Homemade Christmas

Time has really flown and I can't believe that it's the end of the year already. Connor turned one earlier in December and Emily turned 3 yesterday. Both kids really really enjoyed christmas. Emily is such a wonderful present opener. Even when she was opening Connor's gifts she would squeal with delight and state "OH WOW." Below are some of the gifts I made for the kids. Three pairs of new jammies for Connor, one gown for Emily along with a dress with leggings and a new purse. The purse is probably her favorite gift since before we leave the house, everything that is important to her at the time goes into the purse!





The pajamas are a pattern from Ottobre 6/2009 book. I'd never worked with ribbing before but love how they turned out...so did Connor and Emily. The dress and leggings I couldn't find a pattern I liked so I sketched out a quick bodice and added a skirt to it and the leggings were super simple to just draw out, cut, and sew.

The purse is reversible with a coordinating pocket on both sides. I also made some grocery totes but didn't get a picture before they were all given as gifts.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It snowed!!! It is absolutely beautiful outside. Actually it's still snowing this morning. Schools are canceled and that really freed up our day. This afternoon we had an appointment at the school to write Emily IEP, a meeting with our pastor regarding Connor's baptism and the kids birthday pictures. The meeting has been rescheduled along with the pictures. Will have to call Pastor to see if he's still coming into town today. That gives me an entire morning to sew...at least in between refereeing the kids!

I really need to get Christmas sewing finished. Still have jammies to finish for the kids, Emily's new dress and gift bags for everything to be put into. Yesterday I finished a pair of jammies for Connor and am not sure what I was doing while putting on the ribbing around the collar but it is really stretched out and curly. So I will get to spend a while this morning pulling out all of those stitches...NOT fun to do on knit material.

Connor's baptism is also this weekend and I need to make his baptism gown...nothing like waiting until the last minute! I had hoped he could wear Emily's but my little bambino is quite the big little boy and is a little bigger than his sister was.

Blessing to all and I hope everyone (at least in our area) is enjoying the snow!

Winter is just around the corner...

I am really looking forward to snow. The tans and browns of fall need to be covered!

Last week I ordered several books. The first one I've been reading is Handmade Home - Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures by Amanda Blake Soule. I originally ordered the book because I'm always looking for fun and neat things to make and since our family loves sustainable living, it seemed like it would be a good fit for us. The book was so much more than craft projects. It reminded me of why we live green, that our frugalness is not just about saving money but preserving our earth and a simpler way of life, a more traditional, or even old-fashioned, way to life.

Fall Weather

Fall is here and just like everyone else, I can't believe how fast the year has gone. Halloween is this weekend. I have to waitress but Shane will be home in time to take the kids trick r' treating. Emily is going as Cinderella. It has a hard call for her to decide between Cinderella, Beauty and Snow White...everything is princesses right now! Connor is going as a skeleton. We found adorable pajamas that had skeletons on them. We figured as young as he is he'll probably sleep through most of it!

Yesterday I was busy sewing, I have a lot of orders of cloth training pants to get out this week. I finished one order and mailed them out this morning. I think they are so far my favorite.

So as I was busy sewing away, I finally realized that there was a lot of laughing and giggling coming from the living room. Being a mom, I of course wanted to see what they were laughing about but at the same time, I didn't want to interrupt them and have them decide to not play nice together anymore. So I peaked around the corner and this is what I found...




I think my favorite is the one where she is tying him to the chair.

Improtu Vacation...

Wow, how time flies! I started this blog to document our life and haven't posted for almost a month!
Shane is working in Hibbing, Minnesota for over a week so the kids and I decided to join him this time. It's a 5 hour drive and the kids did wonderful in the car. Helped that we picked to leave about naptime so they slept half of the way. Emily watched movies the rest of the trip. I'm not sure how our parents ever traveled without movies in the car when we were growing up!
I was going to bring material and the sewing machine but decided against it. However, I could have gotten so much stuff ready! Oh well, I see there is a farmer's market today and we'll find the local library until daddy gets home from work.
In catching up on reading this morning, I see the SewCute Shop is having another giveaway. She does some of the cutest things! This time it's an apron. Check out her blog, she's got such a cute blog. http://sewcuteshop.typepad.com/sewcuteshop/

Summer is Finally Here!

We've been waiting for it all summer. Today is absolutely gorgeous! The sun feels to so warm and inviting. I think after naps, it will be time to play outside in the garden. The tomatoes look so yummy and I can't wait to start making salsa.