Men's T-Shirt to Skirt

I found this idea at one of my favorite blogs - Little Bit Funky - and wanted to give it a try. I didn't care for the top she did, so I changed it up. I did a knit, fold down top. I think it's more flattering for the mommy tummy. :) I picked up the shirt at Target today. I was a Fraggle fan as a kiddo.

So I started with this:

And Ended Up With This 20 Minutes Later:

(Sorry for the reversed picture. I took it in the mirror.)

Note To Self: Next time use a thicker or darker shirt, the world does not want to see my undies. It's a good thing leggings are "hip" and "cool". I think I'll wear it tomorrow to work. It's supposed to be HOT and it will be a comfy skirt.

Next time I will give this version a try. I didn't have the notions to do the shirring, so that will be a skirt for another day.

Lazy Weekend

This is how we roll on a lazy weekend.

Hannah enjoys playing in laundry baskets. Who says kids need fancy toys? :)

Hannah didn't get dressed at all yesterday. She enjoyed frolicking naked. Someday she will enjoy Naked Hiking or Naked Paddling at Widjiwagan. (Of course I am a stronger supporter of Naked Hiking, since I was a Mountaineer, but I would be happy with a Voyageurs as well. Perhaps one of each?)

Ella's baby doll was feeling sick, so she had to go to bed. (I finally folded laundry, so the baskets were free.)

Ella thought she would take a little snooze too.

Her other baby had to go in the stroller to the doctor. I guess she does not have healthy babies.

So that concludes our lazy weekend so far. We will head out soon for the grocery store because no matter how lazy our weekend is, we do need food to eat. I imagine I should get Hannah dressed for a trip to the grocery store.

Book Report: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

Last night at about 3 AM I finished reading Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen. It's set in the small town of Ringgold, Georgia. The main character is Catherine Grace who wants so badly to escape Ringgold and the ghost of her mama. It's a coming of age story. It's a predictable story, but that's not a terrible thing. It won't change your life. But I enjoyed reading it. It's a good summer read. There were a lot of great messages about the power and strength of roots and how they tug hard, especially when one tries with all their might to escape.

Hannah's Words

Hannah in her robot dress from Wellies. I love this dress!

I love that Hannah is constantly "talking." Perhaps she is like me a little bit! :) Here are her words:

- Mommy

-Daddy (She often says this in the car on the way home from daycare and Ella gets upset because dad is not in the car. Oh Bean!)

- Hoho (The name of her lovie. She says it the minute she wakes up and searches her bed for it. Her mouth makes the cutest little "O" shape when she says it.)

- Eat (The second thing she says each morning.)

- Nana (This is what she says when she wants to nurse. She'll say "nanananananana." It's very sweet!)

- Please

- Ella

- Banana (It sounds more like baba, but we know what she means.)

- Blue Berry (It sounds more like Boo, but again we know what she means.)

- Water (She says "wawa.")

The Finished Soccer Quilt

Well here it is! I believe it's the first full size quilt that I got done on time. Heck, it was done several weeks early! Sarah must be one special girl. (We'll she is... but really her mom, Heidi, is one special friend and co-worker.) I did a nine patch toss with Sarah's soccer jerseys from over the years. Sarah has been playing soccer for many years, so there were a ton. Luckily she's had the same team colors the entire time. The jerseys were a wee bit of a bear to sew because they wanted to stretch differently then the cotton, but once I got a system down it worked pretty well. It was quilted by Nancy Miller, of Concord, NC and she did a super job! I really like the pattern. It's enough to hold it together but not too detailed to cause distractions. I am in love with the red binding. That was Nancy's idea and I think it really pulls it together. So Sarah enjoy your quilt and I wish you many grand adventures as you head off to college! To quote Story People, "[it]feels like some kind of ride but it's turning out just to be life going absolutely perfectly." Enjoy the ride! It only gets better! :)

Remember the Soccer Quilt?

Well it's almost done! Here is a quick picture before I sent it off to the quilter to get quilted. I wanted to do it myself, but there is no time at this point in my life. The quilter did an amazing job! I can't wait to show ya'll the final quilt when I get the binding on. I am working on it now. It has to be done by June 4th.

Bargin Lace Creation #1

On a recent trip to Hancock Fabrics I found this for 20 cents a yard. I got really excited and purchased the entire spool, all 14 yards. I was not sure what I would do with it, but I would figure it out. (This lace is normally $4 a yard!)

I used 12 inches of it to create the embellishments on this skirt for Ella Bean. She loves it. I'll add a picture of her wearing her skirt later. (First I need to get a matching shirt done.) I also found a new use for the snap press. I used it to attach the flowers and lace to the apron. It was super quick and easy.

The fabric is left over from Hannah's apron knot dress that I sewed earlier. (I've got a post about it as well.) I look forward to getting a cute picture of the girls wearing their outfits!

So that is my first creation with my bargin lace. I still have 492 inches left. So many options! I am going to attempt to dye some of it. I think that will be fun. Ella wants a baby doll dress with lace trim. I may even make something for myself! :)

The Lake.... is Bliss

We just got back from spending Mother's Day weekend at the lake with Renee and Aiden. We all had a wonderful time! Philip got to be in town this weekend because he flew down to defend his thesis. AND this time next week he will officially have his masters degree from UNCC. YIPPY! Here are some pictures from our weekend adventures.

My girls!

Ella helping dad drive the boat

I have no clue what Ella is doing in this picture, but I love it!

Bean and dad looking for shells

Hannah and daddy

Aiden checking out the water

Playing at the "Beach" - it's the only place along the lake that has sand and lots of folks, mostly kiddos like playing there.

Look at that charming smile!

The kids playing on the sofa.

Aiden enjoyed moving the pillows all over the place. It was very comical. He's one strong kid!

Spring Break in Minnesota

We enjoyed spring break in Minnesota, but I didn't have the camera so blurry iPhone pictures will have to do. We spent most of the break in Golden Valley with Philip, Sue, and Mari. It was a grand time. Ella Bean loved playing with Mari and Sue. Although it was funny because she could never remember Sue's name so she referred to her as "that lady".

Some highlights where:

- An afternoon in Mankato with my folks (It would have been nice to stay longer, but we wanted to spend as much time as possible with Philip and both the girls had icky colds.)

- Meeting little Everett (My cousin's baby. He was super cute and so little!)

- Dinner with the Klaber-Nathan family (Ella LOVED playing with my cousin Julia. She really likes playing with the "big girls".)

- A date with Philip! (We went to Water for Elephants and ate dinner out. It was a good movie, not great, but good.)

- A trip to Coma Zoo with grandpa, aunt Maureen, and cousin Sean (Bean loved the polar bear the best.)

- A wonderful 90 minute massage thanks to Sue (Her friend Ellien is a gifted massage therapist. She's got magical hands!)

Hannah got her own seat on our Minneapolis to Atlanta flight. It was wonderful. She sat like such a big girl and loved eating off the tray. (I choose to not think about all the germs on the tray because it entertained her for an hour and was worth it!)

Bean enjoyed playing in the play area at the Humphrey Terminal. I love the Humphrey Terminal. It's not busy at all and has a great place for kids to play. (In this picture she is flying the airplane.)

Hannah going up the stairs in the play area. She is a little monkey!

I love this picture! It's Taffy, Penny, and Bode on the sofa at Sue's house. They all get along so well. Taffy is the cheese to Bode's macaroni. They are so happy together. I have never seen Bode play with other dogs until now. Bode and Taffy run around the yard together. They hunt squires together. They sleep on the sofa together. I think it will be hard on them when Bode and Philip move out in June. They are such good friends.