Buttons

Do you remember playing with buttons as a child? I remember my mom had this big round tin of buttons and it was like opening a treasure chest! I picked up some little pill boxes for each girl and gave them a scoop of buttons to examine, sort, and play with. I remember some friends of mine had button collections and I am thinking of starting some for the girls. It seems like a simple little pleasure to hand out a couple buttons for a job well done or to find a small pouch of buttons in a stocking on Christmas morning. Either way, the girls enjoyed playing with buttons for an hour or so while I got some sewing done yesterday.

I cleaned most of my craft room this weekend and brought the girl's table in so they can do their own crafts like Mommy. Since I have less than 2 weeks before the Festival of Leaves, I have a lot of crafty cramming to do and I thought this might make my life easier and their lives more interesting. Now they can paint, play with buttons, do puzzles, glue, cut, etc. right next to me! I just started putting together a little toddler sewing basket. Check out this great one HERE. Its fun to share my creative passions with my children and bestow on them the same love for all things crafty while working on little gnomes and things for my shop!

Well, I have goats to move to the woods and diapers to hang on the line before I start some more "crafty cramming". Please share any open-ended craft projects you do with your children!! I hope to have 3 projects lined up each day for them while I work. :)

Birthday Madness!

This is the second weekend in a row that we have had a little birthday party to attend. Its always fun to watch the girls and their friends. This weekend's party was at our local National Forest and was quite enchanting and sweet.The hostess had make-your-own-trailmix for the kids, little banners hung around the pavillion, a nature walk, and little pumpkins to take home. OH, and mushroom cupcakes. But really, what do you need to entertain children in the middle of the forest?Isabel was quite enchanted with the cupcakes. Her little birthday is coming up this weekend and I have been busy thinking of ideas for it. Have you seen this little Woodland Fairy party? I just had to share because it is SO SWEET. I am thinking some choclate nests will be in store for Isabel's "tweet" party. I am hoping to complete my goals for my Etsy shop today so I can work on their birdy dresses (and matching ones for the dolls). We are just doing a small family party this year due to the craziness of my life right now, and the inconsistant energy levels associated with being pregnant, lack of sleep. And honestly, even if I wasn't preparing for a festival and completing custom orders for Etsy, just keeping Isabel out of trouble is a full-time job. She really defines "terrible two"! lol Today she already tried to flush a hand towell down the toilet, moved a kitchen chair across the room and broke into a bottle of bubbles, dumped her bowl of oatmeal on the table, a basket of colored pencils on the floor and pooped in one potty, in the hallway, and again in the bathroom potty, and somehow covered herself in Poop!! I guess it is Monday afterall. I just CAN'T WAIT for naptime! Hope you all had a nice weekend and are surviving Monday....

We have been terribly busy. Maybe you guessed that already, but really, I try to simplify my life but it seems that things are starting to snowball instead! Last week though, Anastasia spent the night at my mom's house, and we met afterwards at the Glen Burnie Gardens in Winchester. It is such a magical garden with waterways and fountains everywhere. And look, I am getting big!!!

Its hard to believe how fast this pregnancy is going, but I am getting to that big-uncomfortable-always-tired-yet-nesty phase. 2 Months left. I could use about 4 months at this point. But I can't wait to meet the little guy, and see his sweet face. He is possibly the most active in-womb of the 3 and I have had the worst heartburn as well. Not sure what all that means, except that he is a happy, little, living baby, and pepcid is my pill of choice these days. Nick and my brother were both big baby boys... so I wonder if I should expect the same of this little guy. So many unknowns, and so little time left to wonder!

I have been working a lot on custom orders lately, which is great!! I just hope I have time to stock a bunch of items for the Festival of Leaves that is in 3 weeks!!! I finished Anastasia's waldorf doll... and I will post pictures, I promise... when she gets some clothes. I have 3 patterns, including a princess pattern (thanks Wendy!!!!) so that is no longer my excuse for naked dolls. This is the first doll Anastasia has really liked and played with... and Isabel drags hers EVERYWHERE... almost as much as her blankie. :)

Anastasia's recap of the garden: "We went to the garden with Monie and saw the fish and toads in the water." Actually we did see some frogs, and even as big and pregnant as I am, it was nice to know I haven't lost my frog-catching skills from my younger years:

He didn't stand a chance. :) Now... back to those orders...

The Beach

So I finally have my camera, and cord, and a moment to upload a couple pictures!! We had such a great time at Myrtle Beach, camping with my parents and brother who flew out from Montana. The girls fell in love with the ocean. Even Isabel, who hated the water when we went to the Chesapeake Bay earlier this year:

And the salt water seemed to really heal up her finger! It was so soothing I can see why it was common to go to the ocean to cure your illnesses back in the day! I haven't been to Myrtle Beach in quite a while, so it was neat to experience it all over again. There is so much to do there with children aside from the beach, but we really spent most of our time at the beach or at our campsite. The first two days the wind was really strong and the waves were rather large due hurricane Earl. Here is a family shot that was the best we could get:

Notice my big belly, and the palm tree at my parent's campsite. My parents also had a visit from a raccoon who ran off with my dad's box of grits the first night (I think he was doing us a favor really)! So camping with toddlers isn't so bad... especially if grandparents are around to help out! :) Camping while pregnant, well thats a different story, but overall I did okay. It was hard not to have as much energy as usual... another good reason to have grandparents around! The girls were remarkably good overall, and slept for about 4 hours on the way home.

It was a little difficult coming home, having to unpack and do 9 LOADS OF LAUNDRY. Yes. 9 loads. We could have used one more day at the beach enjoying the sunshine and waves. Oh, and see the older ladies chatting in their little chairs by the sea:

Well, they were sitting all peacefully when suddenly a huge wave came and soaked them, knocking one lady over in her chair. It was the funniest thing!

I hope baby #3 will like camping, and the beach, and long car rides so we can return next summer! And I also hope someone donates a pop-up camper to our family..... because that would be so much more comfy than an air mattress in a tent. A lot can happen in one year... especially when you have wee ones. All I know, is when the air turns warm again and the days grow long... I will want to be by the sea yet again.

I'm back... sort of...

We were off in Myrtle Beach for several days and arrived home Saturday night! I can't seem to find my camera cord to upload photos... and Nick took my camera on a field trip to his work today. So no pictures to post of things like the pretty ocean, Anastasia's new doll, Tigers we saw on our trip and everything else that I rely on my cute little red camera for capturing for me! Thankfully Hurricane Earl completely missed us! We got some really big waves and a lot of wind the first day, but everything calmed down a bit the rest of the week. We all loved the ocean and its been a bit tough being home, away from the calming lull of the sea. But the dog, goats and chickens seem happy to have us back! Well, I have some Etsy orders to prepare and package up! I hope you all had a great last bit of summer!

Back to Nature Dresses

I remember the excitement of going back to school and picking out a few new outfits and the smell of brand new pencils and crayons. I was completely inspired by the sudden shift in the weather to make the girls some new dresses on a bit of a whim yesterday. Since they aren't going to school anytime soon, I decided to name them "back to nature dresses" because after weeks of unending, severe heat I plan to enjoy the crisper weather outside this fall. Meanwhile, all the other kids will be sitting in the classroom. I find photographing clothes on kids, and just my children in general to be rather difficult as they are often busy little girls not always wanting to humor their mother. But I did get enough to give you an idea of how cute these dresses are.

The dresses turned out a bit big, and a little funny in spots because I did them without instruction or complete pattern. I combined the Portabello Pixie "Claire" apron dress bottom, with a modified version of the Feliz Party dress top from a book I have, "Sewing Clothes Kids Love". (It is a very, very inspiring book by the way!!) I made a lace-up back to make sure there was room for getting on and off, and growing. And they twirl, which is a must for any princess.

I have had these dresses brewing in my mind for months now, and was originally planning a spring version. Summer went by so fast, and we were blessed with so many summer hand-me-downs and dresses that I didn't really NEED any more summer clothes. Then the jumper idea came to mind as they work on their own for these last hot days and over a shirt for the cooler days of the coming seasons.

The girls were so happy to wear them today, which of course makes my heart swell! Now on the agenda is Anastasia's doll, and coordinating dolly dresses.

I made them for playing, and getting dirty, and being girls all at the same time. That is why everything is lined and I used a nice thick layer of corduroy for the skirt. Sadly, there are no pockets, but treasure pouches are on the sewing list as well.

I hope time allows for a few more moments of fall-inspired sewing. Because autumn is almost here and I can feel it! :)

Confessions of a long lost blogger...

My camera was missing. I finally found it. Its not an excuse... just an influence on my lack of posting. We have been busy. Nick has been working late a lot. I have been SO TIRED in those in-between moments where I usually write or read blogs. I can't remember ever being so tired. I am sure I have been more tired and less sick with this little boy than with my girls. Of course, I am also taking care of 2 little, crazy, girls while growing a little boy, and that my friends is hard work. Its hard for me to just be happy growing a baby when I am too tired for everything else and there is SO MUCH else to do.

Isabel's finger was looking so good except for her black nail. Anastasia accidentally took care of the black nail by practically RIPPING IT OFF about an hour ago. Screaming followed. I did surgery with some clippers. There were two dolls in need of surgery too. I gave the dolls a few stitches and they are as good as new.

Anastasia currently wants to be Belle for Halloween because she "has perfect hair to be Belle". She still wants a red bow like Snow White. Oh, and she wants a doll like Isabel's doll. Except with bright red hair. Halloween and dolls and princesses are a hot topic around these parts.

The dog has fleas and is quarantined. She is not happy about it. And our floors get so gross with out her cleaning them up. Our chickens are cooped up... literally. Our neighbors that our chickens adopted just put new concrete down in their beautiful, new porch. Our chickens generally leave "presents" wherever they go, and that wouldn't look so nice in the new concrete. PLUS they tore up my entire fall garden a few days ago. (What little I felt like planting!) So they are getting a nice "aviary" type cage. Goodbye free range. The goats are eating up our forest and its great. We have a nice path to the creek bed. Maybe if we get lots of rain we can play in the creek this fall.

Well its just about bedtime and I hope to finish some dresses for my sweet little ones when they sleep... so I will actually have something interesting to post! Tata for now! :)