Ghosts of Crafting Past

Wow, almost Christmas again.  I am not good at updating regularly, this whole teaching school thing really takes up my time!  Having a great school year though, but that will have to be a separate entry. My purpose here is to document the crafts I've done this year that I'm proud of before we crash in to Christmas Eve.

So I am in love with the blog www.thecottagemama.com - I'm a member of the Facebook group dedicated to pictures of/questions about the dresses, and just think everything she does is well explained and looks very polished.  So I had some candy corn fabric that had been hanging out at our house for almost 2 years, with the hypothetical idea of a Halloween dress, but no motivation to whip up a dress that is basically a one time wear.  

So I stumbled upon this tutorial of Lindsey's for treat bags.  Perfect!  Fully lined, very sturdy, took a couple hours to make Sara's on Halloween afternoon (Corey very nicely took the kids out of the house since he could tell I was in full project mode).  Then I had this awesome comic book fabric for David that I'd never figured out what to do with - BAM!  Second bag sewn in 45 minutes, including applique for that D!  Trimmed off the loose threads at 7:15 as we walked out the door to trick-or-treat - whew!  But will definitely get use again next year.

 Also from Cottage Mama, the "Party Dress" had been on my to-sew list for a long time, found this cute ladybug fabric at Wal Mart, and sewed it in time for Sara's first day of Pre-K.  Probably the most complicated thing I have ever sewn, and was up until 2 AM that night, but totally worth it.  Have I mentioned I want to have another one done for the Christmas eve service in about 42 hours?

This is another dress that is a free pattern here from Cottage Mama that I made for Sar-bear over the summer.

For comparison, here is the first dress I ever sewed for Sara, a simple pillowcase one, that she enjoyed wearing as a tunic with some leggings (and a tiara) recently.

The other thing I had a lot of fun sewing this year were baby gifts for the new babies born this year- I am now an aunt!  So excited.  One thing I made for baby Finn was this cute stuffed elephant, found on this blog, fairly easy to make.  He's getting the matching blanket for Christmas, but don't tell him!

The other things I made for several baby showers (good friend from HS and art teacher at school both had baby girls this year) were burp cloths and hooded towels.  The burp cloths are flannel and a cloth diaper backing, making them thick and durable, I'm hoping they have been helpful.

And lastly giant hooded towels, modeled here by my sweet son.  I am sure I looked puzzled when I received one of these for Sara's shower, as it was so much bigger than anything else - but babies grow out of those cute little ones so quickly!  We have used her pink towel for years, so I was happy to make a couple purple ones that were so cute I wanted to keep one!

Well, that's it for now. Back to my new toy, an embroidery machine!  Hope I have not planned for more than I can accomplish in the next few nights!

Huntsville Rundown

I wanted to document what was probably my favorite set of summer memories -  a spur-of-the-moment trip to Huntsville.  Corey and I had gone up over the weekend for a wedding, and I just started looking at the Space & Rocket Center and going 'hmm, my kids would like that!" so I booked a hotel online, and off we went!  Just me and the kids, a 2 day trip, it's only about a 3.5 hour drive.

We drove during the morning, and spent the whole afternoon at the Space & Rocket Center - and got in free with a reciprocal deal from our Fernbank membership - that was pretty sweet!  Kids were way more into it than I thought they might be - the traveling exhibit about robots kept them entertained for an hour at least.  They also loved the outdoor kids play area, with a little rocket ride where you shoot up and then drop back down.

 Having not been in at least 20 years, I forgot how big the complex is, and we were tired/hot by the time we were done.  We picked up a quick dinner and headed to our hotel.

Kids love staying in hotels - the ice machine, the desk, the beds, everything is exciting because it is new.  David had insisted I pick a hotel with a pool, so we did - a tiny 3-5 foot pool, but we were the only ones in it, so no big deal. Now, I did manage to fall on my tailbone as I stepped in, and Sara tried to walk towards the deep end without water wings on, but we all survived these trials and tribulations and went to bed at a reasonable hour (although Alabama time was blowing David's mind!)

The next morning we had our hotel breakfast nice and early (no sleeping in on vacation!) and were packed and ready to go before the first place opened.  We were off to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens - one of the main reasons we'd come was a traveling LEGO exhibit that was closing soon.  The weather was misty/rainy, but the kids didn't seem to mind.  I saw other kids entering in bathing suits and wondered why.  We walked around looking at the Lego exhibits, but the kids were more excited by play features like 4 foot Lincoln Logs you could build a fortress with or various sand play areas, even if it was muddy sand in the rain (we got caught in a momentary downpour and had to take shelter under a gazebo!)

















We made it to the children's gardens and I discovered why kids were in bathing suits - tons of water features!  An 8 foot watering can, various fountains and ponds to play in - the kids loved it.  Too lazy to go back to the car for suits, I just let them get their clothes wet, and practically had to pull them away an hour later.  It was at this point we discovered Sara's shoes, already on the small side, would not go back on now that they were wet.  So..lunch and a trip to Payless later, we were back in business.

Note how Sara's left shoe is off - wouldn't fit when wet!

Earthquake machine

Our second stop of the day was a SciQuest  - cute one story science center, not too big, but plenty for the kids to do.  Also free with Fernbank membership!  Can I say how much I enjoyed the fact that half our activities had no cost?  Sara loved the big metallic echo tube, and the news station where you could see yourself broadcast the weather.  David dug the earthquake machine, an air maze...and plenty more, it was another place I had to drag them away from after 2.5 hours.

"Sorry everybody, bad news - more rain!"

Air Maze

The last stop was a drive-through safari, billed as one of the top 10 things to do with kids in Huntsville.  First of all, it is NOT in Huntsville, it is at least 30-40 minutes away.  Second of all, it is CASH ONLY.  I feel like it should have said that somewhere on Trip Advisor.  Third of all, my children are permanently scared to death of emus.  This was the type of place where (after driving back out 3 miles for an ATM) you could buy food to toss out the windows for the animals. So we see a deer and I roll down the kids' windows so they can toss food out - these aggressive emus know where the food comes from and stick their heads in the windows to get some.

Much screaming and crying ensued. It was both very sad and hilarious to watch from the front seat.  The kids wanted to leave right away, but having just forked out cash, I insisted we keep driving around, away from the scary emus, and everyone eventually calmed down enough to enjoy the deer, llamas, buffalo, and even zebra the safari had to offer.  There was also a reptile house to walk around afterwards, and the nice lady who runs it gave each of my kids a peacock feather for their fright.

So many baby turtles - they wouldn't notice if one was gone, right?

We packed it up about 5:00 and head back to Gwinnett - with the time change and dinner, we didn't make it home until 10, but it was with a head full of memories that still make me smile!

Summer sewing list

And here is my list of what I'd like to get done in the next couple weeks:

Sew a new kitchen curtain for Mom & Dad's house - I purchased them new cafe curtains for the windows that overlook the backyard, since the old ones had been there since my childhood! My aunt pointed out that the curtain covering the door to the carport was also looking rough, but I cannot for the life of me find the right size to replace it with, so I've decided to try my hand at this - I've heard people sew their own curtains, and this seems like straight lines, so I'm hopeful even without a pattern/directions. Worst case scenario I wasted $4 on some muslin.

Sew burp cloths for Claire - Helen and I are planning a baby shower for Claire in honor of the little girl she is expecting in September.  I've already made a big hooded towel - my new favorite gift to give.  We got one from the pastor's wife for Sara's shower, and at the time I thought "This is huge, when are we ever going to use it?" But she outgrew all the 'baby' ones quickly and we still use that one all the time!  Oh, but I want to sew a couple of burp cloths in some cute fabric too.  Pictures of both to come soon.

Sew a 'party dress' for Sara - I'm part of a Facebook group that sews from one woman's patterns (Cottage Mama) and last week completed the 'picnic dress' and am happy with it.  Now to try the slightly more complicated (but also cute) party dress, have my eye on either ladybug fabric or Hello Kitty (if I let the little one choose I'm pretty sure I know which one she'd pick!)

Cross stitch???  I feel like I have not done any in years (at least since I started sewing a couple years ago). I have a half finished birth announcement for David, and the beginning of a door hangar for Sara...and of course now I want to start a birth announcement for my nephew due in November (SQUEEE!)...I need to decide to pick it back up or at least prioritize projects at the midpoint.

Latchhook - another old habit that I just need to finish off some old projects -not start new ones, but it's been on the to-do list for years to hang the music latch hook or finish a firetruck pillow for the boy.

While I appear to have branched out from sewing let me also add that for my 35th year, I would like to set a goal of reading 35 books - good ones, not the YA love triangle crap I keep re-reading - I need to spend less time in the evenings on the computer/playing on a phone or tablet!

Summer so far

Well, 6 weeks of summer down, 3 to go - it's been wonderful, if busy!  So far I/we...

- went to Amelia Island with Corey's family, had an awesome time in the ocean and ate lots of seafood.
- co-directed VBS - this happened right after beach vacation, and went better than expected!  Some of it was just fear of the unknown, but we had good numbers, the kids had a good time, and we had a successful coin drive for a great cause!
- taught for a second year at Encore Orchestra Camp - this year with 2nd violins in the youngest group.  This is a great camp and I have a good time with my orchestra teacher friends.  New location, and it was nice not being a newbie anymore!
- have attended several summer reading programs - a juggler performing for the kick-off, then some superhero themed activities.
- went to the zoo with Nancy - great day for it, not too hot, and they have a splash pad now
- went to Fort Yargo - pretty much as soon as school got out!
- went to Sensations Therafun with Jill - David loves the zipline there.
- went to INK with my mom and dad - nice to have multiple adults for that trip!
- went to the Alliance Theater and High Museum with my aunt - saw the Knuffle Bunny Musical - which we now own the soundtrack to and cannot stop singing!

- David was involved in a math institute at his school - this seems like it was a professional development for the teachers there to try out new teaching strategies for math in a small group setting, but David had fun and Sara and I enjoyed a few hours to ourselves
- Sara has been participating in dance/gymnastics classes at the Little Gym again this summer, and has recently switched to an all gymnastics class.  This fall both kids will be playing soccer at Mount Zion again.

Lots of pictures of outings on my Facebook, so only a couple here.

Still on the summer fun to-do list:

• Suwanee PlayTown & fountains
• Imagine It Children's museum and Varsity
• Legoland (in Phipps..although I still dream of taking them to the one in Florida!)
• Tellus Science Center? (75 minute drive to Cartersville, but kids enjoyed it last summer)
• Fernbank - we should renew membership and see what the rotating exhibit is..and of course go to Flying Biscuit afterwards!
• Skyzone? We did Catch Air today for 2.5 hours and both kids had a blast.  Corey took David to Skyzone last month and he loved it, not sure there would be a lot for Sara to do though.

You know I love my lists.  Look for one soon about summer crafts!