love my girls

Today I took the girls to Mayfair Mall to have their 3-year and 1-year photos taken. As always, it was an adventure. The ride started out with an annoying client calling and asking me to look up a number and fax something to a physician. I had to try and explain that I do not work on Fridays and I'm driving my kids to get photos taken and it's snowing. But, like a good girl, we compromised and I took care of it (for the 10th time for this guy). Charlotte was also in the back seat saying she wanted to go home because she was tired, yet, she just woke up....

We got to Mayfair early and I fancied up the girls. This time I didn't dress Gretchen until we GOT there. (Note, last year she puked all over the outfit in the car seat and I had to buy another one.) While waiting Charlotte grabbed her butt and yelled, "I have to go potty!" All three of us went into the bathroom and Charlotte didn't just pee, she pooped. A big one. Gee. There were like six squares of TP left. I opened the door and yelled, "Can somebody please get us more toilet paper?!" What a way to start photos.

We ended up getting some really cute photos, but it was just at torturous as last time at JCPenneys. Gretchen wanted to crawl everywhere and wanted to do the opposite of what Charlotte was doing. I really didn't think the lady knew how to work with little children, but, we got some photos.

After we left the mall I walked into a winter wonderland in the parking lot. I mustn't have gotten the memo about the snow. It was a sloppy, slow drive home, but, we're all safe.

Enjoy my beautiful girls!

(Coloring is off because I had to scan them in...)

 

 

rapunzle hair

rapunzle hair, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

I'm addicted to Pinterest. Yes, you might be too. The ideas are endless!! While browsing one day, I ran across a post at the Weekend Homemaker where she made some Rapunzle (Tangled) hair for her daughter. I just knew Charlotte would love this one. I bought a pound of yarn for $6 at JoAnn's and had an old pair of nylons and purple ribbon on hand. Whole project probably took an hour. Cutting the strands sure took a long time. I think I used 3/4 of the yarn. This is nice and long too for effect.

WIP Wednesday: more stippling

For the first time I'm finally linking up to Lee over at Freshly Pieced for her WIP Wednesday projects. I always have a WIP but never seem to take the time to link up and share what I'm doing.

curly q stippling

I had dinner with Lee last night and the Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild ladies and we talked about projects and how many things we work on at the same time. It was then I realized I hardly have any WIP's at one time because I'm a finisher!! Yes, I usually have one quilt I'm working on at a time before I start another one. This quilt is a commissioned quilt! A co-worker will be giving it as a gift. It will be a generous lap sized quilt and uses Moda Origins by Basic Grey. I've made a similar Grasslands quilt here.

my quilting station

And....here's my set up! Not very glamarous but it sure gets the job done. We also talked about sewing machines. This is my old Janome that seems to still quilt just fine.

charlotte's in preschool

Sorry I've been MIA...I have a good excuse, I swear!

Last Thursday I got to St. Francis Borgia 45 minutes early to sign Charlotte up for preschool. Low and behold, I was the 5th person there! The FIFTH! That means I have to totally step up my crazy. I was really expecting to be 1st or 2nd. My friend was already there and two spots ahead of me and luckily, Charlotte was able to snag the 18th spot for morning preschool. Yippie!! I then toured the school with another mom and 8th grade student. I'm so excited for her and wish she could have seen the place but there will be plenty of time for that. 

That night Charlotte puked in bed. Poor kid. I know the bug has been going around. She was a champ and woke up the next morning pretty chipper. We laid low all weekend and Gretchen seemed to pull through with no problems other than some really messy diapers. Sunday, I woke up and felt like I was hit by a bus! I took two naps and stayed on the couch all day long. We had to cancel our Super Bowl Party too. Kevin was a champ taking care of me and watching the kids all day. Even the kids were pretty darn good.

Then last night Charlotte woke up again saying she had a tummy ache but nothing happened. I guess we'll be laying low today too.

Stomach bug...feel free to leave our house any minute now!

gretchen is ONE

Gretchen's 1st Birthday, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

I can't believe my little baby is ONE already! These last 365+ days have flown by so fast I'm not sure what happened. Gretchen has always been a happy girl, very happy-go-lucky. I was please that I've never had to rock her to sleep, however, she has spent a great deal of time waking up at night.

She's had to deal with a lot considering her sister pushes her around, steals her toys, and doesn't share. Even the dog wacks her with his tail and eats her food. She's the bottom of the food-chain but has somehow managed to hold her own around here. Gretchen's bedroom started out in our room, then she slept in the bathroom at my mom's house, got her own bedroom (although horribly pained with no decorations), and finally has a cute little room she can grow up in.

Here's a rundown of our dear little Gretchen.

• Eats everyting you put in front of her. Loves noodles, blueberries, strawberries, PBJ, cheese, etc.
• Drank whole milk at 11 months and made no fuss switching from formula.
• Walks with the walker toy.
• Stood for a max of 1 minute but hasn't yet attemped to walk on her own.
• Loves to crawl....fast.
• Goes up any stairs when you are not looking.
• Makes the sign for "milk" when she wants it
• Says Dada and means it. We're still working on Mama.
• We think she said doggie too.
• Takes two short naps during the day and sleep around 11-12 hours at night but still wakes up plenty.
• Wears size 5 wide shoes.
• Is larger than her sister at the same age.
• Grew 4 inches in the 6 months we've lived here.
• Wants nothing to do with baby toys.
• Chews on everything she can.
• Crawls away when you catch her doing something naughty.
• Loves her blankie, both full-size and travel size.
• Still has a nookie.
• Has rosy cheeks most of the time.
• Gives mom and dad the best cuddly hugs and nuzzles.

We love you Gretchen!!

princess jasmine costume

I took Charlotte to a Snow Princess party this weekend. It was an annual fundraiser put on by the Junior Womens' Guild of Cedarburg. Since she's also having her Aladdin birthday, I had to finish her Jasmine costume in time for the party.

Princess Jasmine

Charlotte was the only Princess Jasmine there and was her usual self, dancing in the middle of the room to her own tune. She wanted to be by the "real" Disney Princesses (high school kids) the entire morning. Sharing her thoughts and waving around her magic wand. Instead of buying a costume, I made one and wanted to share how I put it together. Really, give it a try! You can find a rough shoe tutorial here.

I made the pants with a pajama tutorial I found here and a harem pant tutorial here.

I wasn't sure how I was going to make the top but found a tank at Target in the exact turquoise that the pants were. So, I embellished the top a little with gold trim and some sparkly chiffon around her shoulders. After turning down the edges to prevent fraying, I pinned it on the shirt and stitched it down in four places, make sure she can lift her arms and move around. I think the bad was about 4 inches wide. 

The crown is usually turquoise but I wanted to make it gold and in the shape of a crown. I interfaced some gold silk (same as the shoes) and drew out a crown shape. Stitch both sides, turn inside out and fold in the edges. Make sure you measure the head so you know how long to make the crown. Add velcro at the appropriate length. I found a plastic jewel at Michael's and hot glued it down. Also made a small stitch, just in case.

Voila, you're done! Charlotte loves her costume and I'm very pleased with it as well.

princess jasmine arabian shoe tutorial

Shoes I'm making the covers for.

My daughter loves Aladdin and really wants to have an Aladdin birthday party next month. She'll be three and I can hardly believe it. How better to celebrate than with a Princess Jasmine costume. We are also going to a Princess Tea Party this Saturday and I wanted to have the costume finished for the party. Unfortunately, we don't have gold sparkle shoes for her. The ones she has are pink. With a little gold silk left over from the costume, I thought I'd take a shot at making Arabian shoe covers for her to match the costume. Well, it turned out fabulous!

It's a messy tutorial and I don't have a photo with the costume yet, but I assure you, Charlotte LOVED the shoes!!

First I took the gold silk and folded over the edges so the fabric doesn't fray. After sewing one side, I laid it over the shoe and measured how far over the fabric would lay and then stitched up the other edge.

add interfacing

Since I wanted the shoes to have a pointed toe and silk frays a lot, I added interfacing to both pieces (one for each shoe).

stich edge to create point

Next I stitched one end closed and used a pinking shears to trim the edge. Don't forget to snip the corners on a diagonal so you get a nice point!

Here's a (bad) picture of the form so far. It's laid over the shoe, so you can see the point. We are getting ready to add elastic on the bottom and cut out an opening for the foot.

I didn't do this next step scientifically. If you have a better way of getting the hole cut, then go for it! I marked with a pin where the elastic part of the pink shoe was. I want the gold fabric to cover most of the elastic. Then I drew a line with fabric marker where I am going to cut. I left a small margin, maybe 1/4" or less, so that I could fold down the edge and stitch. Here's one shoe finished and one shoe getting ready to be cut. Good luck!

Fold over the edge where you cut and pin down. This is where you're happy we have interfacing to keep down the frayed edges. Clip the corners and stitch down.
Flip the shoe over, add the gold fabric cover and measure to add elastic to the bottom. I've added elastic to the toe and the back of the shoe.

add elastic to hold down the gold cover

Creating the back of the shoe isn't hard. I vaguely measured how long the fabric needed to be when the form was on the shoe. Next I stitched the raw edges together just like when we made the point. However, we don't want a point on the back of the shoe. Turn the gold form inside out and place back on the shoe. Then I took the point and smushed it down and pinned it. We are going to make a straight stitch vertical on the seam to hold down the flap.

Here's a photo of the completed back of the shoe turned right side out.

add elastic to the back of the shoe as well

 Finished shoes! I think I'm going to add some bling to the top toe part. Let your imagination fly!

princess jasmine costume

handy hand towels

If you haven't discovered Pinterest, don't! It will suck you in. But, thanks to Pinterest, I found this amazing tutorial from The Creamer Chronicles. A cute hand towel that is attached to the stove handles. Perfect because Gretchen is always pulling them down. AND...now I have some red ones that match the new kitchen color.

In love!!

january bee block

A few weeks ago I finally went to a Milwaukee Modern Quilt Guild monthly meeting. It was great to meet other women in the area that love quilting as much (or more) than I do. After the meeting I was asked to join their first Quilting Bee. How exciting. It's my first bee and something I've always wanted to do. The idea is that each month you make a quilt block for somebody else and then one month everybody makes a block of your choice for you. Thus, getting a quilt made much faster than you could do it yourself. Yes!! Sign me up!

A few days ago I got some fabric in the mail and even learned something new when piecing this Envy block together for Rebecca at Pieces and Cream.

It's great looking up ideas for my quilt block that everybody will make. I'm also looking forward to getting my hands on some Flea Market Fancy when it comes out in February!

first step preschool, next step Harvard

I've done it. I've turned into one of those mothers. The kind that stresses about things that probably won't affect the future at all and one that will stand in line in the sleeting snow to sign their child up for preschool. Ok, so not the sleeting snow, but you get the point.

Next month I'll be signing Charlotte up for 3K and we'd decided to send her to one of the local Catholic schools. However, this school seems to be a little more competitive to get into because the parish is so large. There are already 12 kids signed up and only 18 can be in the class. That leaves me with six spots to try and fit my kid into. So yes, at 9:30 a.m. I'll be at the school with my paperwork already completed ready to push anybody over to get my kid enrolled. The way I'm handling it, you'd think she was trying to get into Harvard this Fall.

Since when have mothers started caring so much about preschool? I'm fairly new to mothering so it's always been this way to me, but was it always this way? I do promise my children I won't let them have filled calendars by the age of five. Sure we are always out-and-about, but having scheduled activities that you can't-miss-no-matter-what every day of the week? No thanks. Not when they still have the opportunity to just be kids.

I know it's ok if she isn't one of the six to get into the class. There is another great Catholic school in the other direction only two miles away. I'm sure she'll get a great preschool education there as well. Besides, PBS has already taught her everything she knows. I think PBS is like Harvard for toddlers.