Fig's Dress

Fig selected the discarded purple men's shirt for her dress. Her only request was that she be able to "twirly dance" in it. So, out came the scissors and the seam ripper and several hours later Fig had her dress...

...and a headband to match.

Fig is ecstatic about her dress and talks constantly about her "bootiful dancin' dress." Yes, thankfully it passed the twirl test!

I'm thrilled that it cost me nothing but some thread and a little time...

...and made Fig the happiest little twirly dancing girl in the world.

Disappointments and a Dress

Wondering whatever happened to Little Peach's dress? Well, it's still in the works. I was dreading having to sew on the collar (baby collars and I don't get along too well), so I put off working on the dress for awhile. I finally worked up the necessary courage to attempt it this morning, and thankfully everything went smoothly.

Now that the dress is almost complete I'm feeling a bit disappointed over a few elements. I really wish that I had used something other than yellow floss for the smocking. The yellow hardly shows up at all--all that hard work smocking and you can hardly make out the pattern. Next time I'll know better.
I'm also feeling a bit disappointed over the fit of the dress. Although the dress pattern said 1/2, the dress seems somewhat large and Little Peach's head looks a bit like it's disappearing between those two sleeves. Thankfully, it's way too cold for her to wear it yet, so I'm hoping that by the time it has warmed up some, Little Peach will have gotten a little taller and little fatter and consequently the dress will fit a little better. If it doesn't....I'll have to see what I can do.
So, I think I'm going to put the buttons and pockets on and then give this dress a little break again. I'll do the hemming and any necessary tailoring later when the time to actually wear the dress comes. And in the mean time I can start on that much asked for dress/skirt for Fig.

March came in like a lion... The ground is once again deeply covered in snow and the temperatures are well below freezing. I'm boycotting the outdoors until something more spring like makes an appearance (which is supposed to happen tomorrow, so this will be a rather short boycott.)
So we're back to doing indoor stuff. Somehow, despite one still sick baby and two sick again toddlers, everything has been going perfectly this week. At this moment, I could almost accept the title of "supermom." I baked cookies and muffins with the kids, folded and put away all the laundry (which hasn't happened since the birth of Little Peach), and the house is almost "neat, clean, and tidy"...almost. Of course, I'm quite sure that in no time everything will go back to crazy, chaotic, and messy and the "supermom" title will be revoked...but still, I'm gonna give myself a good ol' pat on the back and savor the moment while it lasts.
And while I'm doing that, the kids will probably keep devising new ways for "Jonah" to be injured. Jonah, that little fellow down there.
He came with their latest Playmobil acquisition, an ambulance. Since his arrival, the poor fellow has been bitten by a Spinosaurus, attacked by an alligator zoo escapee, and knocked over by a penguin (just to name a few). Of course, after each accident, my job is to strap the poor little guy to the stretcher and load it in the ambulance. Then off the kids go, ambulance in hand, only to come back a short while later and remind me that they do not have anywhere to drive Jonah to. I'm wondering if this subtle hinting/logical reasoning is their latest attempt at getting me to purchase the hospital for them. They just might succeed with this tactic....we'll see.

Carrying over our colds from last week into this week. Lots of coughing, sneezing, and using mommy's clothes as a handkerchief. Too much fighting and crying and too little sleep and quiet. There can't be too many days left to this cold...can there??

Noticing the spring flowers beginning to make an appearance outdoors and enjoying these spring flowers indoors.

I don't have the cold, so I can enjoy the scent of these--flowery with a hint of damp soil, love it!

Adding to our "wish spring was here" collection are these caterpillars, flowers, and butterflies decorating the playroom.

They remind me of the delightful Minuscule bugs (which we first learned about from her blog.) The girls and I have been watching way too many of the videos over at YouTube. This one...

...is very appropriate for how things currently are here. Here's hoping for a better tomorrow.

A few days ago, a Valentine's package from my aunt arrived for the girls. In among all the goodies were some cupcake liners and heart sprinkles, which meant we had noooo choice but to make some cupcakes.
So yesterday we mixed up the batter...
...using my favorite one bowl chocolate cupcake recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart.

And today we whipped up buttercream frosting with some pureed raspberries mixed in because 1. it makes the icing pink and 2. raspberries are so yummy! The icing is a bit too sweet for my taste, but the girls are loving it--they're licking all the cupcakes clean!

Now that the food is taken care of, it's time to finish the decorating. We have some hearts to hang up and then we should be all set to celebrate the patron saint of love and happy marriages--two things I am very thanksful for!

At long last, a vintage, blueish, flowery, and incredibly cute bedspread for Fig found at Sandi's etsy shop. (Fig's would be the bed on the right there.)

Other cuteness in the girls room...

...these pillow cases from a great aunt. What little girl wouldn't want to sleep on those?

Now that the linens are complete, it's time to get some art on those walls...

Couch jumping--one way to get the pent up winter time energy out...

...and a chance for me to try out the "action shot" feature on my camera. Fun for all.

Managed to squeeze in just a little bit of smocking time this morning. Wish I had realized before cutting the pattern and doing the iron transfer that little blue smocking dots would not show up well on a fabric with blue flowers. Lesson learned. I attempted to re-mark as many dots as possible, but soon gave up and just hoped I could wing it.
And the smocking part, I absolutely love! I'm loving the rhythm of the floss over needle, floss under needle and the sudden appearance of lots of very tiny little pleats. It's so relaxing and so sweet looking.
Of course, it's most certainly not perfect. I spent some time ripping out stitches I didn't think were "quite right" but then decided that it was okay--it is my first, if I can just finish it I should be happy.
Hopefully it will be done in time for Easter (why shouldn't it be...right??) and hopefully it will fit Little Peach. If not...well I guess I'll just have to have another baby girl, because somebody is going to wear this dress!

Generally one does "spring cleaning" but there is something about being stuck indoors for days at a time that brings on a need to do some winter cleaning as well. I've spent the last few days vacuuming, scrubbing, dusting, and washing--getting the house as clean as is possible (with two toddlers some mess is expected.) I've also spent the last few days sorting, tossing, storing and donating. We're moving this summer, the news of which has suddenly made me much more aware of how much...stuff we have around the house. Stuff I didn't remember we had (and obviously wasn't missing), stuff we didn't need (but I felt guilty parting with), stuff I've never used (but might, someday, maybe...probably not), lots and lots and lots of stuff. So, I'm letting go, I'm getting rid of it all and, most importantly, I'm being extra vigilant about what we do purchase from here on out!

The girls spent most of the week coloring, molding, cutting, pasting, and painting. And with the arrival of slightly sunnier days, the girls have discovered that the "turtle bugs" (some kind of small, black, beetle) have returned to the sun room. That also keeps them occupied--hunting down the bugs, capturing them, and finding their magnifying glasses to examine them. Pookie drew the bugs and informed me that we need a bug book so we can learn more about them. Guess that's one purchase I will have to make...

And now it's a new week. I've...taken a break from the cleaning for now. I think I've run out of energy and need about a week to recoup before I tackle the upstairs. That and I've really been wanting to try out the smocking on Little Peach's dress. I've never tried smocking before and I'm really, really, anxious to get started. The dress is all sewn up and ready for me to start so hopefully, should all people under the age of four go to sleep early tonight, I can get started this evening and have something to show you all tomorrow!

Yes, a rest week....exactly what I need!

I've come down with a case of the winter time blues. You know, when you look out the window and instead of thinking "Oh how beautiful, all that white lovely snow!" you think "What? Snow? Still? Isn't it time for spring yet?" Or when the piles of laundry, dishes, toys, dust, dirt, etc., etc. seem to grow bigger and bigger while the house seems to get smaller and smaller. And worst of all when you go to mark a day off the calendar and realize...that you already have and yes, it really is still January and warm weather and sunshine are months and months away. Yeah, that's where I'm at right now.
So, I'm pulling out all the little girl summer dress patterns I have and hoping that if I keep my hands busy and my eyes focused on something summery, maybe the next few weeks will be that much brighter and pass by that much quicker.
Other things that are succeeding in brightening my day...

..these potted herbs (even if the dill looks a rough right now.) The green herbs and bright colored fruit are a welcome spot of color with all that white surrounding us.

These smiling faces. They're everywhere. The girls have set up interesting little Playmobil scenes on just about every surface in the house. I'm not always sure what they're doing, but they sure look happy doing it.

And, lastly, the two little teeth suddenly making an appearance in Little Peach's smile. I love it!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to try and get the girls outdoors every day. I managed to keep that resolution up until the "Arctic freeze" hit. Temperatures are ranging between the single digits and low teens here, which isn't that bad (really, it feels kinda refreshing...at first anyway) but is horrible if you're a toddler and immediately upon exiting the house you get snow down your boot or fall into a snow bank without your mittens on. After two days of thirty minutes spent getting everyone in their snow clothes, followed by only five minutes outdoors....we opted for some indoor imaginary cold weather adventures instead.

Or at least I think they're having a cold weather adventure. They are hanging out in their ladybug tent, covered in blankets, drinking hot chocolate and looking at seals, polar bears, penguins, sharks, whales and...panda bears. Yeah, panda bears--I have no idea where they came from.

Making vegetable soup took a fun twist today when I gave the girls the leftover vegetables to do...

...some stamping with.

(The celery "roses" in the background there--those were a big hit).

So our day was nice, relaxing and fun. The girls happily stamped and questioned (do dogs like celery? do potatoes come from seeds? do carrots grow on trees? how do plants come out of seeds?) while I cooked and answered...as best as I was able to.

I'm enjoying cooking again, now that Little Peach has discovered the joys of a biter biscuit and is content to spend some time in her high chair rather than be constantly held.

Although clean up now takes....

...twice as long.

After seeing this adorable skirt (made from the free pattern available at Oliver + S) I knew I had to raid my fabric stash and try one out. I found a plain red cotton and after some discussion with Pookie we settled on some ladybugs being drawn on it.

So, I went to town with my black fabric marker drawing countless ladybugs until about a quarter of the fabric was covered. Somehow or other I didn't put that fabric marker far enough out of the way though. During after dinner clean-up I discovered the girls had gotten a hold of the marker and decided to add their own designs to the fabric. Upset? Yeah...definetly, but I'm trying to keep in mind that they're just learning by imitating, frustrating as that can be at times... I made the best of the fabric disaster that I could (turning smiley faces into ladybugs and such), but, obviouly, the ladybug pattern is a little messy looking now. It'll be alright for just a play skirt though I guess...

I haven't finished drawing in all the ladybugs, but I did finish stitching up the skirt (minus the hem ribbon.) It is incredibly fast, very cute, and much to Pookie's satisfaction very poofy. She declared it the perfect dancing skirt and immediatley turned on some music to dance to.

Fig is persistently asking where her dancing skirt is. I think I need to get some more elastic and make a BUNCH more of these!

And now the last round of Christmas gifts...

My girls love their Aunt's drawings so I was thrilled that the girls received these shirts for Christmas.

There are three shirts, one for each girl, but Pookie was the only one awake when it came time for pictures. (And I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it, but Pookie is the queen of a million poses in under a minute...) They are pink, glittery, sequin-y and most importantly princess-y which means they're perfect.

For me there were these earrings...
...from the etsy shop tinyleaves. I'm absolutely in love with those flying sparrows...so is Little Peach at this moment, which is slightly problematic, but I'm getting good at quickly dodging her curious fingers.

Also for me, some bookplates from the etsy shop of Diana Sudyka . The perfect gift for a bibliophile, don't you think?
I'm having fun matching up book plates with books. Like this polar bear seems just perfect with "Giants in the Earth"--that book always makes me think of long cold winters.

And a Narwhal with "Kidnapped" might be a good combination.

I really need to do more etsy shopping next Christmas...in fact I might have to start with some etsy shopping for Valentine's, Saint Patrick's, Easter and...

This is one of those "I love it!" and then forgot about it kind of Christmas gifts.

I saw this little girl, back in the fall, at an antique store. I loved her, but was intent on my search to find a nice serving platter and consequently left the store without her. Of course once the store was closed I remembered her and lamented the fact I hadn't bought her. Thankfully my parents were paying attention and much to my suprise there she was under the Christmas tree

I had originally thought of putting a little plant in her, but that face...

...is just too cute to have hidden. So currently she's keeping me company in the kitchen, hopefully out of the reach of very curious toddler fingers.

Oh, and those yellow mixing bowls behind her were another Christmas gift. I love how cheery and bright the yellow looks in my otherwise incredibly drab kitchen. They are from Stonewall Kitchen --a store you could buy me anything from and I'd be very happy!

I'm horrible at picking out Christmas gifts, really. Every once in awhile I'll run across something think "perfect!", buy it, give it, and it is perfect. However, most of the time it's more or less something like "perfect!...or maybe not...maybe they already have something similar...maybe they won't use it...maybe they'd rather have cash instead..." Really I'm that bad--I begged everyone to make wish lists for me just to make my Christmas shopping easier.

Now the rest of my family, they amaze me, they get my family and I things that either A. I've always REALLY REALLY wanted (but forgot I wanted) or B. I never thought of, but wow do I love it! So I thought I'd share a few of those Christmas gifts here over the next few days.

First up, passes to the local Children's Museum. Until we had children, I had no idea how pricey family museum visits can be. And I quickly discovered that the more kid friendly the museum the pricier it is (kids as young as 1 year are charged admssion, ouch!)

(Fig playing drums)

(Pookie the paleontologist.)

The passes to the children museum were great because A. it was something we wouldn't normally have spent the money on B. it didn't clutter up the house, and C. it was a fun experience for the whole family.

(Fig in the osprey nest.)

(Pookie stamping.)

Museum passes for Christmas gifts--highly recommended!

And secondly Sophie the giraffe. This was a gift for Little Peach and she's been chewing on it (she's teething) since she got it. I've never seen her chew on anything like she chews on this!

I'm seriously thinking of buying a bunch to save as future baby shower gifts. Not only is it cute, but it's functional, and has a cute little history which you can read about here.
And now back to the cooking and cleaning....

I'm still here...I'm just hanging out lazing around though. My husband has been on vacation so we've been taking it easy, enjoying some family time, and playing with all those new Christmas gifts.
And speaking of Christmas gifts, the weather has been very conducive to getting some use out of them. First there was lots and lots of snow and then warm weather and rain which means....
...you can wear your new snow boots, new spring coats, and carry your new pink-polka-dot-ruffly umbrella all at the same time!
I'll be back next week with lots to share!

We managed to get outdoors today and squeeze in some sledding and snow stomping before the storm hit. We are now snuggled up inside thawing out our frozen noses and cheeks--the heat turned up to combat the challenging combination of a drafty house, high winds and cold temperatures.

Watching the snow rapidly fall. The neighborhood kids are out sledding, the adults are shoveling. Currently, we're all loving the snow.

Little Peach has discovered how to crawl and her favorite travel destination is the Christmas tree. She's keeping us busy removing lights and branches from her hands.

I've managed to keep Christmas ornaments out of her reach, but not out of Pooke and Fig's reach. Sadly a number of these ornaments have suffered as a result of curious fingers...

My husband bought me these glass balls to decorate our very first Chistmas tree with. For purely sentimental reasons, I might just have sneak one away to save for myself--then I can rest easy as toddler curiousity destroys the rest!

I've finally started in on some handmade Christmas presents for the girls. As they spent a good part of the summer pretending to fish (using my bamboo garden poles and some jute) I thought some fish and a fishing pole might be enjoyed.

I've been drawing some fish on muslin, stacking some batting inbetween the front and back and machine stitching around the edges. The plan is to place a washer inside the fish and then have a magnet lure to catch the fish with. So far...I think it will work. I'm keeping the batting pretty thin and the fish pretty light weight so they should be "catchable."

And I'm pretty sure the girls are guaranteed to like them. They've already run off with the clownfish prototypes and are requesting more. Phew!

Paint, markers, paper, glue, popsicle sticks, and a little help from Mommy....

...meant that Pookie now had a gift to give to Daddy for Christmas.

(That's a lion in case you were wondering.)

She's very excited about her gift. So excited...I'm worried that present might have to be unwrapped before Christmas.

Want the bowl.

Got the bowl.

Dropped the bowl.

The End

And the whoopie pies were a success! I finished them just in time for the party--frosting the last one ten minutes before walking out the door. My favorite part about getting to take a dessert to a party...

...finally getting a chance to use this vintage platter.

Other tasty pleasures...

...these chocolate filled advent calendars. This year we have two identical calendars. No arguing over who's is who's and no more splitting tiny chocolates in half. Now if only there were some way to solve the "only one chocolate per day" disagreement we keep having...

Successfully found and decorated a Christmas tree. The girls' Christmas excitement has now nearly doubled.

Had quite a bit less success with sugar cookies.

The good, the bad, and the ugly. Crunchy, but still an exciting (and, at least as concerns the unburnt ones, tasty) experience for the girls.

Maybe we'll have more success if we try "Christmas" whoopie pies instead.