Seven

August turned 7 yesterday.

I can feel him pulling away more.  Not in a bad way.  In a good way.

He’s finding things by himself.  Testing it out.  Truly not needing me.

It feels good.  I need to let him do it more often.  Not question so much.  Not push and prod so much.

It all hit me last weekend. As we were sitting around in a cabin chatting with friends, Augie asked to go outside… by himself… in the middle of no where… to climb the boulders surrounding the cabin. In the past, he would have been content to share in the conversation, play with the other children or just stay around us. Not anymore. He wanted to explore. To be alone. And it was fine with him.

He loved his party with Grandpa Augie and I think both Augusts had a great time.

Happy 7th birthday Augie and Happy 90th Grandpa!

New Hobby

I hit 35 last week and didn’t have my sewing machine (in the shop for it’s yearly check-up) so what’s a girl to do?  Why not start a new hobby?

This is my newest baby- a La Patrie Etude classical guitar. I researched guitars for days before deciding on a classical, nylon-string guitar versus an acoustic, steel-string guitar. I found this beauty with a hard case on CL and snapped it up.

Since I have no musical background whatsoever, I decided to teach myself the basics before taking lessons. So far I have down notes E, F and G and my left index finger is SORE. (I’m glad I didn’t go with a steel string guitar!) I’m using these books to get me started and can pretty much follow it easily. I’m having a blast, but with 2 time consuming hobbies and 3 kids, you can bet my house is a disaster and the laundry pile has turned into a mountain.

I played my first song (all on one string) for Chris last night. It was wonderful sitting on our deck, a gin & tonic within reach, tiki torches lit, strumming my guitar.  Having music in one’s life is more important than a clean house in my book.

Happy 6th August Michael!

My oldest turned 6 today. I can’t believe it. I’m sure you’ve all heard it before: the years go fast, I don’t him to grow up, etc… But really, it’s too fast.

We had a blast at the pool celebrating with Grandpa Augie. We ate brownies, chips, and grapes. Then swam, slid, and splashed for almost 3 hours. The day ended with some good ol’ Burgerville and Lego Star Wars on the Xbox. What else can a 6 year old ask for?

And yes, I did get the quilt done (I even had time to take a nap before the party! How unheard of is THAT?), but more on that next time.

Lovo Feast

To all who came to our shindig on Sunday, a big no huge Thank You! We had a wonderful time visiting, celebrating and eating. Although the weather (IT POURED!) was horrible for cooking underground, Chris and Nana managed to pull it off with excellent results.

The Prep:

(click on photos to go to my Flickr for details)

The Lovo:

The Feast:

I think we had over 60 people crammed into our house or under “Tarp Town” on the deck. Ms O was such a trooper enjoying every minute of all the attention she received for her birthday.

Back to the sewing side of things:
As you can see, I was able to “fix” her dress if you can call it fixed. The neckline on this pattern is terrible. It calls for finishing the neck with bias tape, but the neck so wide, the fit is awful. You think I would remember this even after making this exact dress 3 times and all 3 times the fit was the same. But no, I forgot to add a little to the neck and cut it out before remembering. In the end, I added another inch like a cuff to the neckline and put in elastic to try and match the arms. The dress looks like a moo moo, but she’s so cute, she pulled it off 😉 … with her matching shoes. I also made the shirt I have on which is so comfortable and easy to make- Built by Wendy pattern #3835. This pattern was great because it was simple and fast. I was able to make two in one evening. The first one I made needed a few adjustments, i.e. snug in the bust- yes, everything is tight in that area! And a little too short in the sleeve length. I made the adjustments easily and love the fit now. I made one out of linen (above picture), and one out of Kona cotton. I never know what kind of cotton to get to make clothing since there are so many types- Kona, Egyptian, Quilting, etc.. Any suggestions on your favorite? I picked one based on the color and feel, but I guess that’s all that matters anyway.

So after all that, I’m itching to set up the studio again. Did you see my new badge at the top? Yep, July is “Bag Month” over at Sew Mama Sew so gotto get going on another one maybe something like this with patchwork and more pockets than my others. Have you seen this lady’s bags?- Amazing! They are all so beautiful and creative. I love her style and colors she chooses. I may be visiting my favorite shop soon so I hope to pick something out there for my new bag…

In the meantime, try a Lovo in your backyard!

Happy Birthday Olivia

Ms O turned ONE today. I can’t believe it was a year ago that I was at the end of the most miserable pregnancy and then had to deal with worst labor which required me to ask for an Epidural for the first time. But all that was washed away when this little babe was born:

She is such a sweet one with plenty of hugs and kisses for anyone. My little scooter loves her brothers, dogs and baths. We are all so lucky to have this beauty in our lives. Happy Birthday Livvie!