Our brand new...

Belgian wine bar!

And we love it! It was our one big European furniture purchase and I already know why we don't have a bunch of nice furniture. It is too stressful with little kids, worrying about them ruining it. Although the movers will probably do that for us anyway, right?

The inscriptions, by the way, were chosen by my husband and his friend. The top one says"Laetare" which means "Rejoice" in Latin ("gladdens" in modern translation), and the bottom inscription says, "Ps 104:15."

Wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart. -Psalms 104:15

Momma's so smart!

I am so smart that I bought these cute little reusable cones for ice cream ON SALE. They are push pops that you fill with the ice cream. The box even had a cute little picture of a kid with an immaculate face eating his chocolate ice cream. Sold! So why did my child, her clothes, and the floor look like this?

I started to clean it up and thought it was too funny not to take a picture of it! How did this happen? Well, it got stuck and as I was crossing the room to come help her with it, and it got unstuck! Not pictured here were Hannah's chocolate covered hands and Isaac's totally chocolate smothered face. So buyer beware! You will not have a spotless child if you buy these!

All things machine!

He loves them! I'm talking construction trucks, cars, 18 wheelers, trains, airplanes, helicopters, lawnmowers, vacuums, sewing machines, hair dryers, copy machines, and washing machines. When he hears the water start running he quickly helps me throw in the clothes and then grabs the stool and climbs up to watch it "go 'round 'round." He also likes to stick his hand in the water. Sometimes I'm afraid he'll fall in he leans over so far.

He's been helping me unload the dishwasher too without any encouragement. He just comes right over and starts unloading the silverware into the drawer in a heap. It's kind of funny, but not super helpful!

Cheap fun!

After getting home from the grocery store, I had an idea to keep this guy busy. He plays cars constantly when he's not playing trains. So I set up these ramps for him. The paper towel tube was the most popular with him even though I liked the other one better since bigger cars could go down it.

My high for the day!

We often play "High's and Low's" at the dinner table, as I have mentioned before. Isaac is even getting in on the game lately. Well, my "high" today was that during dinner my sweet Hannah said, "Mom, do you want me to do the dishes for you?" I, suspecting an ulterior motive since I used to be nearly her identical twin, ask "Why?" She really and truly had no other motive than to do something nice for me, at least she fooled me if she did! After she finished, she gave me a hug and said, "Now you and Daddy don't have to do any dishes tonight!" What a sweetie! I congratulated her on putting someone else before herself without being told, since that is not her strong suit. (It didn't used to be mine either. When I was five years old, it was all about manipulating people to my advantage.) I have been trying to encourage is kind of sacrifice in her. I am looking forward to making St. Therese sacrifice beads next year as part of our homeschooling.

Starting from scratch

This is the first time that I made up the pattern completely by myself with no ideas from online, just a bib that I love and wanted to reproduce. So I made my own pattern! Here is the first one I made for a friend about to have a baby. I am going to embroider it as well. I made this from a flannel receiving blanket I got at a flea market a while back. I reused some of the blanket hems to save time. Plus I found a knitted "ribbon" to use as trim which shaved off more time.


Then I made this one for Isaac, but it turned out too small. I forgot that the bib that I was using to make the pattern from was getting small on him and wouldn't close in the back anymore. I'll have to make him another one. So, if any of my pregnant friends out there are having a boy and would like this I am one step ahead on your gift. :) I used the left over fabric from Isaac's football quilt. It took a tad bit longer since I had to hem it and make the trim.

I would like to add a disclaimer, in case anyone is getting tired of seeing all my sewing projects lately, this is not turning into a sewing blog! I promise! I have been sewing way more than usual this last couple of weeks because Brian has been gone and my evenings are free. Also, I am sad to have my sewing machine packed up soon and, therefore, am trying to finish as many projects as possible. This blog is a scrapbook, of sorts, for me and meant to share our daily lives with our friends and family who live far away.

Something for me...

This is my first attempt at refashioning clothes for myself. It was a rollover cotton skirt, and now it is a swimsuit cover up...

Although I did not have a pattern to follow, I was inspired by this post about a pattern in some magazine that I don't have. I changed it a bit to fit my need for a cover up at the beach this summer.
Unrolling the top of the skirt, I cut just a tad off the top, and then sewed in wide elastic. Then I took a knit material that doesn't have to be hemmed and gathered it at both ends then wrapped it around the top and sewed it in place. Pretty easy and quick which is my kind of project.

The Sweetest Things...

Isaac sleeping...

Genna telling Hannah, "I know how you feel," as she pats her back and then offers to give her anything she wants of hers. (Hannah was crying over a photo of Mimi that she just got in the mail because she misses her.)

Hannah comforting her sad mommy by secretly hanging her crucifix that her godfather gave her up on the wall where our shattered holy water font used to be. (Yes, I was the dumby who broke it.)

My husband forging the trail to Washington DC for us and doing his "hunting and gathering" thing by finding and buying us a house...

Now if he could just get back home!

Saints in Training

I made these saint gifts for these two lovely sisters!

This one was on a previous post, but here it is with the precious child inside it! St. Rose is her name saint.

This St. Faustina doll was hand drawn as well and is this cutie's name saint. It has the Divine Mercy red and white stripes radiating onto her and has a purple flower pattern on the back.

Before and After Pics

I have made three more elastic waist skirts, one more for Genna and two for Hannah. I almost forgot to take a before picture on this one, but remembered right after I cut it up.

Before

After


I added a pocket to this one instead of ruffles.

And now for the pastel sisters!

Of course they won't keep their shirts tucked in, but they are cute anyway.

A conversation with my other daughter

After Genna says she guesses she wants to be a hair dresser and nail painter too (like Hannah,) I explain she can be anything (I believe I said "anything in the whole world") she wants and she doesn't have to be the same thing Hannah wants to be. Genna responds, "Then can I be a house?"
Oh, boy!

A conversation with my daughter

So Hannah and I were shopping together in Holland and she sees a few pictures of girls dressed immodestly. In Europe, this is common since they are even less concerned about modesty here than in the US. So the conversation went like this:

Hannah: When will I be old enough to watch Hannah Montana?

Me: Well, I have never seen Hannah Montana, so you may never be old enough. Some things are not Holy and pleasing to God and even though other people may watch them, we will choose not to.

Hannah: Yeah, like those girls who don't dress appropriately! I am so sick of seeing that! Why can't they just wear a bathing suit under their inappropriate clothes to cover them up more?

Me: (smiling) I don't know why, Sweetie.

Then she changes topics...

Hannah: When I grow up and become a hair dresser and nail painter, I am going to have to do them on different days since they are not at the same place.

(When we got our hair cut recently, she realized that at the new mall the spa and salon were in different places.)

Me: Well, sometimes they have them all in one place. Do you know what I wanted to be when I was growing up? A dolphin trainer!

Hannah: What? And you became a mom instead! Why?

Me: Because God called me to be a wife and mother when I was older.

Hannah: How did He do that if you are down here on earth and He is up in heaven?

Me: Jesus is in our hearts and He speaks to our hearts.

Hannah: And you chose this! Being a mom is such hard work!

Me: (smiling and wondering how she is getting such a negative view of my vocation) I love being a mom, Hannah. All jobs are hard work. And I love each of you so much that it makes it all worth it.

Hannah: Not all jobs are hard. Playing isn't hard work.

Oh my!

A few more accomplishments

I have been saving all these up from the last month for one post, so beware!

Refashioning Old Clothes: In retrospect, I should have taken "before" pictures.

Here is Isaac with his shirt pillow. He outgrew the shirt and so I stuffed and sewed it. The other side has his nickname on it, "The Tank."

An old dress (that I was not terribly fond of, but I always liked the pattern and colors) turns into a new skirt for Genna. All I did was cut off the top of the dress, sew it to extra wide elastic. Then I sewed some of my new Belgian lace to the lining underneath. I was inspired by this.


A plain old mock turtle neck turns into a shrug for Genna with just some elastic in the back and a some ribbon to trim the sides.

Another identical old mock turtle neck turns into a very different shrug for Genna. For this one, I was inspired by this cardigan at Happy Together.

(And she couldn't resist a silly pose!)

Stain Covering

This is for Isaac...a hand drawn back hoe for my little construction boy. He wore it on Easter Sunday.

This is for Hannah...a stained dress from a flea market turns into a nice summer dress with a little crocheted flower and some ribbon.

These flea market capris had a hole in them, so I covered it up with a flower made of ribbon and a button.


Gifts

Here is a saint dress for a friend's daughter. I made this from a men's shirts. I used ribbon and some ruffle that I got at the flea market in Belgium that just happened to have roses on it. Then I used a pocket from one of the doctor's coats and embroidered her name saint on it. I'll get a picture of it on her soon.

I bought this purse somewhere thinking I could spruce it up and give it as a gift.

This is an ornament for a dear friend who lost her baby Catherine after only 9 days. It is hand drawn and then embroidered.

Disclaimer: I would like to say, I am a total sewing dumby and made so many mistakes that it's not even funny. However, I learned a lot through all of these projects. I would also like to say that these things don't take as much time as you would think. All of this has been done during naps and on the occasional night.

Drawing with a grid

Hannah did this drawing of Grover as I taught her to draw with a grid. I showed her how to break it down into each little square and helped her choose guide points on the grid, but other than that she did it all by herself. I am so very proud of her! But even more, I am glad she enjoys arts and crafts and we can share a common interest, at least for the time being. I am looking forward to homeschooling her in art!

Just Another Family Adventure: Part 3

On Sunday morning, we went to Mass down the street, but arrived an hour early. There just happened to be a flea market right outside the church. We found Isaac some antique cars and trucks, including a cement mixer, a steam roller, a crane, a garbage truck, and a tank. He, of course, can name them all. I got beautiful lace and ribbon and some elastic that I needed for super cheap. I can't wait to make something lacy!

Brian got this...


We also found this... and this immaculate conception medal.

Mass was in a lovely church.

After lunch, Brian and the kids took a bap while I went shopping and wandering. Mostly wandering, since I was content with my flea market finds from earlier in the day. The center of Gent was under some major construction so it was not as attractive as it is supposed to be. I called it Isaac Heaven though because there was quite the collection of construction trucks in the midst of it all.
We ate dinner at a tapas bar and got waffles along the way. This was our down day and the only day we weren't in the car for at least 5 hours.

Monday morning we made last stops to pick up a few things we wanted, including more waffles and then headed home. We had such a lovely time, but the kids were so happy to be home again. And that concludes my three part posting series on our trip!