Not on my list

This project was not on my summer list, but I have good reasons for veering from my list. One I was still deciding whether or not I could make something here in Texas without all my supplies at home. When I found this tutorial, I just couldn't wait to start it. Plus, as you are reading this I am giving these as gifts while attending a mini reunion with my college girlfriends. Four of them are pregnant, but only two know what they are having as of yet...two new baby girls! Not to mention the severe sewing machine withdrawl I have been going through since this whole moving process began over two months ago. The hand-sewing I brought along just isn't cutting it! And on top of all that, I am waiting on the filler for my lap desks to arrive in the mail.

Anyway, if you popped over to see Mrs. Dork's cute outfit, then you may have noticed a few differences between hers and mine. One was on purpose and, I admit, one was not. I went with a complete halter instead of adding her cute tabs in the back. I don't know why, could be laziness. Then there are the bloomers. Somehow they ended up one pattern on one pants leg and one pattern on the other instead of one pattern in the front and one in the back. I have read and reread her tutorial and still don't know where I went wrong. I do know how to get the patterns in the right place, but as for how she got them in the right place I am still not sure. Maybe something is wrong with my brain or maybe I have just been away from the sewing machine too long! I vote for the latter. And you better too!

Here they are, but they sure would look cuter with some little girls in them!

I made this big sister dress to match too.

The big sis is close to Isaac's size, and so I used him to measure. I even had him try it on after it was finished, but he did not like that one bit. That surprised me since he lets Hannah dress him up like a girl all the time. See!

Three Lap Desks...check!

I am in the midst of lesson plans and still working on Isaac's stocking, of course, but I took an evening off to make these and actually check something off my list!

It took me an hour and a half, start to finish, which surprised even me. They were fast and simple. If you want the tutorial go to Balancing Everything. The main thing that I did differently is using a rounded edged dry erase board instead of the hardboard panel for obvious reasons. And I made them smaller so that they could be used in the car. This way all three kiddos can sit in a row in our 8-seater Sienna in their respective boosters and car seats using their lap desks and no one is touching each other. You know how that goes on long trips.

I let the girls choose between the two fabrics, encouraging them to pick different ones, but I had enough fabric of each in case they didn't. Hannah picked the owls which were my favorite and Genna picked the girly fabric which I fully expected. Isaac gets construction trucks because they were on sale and, bonus, he loves construction trucks!

I have enough bean bag filler left over that now I am just itching to make a bean bag! It will have to wait though. Way too much is on the imporant to do list right now!

Hurricane

Hurricane Harbor, that is! The kids went to their first water park today and had a blast despite the fact that they were too short to ride on almost anything. We only went on one "ride" which the girls and I piled into a big raft and went down a twisty gigantic slide. They screamed the whole way, but they both wanted to do it again! They loved the wave pool and the lazy river too. Hannah tried to cross this pool via a monkey bar type rope ladder while walking on fake plastic logs. She didn't make it and the lifeguard was a bit overly dramatic and jumped into to help her get to the side. She was pretty mad at herself for not making it across, but I was proud of her for trying. She's much smaller than the rest of the kids that were doing it.

I think Isaac enjoyed the kiddie pool the most with it's spraying water and slides more his size. Although around 2pm, he was lulled to sleep by the lazy river and took a nap on me for nearly an hour. It was a long day and we all got a little pink even with two thorough sunscreen applications.

I can't believe they've never done this before!

Played in the sprinklers! Hannah was just 7 months old when we moved to upstate New York and then to Germany after that. In those places, the hose water is freezing year round! I had to add boiling water to their baby pools so they didn't freeze in the heat of the summer. All this is to say that we never could just play in the sprinklers. Today they had their chance!

We went to the track so I could run. (Yes, I am trying to get back into my exercise and diet routine since I no longer have an excuse to get fat.) It was super hot and the kids found a puddle and Isaac was soaked when we got in the car to head to the house. When we got back to my parent's house, my dad was watering and so I encouraged them to cool off in the sprinklers. Hannah didn't last but a minute and decided she didn't want to get her close wet. You know she doesn't like the way it feels, even for a little while. Genna and Isaac had a blast though!

Maybe

I bent down to kiss Genna when I got back from the store and saw a big bump, bruise, and cut, all in one, on her forehead. I asked her what happened and she said she didn't know. Later I was racking my brain to figure out if she did it at the pool or what could have happened. I wondered aloud about it again and she say, "Well maybe it happened in the bathroom when I got off the toilet. And maybe I bumped my head on the sharp corner of the bathroom counter." "Maybe?" I ask, "Or that's really what happened, Genevieve?" That's really what happened! I was cracking up at the word maybe with all the details. She is really something else.

Chopsticks

To keep Isaac busy, I showed him how to use chopsticks to pick up the little wonton chips while we waited for our food at PF Changs. Of course, he couldn't do it, but he got creative trying. He is one determined little boy!

I love you, Isaac!

Stranger or friend?

Genevieve started out as a severely shy baby and toddler and has turned into my most social and friendly child, and if you know my children that is really saying something. How did that happen? I don't even know. She was so shy that if people talked to her she would usually burst into tears and cling to me like they had just asked to eat her for dinner. She wouldn't even let me put her down at play groups or let me leave the room when people were visiting at our own house. Things started to change around 18 months old. Now we will be walking in a public place and as we are walking she starts talking to passers-by. I mean the people are still walking away from us and we are walking away from them and she is chattering away about her doll or our dog or whatever is on her mind at the time. The people will turn and crane their necks as long as they can while still walking, partially to be polite and partially, let's be honest, because she is just so darn cute prattling on with those curls and huge blue eyes.

At the airport (when flying from DC to Texas), she was conversing with a young lady behind us in line as we waited to check our bags. She had told her all about our dog, how cranky he is and that he will bite you if you step on him when you're not looking. She told her all about her rolly backpack and how it is the same as Hannah's but she got it later than Hannah and about all the things inside it, in particular her Nani that is an elephant head with a blanket attached. She told her about where we were moving from and to and how our new house is empty because our stuff in on a boat in the ocean moving sooooo slow. I swear I have no secrets with her blabbing about everything to everyone. Anyway, we end up seeing the lady again when we get to the gate and she hands the girls a little picture she drew for each of them. After she walks away to sit down, Genna turns to me and asks enthusiastically, "Mom, can we sit next to her on the airplane? She's my friend!" I asked Genna, "Now is she your friend or is she a stranger?" When she answers wrong, I correct her. Before I can explain why she is a stranger, Genna says, "But Mom she didn't even give us poison candy. She just gave us these pretty pictures. And," she turns to Hannah, "we told her our names. Didn't we, Hannah?" Ha! I guess stranger danger isn't quite clicking her little mind.