addie is 5!

Addie turned 5 this week!  This is the first year I think she's really gotten that it is her birthday and been excited about celebrating.

"I think it's what I wanted... a rainbow dress!"

And rainbow tic tacs...

and jacket, and bread, and straws, and fruit... Are you catching the rainbow theme of the day here?

The cake was even rainbow tie-dye under that orange frosting :)

Happy Birthday, Addie!  You brighten our days!

happy birthday emmy! (and more kitchen pictures)

Emmy turned two today!  She started the day opening her one present (because what on earth could a two year old with 5 older siblings possibly want or need that they don't already have?)

She was pretty excited about her Minnie Mouse and has taken her along everywhere we've gone today.  I love how easy it is to please a two year old :)

She wasn't so sure about blowing out the candles on the cake, but she sure did like eating it.

Happy Birthday, Emmy!  You truly are a light and a joy to our family and everyone who knows you!

And here is what the kitchen looks like tonight - wall down, beam installed and electrical and drywall work begun :)

So far we are loving the open space and how much brighter the house is!  They are scheduled to template for the counters on Monday so the lower cabinets should be in before the weekend is over!

And if you are wondering what the kids do while all this work is going on... they've taken over my bedroom where the computer and TV are temporarily residing.  Actually, we've been out every morning this week, so it's just been afternoons spent like this:

addie is 4!

Adelaide turned 4 last week!   I am soaking up these days where she still willingly holds my hand in the parking lot and will curl up in bed for a good snuggle.  Although I sometimes wish that she would let someone other than mom do anything for her, I secretly love how much she still needs me.

Unfortunately she woke up on her birthday with a fever and feeling pretty miserable.  Turned out she had Strep and an ear infection- not a very good birthday present!

By the afternoon (with the help of some medicine) she was feeling a little better and we actually got some smiles and giggles out of her.

This little girls makes me smile :)  Happy Birthday, Addie!

11!

Micah turned 11 this week!  At his request I made egg casserole for breakfast and then he opened most of his presents by the Christmas tree.

Grammy and I went in together to get Micah this just released Lego set, which was delivered mid day by our friendly UPS man :)

We rounded out the day with friend chicken and Oreo ice cream pie (yum!)

Happy Birthday, Micah!

When I woke up the other morning, surprisingly Tommy was still sitting on the shelf!  But when I came home from dropping Addie off at preschool this is how I found him, silly elf!

happy birthday, lulu!

Tallulah had her 7th birthday party last week. 

She invited 5 of her friends over and they had a blast decorating cupcakes...

and making baloon bracelets.

I heard at least one report of it being "the best party ever!"  (mostly due to the large amounts of candy consumed).

Happy Birthday, Tallulah! 

what we've been up to

I so want to be posting here more often, but just have not been able to make it happen.  Anyway, here is a peek at just a bit of what has been going on around here since my last post...

I had a birthday (I am 37, for anyone who's dying to know). We also celebrated 13 years wedded bliss (no pictures, sorry).  I am thankful for everyday with my wonderful husband!

I've stated teaching sewing again.  This was the girls second project, I did not photograph the first, but they made these into pin cushions.  They are working on tote bags now and after that they will do aprons.

(funny thing about this picture is Regan is actually a whole year older than her friend- my friends all towered over me when I was her age too, actually, at 5'3" many of my friends still tower over me today :)

Emmaline is rolling all over the house- this is where I found her (half way under the couch) after leaving the room for just a couple minutes the other day.

She also cut her first tooth on February 22.

I did find a few moments to sew a couple baby things for a friend (and some to put in the shop as soon as the sun decides to shine so I can photograph them!)

I spent the better part of 3 hours cutting out a pile of aprons last night- now if I can just find some time to sew them I can add them to the shop too.

I'll end with this bittersweet photo of Emmaline, after her first night of sleeping in the crib in Addie's room.  You have no idea how hard it was for me to put her to bed across the hall from me instead of at the foot of my bed, but she is just too big to sleep in the cradle anymore :(

marshmallow shooter and supply belt tutorial

Micah is going to a birthday party this weekend and at first I said I just had too much going on to thing about making a handmade gift for his friend. Then I saw these on Pinterest and decided it would be simple enough to run to Home Depot while we were out, and whip up a couple marshmallow shooters, what 10 year old boy wouldn't like that gift?  And when we had finished the guns I decided what one really needs for a marshmallow war is a belt complete with marshmallow holding bag.  We will be giving two guns and two supply belts as the birthday gift, because you really need one for you and one for a friend, right? :)

The guns are pretty straight forward, so no real tutorial for that, I will give you my measurements though. I used 1/2" PVC pipe. (A 10 ft piece is enough for 7 guns) For 1 gun you need 2 slip elbow joints, 1 slip T joint and 1 slip cap.  Cut the PVC as follows: 1x6", 2x3"(the handle and piece between T and elbow) and 2x2.5"(mouth piece and vertical piece between elbows).  We spray painted ours with florescent green paint that is supposed to glow under black light.

Addie was super proud to model for me :)

For the belt I used some cotton webbing I had on hand and D rings.  I made it to fit my 10 year old with some room to grow.

For the Bag you need:
Fabric (I used a light weight canvas):
2- 10x7
2- 7x7
9" piece of corset boning

1. Lay out 1 10x7 piece of fabric.  mark fabric 2" and 3.5" from each side (along the bottom edge)  Pleat the fabric so that the marks match up (see bellow) and the bottom edge measures 7 inches. Pin and top stitch pleats.

2. Pin pleated fabric to 7x7 square (right sides together) and sew sides and bottom using 1/2" seam allowance.

3. Trim corners and turn right-side out.

4. Repeat with remaining fabric pieces, only leave an opening at the bottom for turning later.

5.  Put exterior bag inside lining bag, right sides together, pin and stitch all the way around the tops (1/2" seam allowance).

6. Turn right-side out and press.  At side seams stitch in the ditch from top edge down, about 3/4".

7.  Using the hole in the lining, insert corset boning and push up to the top edge on the long side of the bag.  It should look like this:

8. Top stitch all the way around the top, about 5/8" from the edge.

9. Sew up whole in lining.

10. Make two button holes about 1/2" from the seam on either side of the back (near the top of the bag).  I used the largest setting on my button foot and the holes were just the right size for my 1" webbing.  Use the seam ripper to open the button hopes up and slide belt through the holes.

11. Go get some mini marshmallows and have some fun!

If you make your own supply belts (or something from one of my other tutorials), please post pictures in my flickr group!  I'd love to see what you make!