After a far too short weekend, it was back to the regular weekly routine here. Monday's--cleaning up after the weekend day.

As I was picking up all the crayons and markers that had accumulated on the sun room floor I came across a ladybug. My cry of "Oh, a bug!" immediately sent two little girls hurrying in my direction, magnifying glasses in hand (the girls consider them necessary whenever a bug is found, regardless of whether or not they actually intend to look through them.)

It amazes me how much they love these bug discoveries. For almost a half hour the girls, on hands and knees, will follow the bug across the floor observing and conversing about the bug the whole time. There is lots of talk about where the bug might live, what it might eat, what it's doing, and where it's going. Then I step in and help with the counting of legs, wings, antennae. And when the bug finally disappears the bug excitement continues and pretty soon the floor is littered in drawings of bugs.

So much fun and so much learning to be found from such a tiny, little visitor...

...come again soon.

As promised, here is Pookie's shirt:

It's almost finished--I still have to hem, handstitch in some of the lining, and put in a zipper. Oh and I still have to remove all of the visible basting stitches *sigh*, not my favorite part. Then it will be on to the pants which shouldn't take any time to sew up.

The whole pattern is advertised as easy and I would say that's accurate. There is a reason it did not say "fast and easy" though. The whole top is fully lined which looks beautiful, but takes forever. I'm really happy with it and will definetly consider making it again (maybe the dress next time) especially as Pookie loves it...a lot! Yes, she loves it so much that I did not have her model it for this picture as she never would have taken it back off for me (seriously, I found out the hard way!)

And once I get this finished up it will be on to something for Fig. Not exactly sure what that will be yet...we'll see!

I'm back! and wishing you all a happy (though late) Easter!

The week leading up to Easter was just a bit rough for us with way too long work hours for my husband, crankiness levels reaching an all time high for the girls and about the same for Mom too I suppose. Not the best time for blogging...

But Easter came...and went, and after a whole lot of post-Easter clean-up, life has suddenly returned to normal. Phew! And hopefully, should it be just a bit sunnier tomorrow, I can share some pictures of Pookie's outfit with you (the shirt is almost done and is absolutley adorable!)

Yes, it feels good to be back!

I haven't done much sewing since we've moved here. This is mostly because there hasn't been a convenient place to sew (the kitchen table really wasn't working out for me.) But at long last I have found the perfect little spot.

Just enough space, just enough light, just about perfect.

So now that I have someplace to work, I've started making an outfit for Pookie (Vogue 7894 view A.) I'm just using up some fabric I have hanging around (depleting the stash), so suceed or fail, I at least won't have wasted anything...except perhaps time I suppose. And hopefully, hopefully, should it come out okay, Pookie will agree to wear it. Currently Pookie will only wear dresses and sweatpants (which has made dressing her each morning a real challenge), but I'm hoping as the shirt kind of looks like a dress and as the pants are kind of sweatpant like...well hopefully she'll consent to wear it. If not...maybe in a year Fig will agree to wear it.

At any rate, I'm having fun sewing again!

The potato bag said "store in a cool dry place." That was exactly what I intended to do with them...I just never got around to it. By the time I opened the potato bag (I was making Martha Stewart's pierogies, which are very good, though somewhat time consuming, in case you were wondering) about half had started growing, a lot.

Now it seemed a shame to just toss them, so they sat around and grew a bit more while I mulled over my dilemma. Then at long last it came to me--potato stamps! A little bit of slicing and cutting, and pretty soon we had some squares, circles, triangles, stars and crosses.

It was a good project for both of the girls. Besides being a lot of fun and a good creative outlet, Fig also learned the colors red, yellow and blue, while Pookie learned the names of shapes.

And it was a lot of fun for me too. Fun enough that I'm looking at the last two leftover potatoes and wondering if I should make some stamps for myself...I have to do something with them don't I?

The snow has melted, the puddles are gone, and it's just warm enough to go outside...
and bring the paints. Spills, drips, dropped paint brushes--no problem! No floor to clean up out here, the girls can paint and have paint accidents without any clean up involved for me. I love it, so do they.
And as the girls are busy making art, I thought I'd try doing some of my own (a sketch of the tree branch we found the other day).
It's been too long! I actually spent quite a lot of time staring at all that white paper, trying to figure out where and how to begin! Guess I need to take up my drawing a bit more often...

A branch from a tree that feels about the same way I do...

...isn't it time for spring yet?

Some baby chicks (in various stages of completion) that I've been working on for the girls' Easter baskets.

I used this extremely helpful pom pom tutorial from Bella Dia and then trimmed the pom pom into chick like shapes. A little bit of yellow felt, some black beads, and ta da!. Nothing fancy, just a fun little something to suprise the girls with Easter morning.