Fun at the Wilson's House

Here's a video of Taylor and Liam at the Wilson's house jumping on the trampoline. I had him most of the day while the kids were playing games. Taylor noticed I looked tired and offered to take him in the pool and then the trampoline. As you can tell he thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm so grateful to have children that love being with each other (of course when he wakes them up early that's another story!). We had a fun time at their house even though it poured rain on us for the first half hour.

I can't believe how calm Melanie was considering she had 50 million people in her house when she'd planned on all of us being outside. I'd have really freaked out with that...wet, dripping children on the tile!

She also had us do a cake decorating contest as a family. Icing and sprinkles in the hands of 20 children! Ahh! Just the thought has me running away screaming. The kids had fun and hey, Melanie didn't have to decorate a big cake. Maybe I should let go of my fear of sticky messes. Although I have enough naturally made sticky messes.

More sewing fun!

Taylor came home from ballet all excited about a new leotard she wanted. We went to the fabric store (Hancock's of course) and found some fabric (for around $4) and a pattern that I combined with a leotard pattern I already had. What she's wearing are the results. She said her friend paid over $30 for hers but we got it for $5. Whoo hoo! The other is a sun hat that I made for an online friend who wanted one after seeing Liam's on my blog. She sent a picture of the type of hat she wanted and I found the fabric for $1.58. Not bad huh? I love my hobby.

Me and the kids spent all nap time cutting fabric squares and I hemmed them with my serger to make fabric napkins. It's been on my to do list but the kids were really motivated to help so it went really fast.

Notice in the first picture Liam's walking to Taylor. That's right! He's upwardly mobile! Ahh! Let the real fun begin. She's happily caught him in the following picture.

My birthday!

Wow! I'm so spoiled by good family and friends. They really know me. My husband really likes it when I give him a wish list to choose from so he knows what I would like. I put four things on it this year....he got me three of them! I was shocked. One of them is a snap press. I've heard those things are so awesome to use that you'll be looking for things to put snaps in. If you see my children's clothing covered in snaps...then you'll understand what happened. Bill said that he'll be glad not to hear me banging away with a hammer downstairs and then yelling when the snaps don't set right.

Austin made me a card and inserted Suduko puzzles and words searches in there for me. Taylor made me a card and Dylan made me tissue paper flowers. My mom gave me money toward my serger, my dad got me a Costco membership (whee! I love Costco!). My friend Melanie got me a gift card for Walmart. Dana kidnapped me for the afternoon to take a scrapbooking class and made a two toned cheesecake. I even got to take a nap on my birthday too! My in-laws made me one of my favorite meals for dinner (a night off from cooking...yeah!) and they gave me some spending money. My mother in law gave me strict orders not to use it on the kids but on me. How fun. I don't know what I will do with it yet but I'm brainstorming. It's so wonderful to be remembered on my birthday. I truly feel loved.

Austin's Swimming Debut

Here's Austin swimming the IM at our first swim meet of the summer. I'm impressed that at the age of 9 he can do four laps of the different strokes. In backstroke he almost hit his head on the wall. He's got an impressive butterfly too. He really wants to be an athelete when he grows up and I have no doubt that he has the potential to do whatever he sets his mind to do.

Grandpa and Liam

Here's a video of Grandpa playing with Liam. It was so funny since Liam's face never changed expressions no matter what he did. We were at Austin's baseball game when I took this. They love coming to the games. It's so neat that the kids get that intergenerational connection.

My latest sewing gigs

Here's my first homeade diaper. It's so soft, made of microfleece. Unfortunately it's not terribly absorbant so I can't let him wear it too long. I've made a few since then that have turned out better. I used hemp jersey as the inner layer and cotton flannel for the outer layer. I even made my first diaper cover this weekend that the kids really like. It's blue instead of boring old white. The pattern is called poo-pockets which my children find totally hysterical.

The hat I made today during naptime. Dylan picked out the fabric and said that tigger was so appropriate for him. I agree. He wore it for a long time without trying to take it off which was a real accomplishment. He's so fair that he definitely needs a hat in the sun.



The next things on my list are matching sleepers for Liam and Gavin (the probable name of our newest son), a dress for Taylor, and a maternity outfit for me. Then I'll be sewing newborn diapers like mad and teaching two sewing classes. I'm glad my hobby is so useful.

Taylor's recent ballet performance

My daughter loves to dance and be on stage. Here are some pictures from her recent performance at a local art fair. The theme this year is fairies! She just got promoted to the older group for next year. We are so proud of her.

Baby Bee visits!

My friends Rachel and Jedidiah Beeman visited on their jet set tour of the country. They brought their little girl Kathryn to visit. My kids had so much fun entertaining her and dressing her up in American Girl doll clothes. At one point Liam was jumping in the jumperoo and Kathryn was in the exersaucer and they were both laughing at each other. Kathryn ended up overstimulated beyond belief (an effect my kids have on others). Jedidiah got out a constellation map and took the kids outside for a real live astrological lesson. We had great fun with them and hope they stop by again real soon.

Austin and Taylor at the talent show

Here's a video of Austin and Taylor at the talent show. Taylor played clarinet for a year and Austin's been playing trumpet for two years. They cooked up this song about three weeks before the performance for the homeschool talent show. They kept waiting for the stage hands to bring a second chair for Austin but then they got tired of waiting and decided to sit on the same chair. It was so cute and it didn't seem to throw their song off at all. The MC made a comment about brotherly/sisterly love being demonstrated in their closeness. Austin, my shy guy, said he was embarrassed but hey wasn't he a trouper? Of course he would follow Taylor into and trecherous territory, even being up on stage!

What a difference a year makes

This picture is of me and Dana and our two babies at the same park, on the same bench that we were in a year ago. You can see big changes in all of us. Taylor thinks we look better this year than last year. Perhaps it's because we're getting full night's sleep now. Dana's working out with a personal trainer now so expect for her to look really buff in future pictures!

My children are famous!

Well, not really but they were at an exhibit an Science Center and they were filmed as part of the publicity film. Check it out.

More creations by Dilly

We had a fun day outside the day these pictures were taken but Liam was not in a photo mood. If you'll notice their shorts match. Dylan loves to sew and made them matching snoopy shorts for them to wear on hot summer days. The picture on the bottom shows Liam in a more quiet pose but at least you can see the shorts better. Poor Dylan was so frustrated with Liam's lack of photogenic persona that day but he did a great job on the garments. I told him he should be a fashion designer some day but he said, "Nah, I like doing this for fun."

His next project is a handquilted lovey for the new baby that we're doing together. THe one side will be a furry microfleece and satin border. On the other side will be paper pieced english honeycomb pieces and a couple of butterflies appliqued. We were so inspired when we went to the quilt show at the art museum a few months ago. I can't wait until we're finished and you can see pictures of it.

On Being Grateful

I saw a documentary last night called Motherland Afghanistan. It was about a OB/Gyn of Afghan descent who travels to Afghanistan periodically to help out with medical care there. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. The movie took was filmed in 2003, one year after the U.S. invasion of AFghanistan.

ALthough the hospital had received funding the conditions there (and this is in KAbul) were appalling. The patients have to buy their own sutures, needles, i.v.'s, and food for their operations. One patient had a tear from her rectum to her vagina and while they were sewing her up the sutures kept breaking because they were too cheap. Another woman lost her baby after she'd been in labor three days and someone in her village gave her a shot of something. She then developed a hole in her bladder that leaked urine into her vagina and down her legs. ANother woman had her baby at 28 weeks and there she was holding it until it died two days later. One woman had a severe case of preeclampsia and then was beaten because her relatives thought her seizures were caused by demon possession. Even the doctor was horrified and couldn't even speak. I can now understand why my students don't want to return to their own country. It's admirable that this doctor who is used to the comforts of American life leaves his home in the U.S. to travel to this desolate and depressing place. He continues to go to train other doctors there to carry on.

I have so much to be grateful for here in this country. Yes, medical care is expensive but it's the best in the world. There are hospitals that treat you even if you can't pay. That isn't the case elsewhere in the world. We have so much here in the U.S. I just can't believe the way it is in other countries.

My Soul to Keep review

I love reading and I love good books. In my last review I read a book that was a little too clean cut and neatly packaged for my taste. This book is the exact opposite. It's called: My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells.

It's the 3rd book in a series called the Dylan Foster series about a female psychology professor who has run ins with supernatural beings and wierd things happen around her. She's a messy character, full of insecurities and faults. Her family is dysfunctional and so I can relate to her character better. It's supposed to be a Christian book, I think but I wouldn't consider this character a Christian by any stretch. THat being said, it was a suspensful book that kept my attention. Even though it was the third in a series I didn't have a problem reading it by itself although I'd be curious now to read the others in the series. It's a page turner.

If you check it out, let me know what you think!

My cherry creations!

Here's a picture of Dana's three girls. Their birthdays are all within a month of each others so I made them all dresses this year. Dana loves cherries so really they are more for her anyway but I tried to make Anna's (the one on the right) like a princess dress with loop borders on the sleeves and a long skirt. Naomi's (on the left) is more rough and tumble with shorts and a swag stitched border and Abby's has stars and lace...perfect for a little one year old.

Normally I don't advertise the price I pay for presents but I got the fabric and materials for this (and I can make a diaper bag out of the leftovers) for $16 bucks total. How cool is that? $4 a dress. My sewing hobby pays off sometimes.

I made some leotards for Taylor so I'll post that tomorrow. I'm trying to spend an hour a day in my sewing room so I can get things done this summer before I'm REALLY busy!

Here's a video of what Austin likes to do to give his dad a heart attack. I think it's pretty cool. This child has no fear...except of germs! Watch and enjoy.