Feeling overly excited about these...

...some Morning Glories, Moonflowers, Nasturtiums, and Sweet Pea to vine over a very ugly fence in the back yard.

And we're keeping busy getting the ground ready for some more plants and seeds. We need some flowers for Pookie to pick so she'll stop picking...

...the neighbors flowers!

We had a brief preview of summer here, so we've spent most of the week outdoors. Our summery weather went out on a high note yesterday with a sunny, lightly breezy day somewhere in the seventies. So pleasant!

We managed to spend almost all day outdoors. I spent the day working on the portion of our lawn we're going to devote to gardening, Fig busied herself "planting" rock "seeds" in the freshly overturned soil, and Pookie was engrossed in searching for worms, lining them up, and putting them "to sleep" (patting a little bit of soil over their lower half to serve as a blanket.) We finished our day slightly pink (from all that sun), thoroughly dirty, and contentedly full after a dinner of hotdogs cooked on the grill.

Now we're back to our typical overcast, damp, drizzly, and cool early spring weather.

But that brief warm weather was enough to get me busy scouring the seed/plant catalogues and dreaming of our summer garden.

Warm and sunny enough for a little outdoor reading for me, some dirt digging for the girls and...

...some pattern drafting for this. Not much time and I'm still struggling with some design elements, but the challenge is so much fun!

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.

First there were just lines. Then a little while later circles developed. Then the lines and circles were put together and there were lots and lots of pictures of jellyfish around the house. And then there were faces.

My husband's

Mine (I'm the one on the right with the crazy hair...)

Pookie's and her sister's.

And now there are faces everywhere...even where there shouldn't be any faces--walls, floors, furniture. Of course I act very upset about this and explain over and over again the drawings are only to be done on paper, but secretly...well I like them. It's always such a suprise when I find one and they bring such a smile to my face...I can't bring myself to wash them away.

I may have to do something about this before the house is covered in murals though!

Two projects completed!

Mimi's dress is done. It wasn't quite done for Valentine's day, but Pookie was patient and only gently reminded me daily that Mimi's dress needed to be finished. Her persistence paid off and it was finished much sooner that it otherwise would have been.

Fig's crib quilt is done. I had planned on hand quilting it, but once Fig learned it was hers she lay on top of it and refused to get off. I settled for tufting it...around Fig. I'm thrilled she likes it so much!

I wish I'd finished more than two projects, or that I had more in the works, but it's taking a bit to settle in here. The girls and I are still working out a comfortable routine for us and I'm still figuring out how to squeeze in "me" time (i.e. crafting time) in between all the laundry, cooking, and other household chores that need to be done. Hopefully we'll have it all worked out sometime soon...

(By the way, if you're thinking that Mimi's feet look very dirty, well they are. It's chocolate, I just have to idea how it got there. Pookie's been complaining about Mimi's "dirty toes" so, if I can remember, the girls will get to bathe their dolls tonight!)

I'm very much done with winter, but unfortunatley winter isn't done with us yet. Friday it snowed...heavily and by Saturday morning we had at least eight inches of snow on the ground. This left me with a strong desire to sit all day on the couch and pout, but everyone else wanted to go outside and play in the snow, so out we went.

We went down the hill a couple times on the sled and Daddy built the girls a "Cinderella snow castle"......we drank hot chocolate, ate sugar cookies with raspberry buttercream frosting, and watched the sun "going to sleep" beyond the woods.

And by the end of the day the snow didn't seem that bad. Of course I'm still anxious for spring to arrive, but I think I can deal with a little more snow...for now.

I'm working on a new bird pattern which is both fun and frustrating--fun to be doing something new (and craft related too!) and frustrating in that nothing is turning out quite right. This little guy is heading in the right direction though.

His eyes are all wrong (the only animal eyes I had were a size or two too large) but I'm relatively happy with his shape.

A bit more tweaking of this and that...and I just might have something I like.

A four day weekend in February was just what we needed. Leisurely mornings with breakfasts we wouldn't normally have time for (some french toast made from homemade Challah bread and crepes with berries and whipped cream!) followed by fun adventures.
A train ride to the aquarium...


where the jellyfish suceeded in winning the girls hearts. (I think Fig would have taken one home as a pet if she could have!)
A chilly trip to a frozen pond, to walk on the ice, chip at the ice, lick at the ice, and enjoy some sun.

And lots of playing with the grandparents and aunts, browsing through bookstores, puzzle solving, singing songs, moving watching, and all around silliness. A weekend that left us all thoroughy happy and thorghouly tired.
But now it's time for Tuesday and for life to return to normal. I'm not sure I'm ready yet...

We've had lots of bad weather and way too much indoors time. Thank goodness we have these to play with!

A while back I began trying to introduce elements of both Montessori and Waldorf education into our day to day lives. Collecting these shells for the girls to play with was one of the first things I did.

The girls love them. They pour them from one container into another, count them, sort them, and size them. It's not unusual for them to play with their shells for nearly an hour at a time. It's incredible how something so simple and commonplace can bring about so much amusement and learning.

We're looking forward to spring and warm weather so we can go to the beach and collect more shells. I'm also saving our empty glass jars for anything else we might find to collect. I can't wait to see what we find!

Meet Flossie, Fig's Waldorf doll.
My mother made her for Fig's first birthday. There was a bit of a time crunch, so Flossie was finished by Fig's birthday, but there weren't any clothes for her. For the last several months she has been clothed in merely a cloth diaper and nothing more. Come Valentine's Day that will all change.
While I'm planning on making the girls some cookies and other goodies for Valentine's Day, I thought some doll dresses might also be a nice little gift. So there is Flossie modeling dress #1 for you. The dress being a suprsie, Fig has obviously not seen it yet, but Pookie has and immediatley expressed her approval...she also immediatley ran off and brought me her favorite fabric for a dress for Mimi (Pookie's Waldorf doll).

So now it is more pattern drafting (Mimi being an altogether different size than Flossie) and lots more sewing tiny seams and struggling with tiny armholes, tiny buttons and what not. Three more dresses before Valentine's Day?? We'll see!

I've been thinking about these cinnamon rolls ever since I saw them on her blog. Now, six months later, I finally got around to making them...with a little help of course.
And that help meant that, when we were done, the table looked something like this (lots and lots of sugar/cinnamon everywhere) ...and the floor looked something like that as well. But it was well worth it!

"The girls are learning," I kept reminding myself every time I found my feet covered in sticky sugar and as I scrubbed dough off the table, chairs, floor, door frames, refrigerator, etc., etc. And with that in mind I kept working at smilingly accepting the "learning mess."

Oh and the cinnamon rolls, yes they turned out delicious! I was going to take a lovely picture of my tasty cinnamon roll beside my steaming hot mug of coffee, but by the time I got around to grabbing my camera...

this was all that was left. Sorry. But you can take my word for it that they are both lovely to look at, tasty to eat, and well worth the effort (I had to mix it all by hand!) I will definitely, definitely be making these again.

And maybe next time...I'll get a picture.

I'm back and this time permanently (at least I hope so.) Yes, our sojourn in the south is over and we are now happily home in snowy white New England. And oh does it feel good to be back!

We're slowly getting settled into our home. There are still a few too many boxes to be unpacked (and a few that need to be packed back up), some furniture that still needs to be purchased, and a whole lot of decorating to do, but we're getting there.

I could spend all day unpacking and cleaning, but thankfully I have two little people here who keep reminding me that little girls need lots of fresh air and room to run if they're going to grow up happy and healthy. So I stop unpacking/put down the broom/leave the dirty dishes in the sink, step outside, and suddenly remember how much fun winter can be...

How fun it is to stomp, slide, and jump in the snow...

What eating snow for the first time is like...

And how nice it is to just sit still and take in the quiet, white, beauty of it all.

Ahh, yes it's good to be back!