked just like a watermelon...until it turned orange.)

Totally uncarved. I hollowed it out for her and everything, but by the time she got home from play practice, she was too tired to be fun. :(  #IhateTheCrucible