What Happens While I Am Sewing?

So, in case any one is interested in the trouble that the twins get into while I am sewing I thought I would post a couple of my favorite shots of little things they have done. Really considering that they usually have a couple hours where they are playing on their own in the afternoon--I can hear them and see a lot of what they are doing so they are not completely unsupervised but I am a bit distracted and they are quick to cause a mess--considering all that they don't cause any major damage but then again, maybe they are working up to that!!

Ethan recently discovered how to open the freezer on our new fridge--it is the french door kind so the freezer is on the bottom. Well, after a few days of them sneaking ice cream I finally got the brilliant idea to put all the ice cream in the fridge in the garage but I did get some fun photos before I had that epiphany.

I have some more pics but I cannot locate them--I'll update when I do :)

Picnic Party Skirt

This is one of the FUN new skirts I have made for Emily. She is having so much fun with them (I think she wore a new one every day last week!) Here are just a few things that I personally love about them.

1. With a tiered skirt like this you can make it all one color and therefore "calmer" or you can be wild and crazy--which is obviously what I prefer :)


2. This skirt twirls like you can't believe which makes it super fun!
   


3. Even my sometimes sassy--but mostly sweet little "tween" can't resist dancing around like a little princess when she wears them.

That last reason is really my favorite of all. Really, anything that encourages her to have fun and be a kid just a little while longer is just fine with me!!!

Bucket Shot

So I don't really know why he did it but Ethan just loved wearing this bucket as a hat :) And every time I see the pictures it cracks me up!! At the time I am sure I was a bit frustrated because I was trying to get some good pictures of him and his cute tie I had made for him to match his sisters but now I just love it!!

Baking with Twins

So there are many, many things that become more complicated once you add in two three-year-olds and baking is definitely one of them!! Just trying to make sure that every one's hands are clean and eggs do not get tossed into the mixing bowl shell and all is quite an ordeal. But my twins sure do LOVE baking with me (which is probably why the diet is not going so well ;) Just about every day they beg to bake something. Whether it's whole wheat bread or cookies or banana bread they get oh-so excited to help. This day I believe we just had to make both "The World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" (that's what my kids named them, not me) and banana bread because they just couldn't decide on one thing.

Olivia is Going To Be Mad!!

So I made this adorable dress for our cousin Elodie (and the matching skirt for her mom, Aunt Julie) but Olivia wore it several times for some photo shoots before we sent it off to them and she absolutely loves this dress!!! Well, a couple of days ago I made an apron knot dress (the one pictured here is the tiered twirl dress) with these same materials for little baby Abby and a skirt for big sister Emily and ever since then Olivia wants them to all wear their matching stuff--but I DON'T have enough material to make her a new dress :( I really need to get some because she is starting to get a bit bugged. So I think that may have to be my first project when I get back from vacation. And I really, really do love how this dress looks on her--and as long as I am getting more fabric I might just have to make a skirt for me :)

Forts, Forts EVERYWHERE

So, what's been going on at our house in the last three weeks since my last post?? Two words--sewing and forts. The sewing is keeping me busy and the forts are keeping the kids busy. My house looks like a disaster because of it but we are all having fun and right now that's what I am choosing to care about ;) I have given in and decided that unless I put all the blanket and other "building supplies" in the attic there is no controlling how the house looks right now. But it is funny, when people randomly stop by and I try to explain, "The house doesn't usually look like this...well, I guess right now, it really DOES usually look this way...but underneath the mess it really IS clean." I just love the creativity and fun the kids are having--Olivia is SOOOO into building these things. Yesterday because all the space in the family room was already built in she ventured into the living room and discovered there are pillows in the couch in there (the ones in the family room are attached to the couch). Even Abby really enjoys them once they are finished.

Collection of Collections

So the other night when I was doing my nightly clean up this is what I found collected on my kitchen table (please excuse any crumbs you see, I had not yet wiped down the table). Ethan is OBSESSED with collecting things. And he puts them into little stacks, piles, containers or purses. Usually I find the collections from the day scattered around the house but that day I think he decided he wanted a collection of his collections. Here's what I found--

This basket had a collection of "big" trucks and cars.

This one had "his pets"

I don't think you can tell but this is about 50-60 sticks of gum (I found a hidden "collection" of wrappers that went along with them).

ROCKS!! It is IMPOSSIBLE to go ANYWHERE with the boy right now--he stops to look for rocks everywhere he goes!!!

Little cars.

Tacky Day

Last Friday was tacky day at school for Emily and Andrew--really, I don't think anything more needs to be said :) But I do have to admit they did an EXCELLENT job picking out and pairing all their clothes to be as tacky as possible. I did drive them to school so that Emily could be sure it really WAS tacky day. She said if we got there and no one looked tacky I needed to take her home to change :P

The Blue and Gold Dinner

Andrew was so happy to get his trophy for his third place finish in the pinewood derby last month :)

Andrew's cake--it won something. I think it was actually voted "Best Cake" but I'll have to check with Jason to be sure.

Andrew's Blue and Gold dinner was last week. He was so excited to make a cake and go. He decorated it himself and did (most) of the prep-work, I was merely there to supervise and make sure no eggs shells ended up in the batter. I got a sitter for the three little ones and Emily had activity days so it was just me, Andrew and Jason. It was so nice to be able to spend the night just being happy for him and not feeling annoyed with overtired little ones :) I think he also found it really special to just have all our focus and attention be on him. He got his Bobcat and is working hard on his next one (oops I just forgot what it was!!). He is really enjoying having something that "belongs" to him. I think my kids are so good at sharing everything but I need remember that it is so important to them to have a few things that are just theirs and no one else's.

So Much to Do...So Little Time

So what's been keeping me too busy for blogging? No, I am not talking about the back log of laundry, the never ending stack of dishes, 4th grade math (really, that's A LOT harder than it sounds), Scouts, YW lessons, snow days, playing with the kids, making cookies, cleaning, or baking fresh ground wheat bread. That's all my normal every day craziness and apparently it just wasn't enough insanity for me because I decided to add to it :) So nearly two weeks ago I did something that has been stirring around in the back of my head for quite sometime.... I opened a store on etsy!! You can get to it by going to http://www.keeponsmiling.etsy.com/ For those who don't know on etsy people buy and sell homemade items. For now all I have on there is dresses. I will soon be adding other items--personalized burp cloths, lovey blankets, ties for little guys, matching skirts for mom, tutus and super heroes capes (I think that's all--for now). Any way, you all should go and check it out and tell your friends!! I am having so much fun :)

Our Family Garden

So we decided it would be a lot of fun for the kids if we did a garden this year. Jason made this beautiful box for it, he even buried the back corner of it a bit so the whole thing would be level--which seemed like a big pain to me, and then we all got to help with the fun stuff of filling it and then planting our first seeds. The kids are so very excited although Ethan was quite disappointed to wake up the next day and nothing had grown overnight :) We have only planted peas so far but will for sure keep y'all updated with the progress of the whole project.

Will This Winter Never End???

I feel like we rotate between sick winters and healthy winters and this for sure has been a "sick" winter for us!! I myself have had a cough for nearly two months! And frankly I am just sick of being sick! I am so upset that I cannot hold the new babies my friends are all having :( But I have given up and come to terms with the fact that I will not be healthy again until the spring (and that's when my seasonal allergies will kick in!!!) So I was wondering to myself when spring is coming and let me tell you it's no time soon. I just checked the weather and we are expecting 3-5" of snow tonight!! So look for more snow time fun pictures tomorrow!!


Yes, for those who are wondering Ethan fell asleep between the kids cubbies and the garbage can. He saw his blanket and had to lay down on it right then and then he just stayed there a while staring off into space and then he was asleep. We left him there for a bit until he was pretty soundly asleep and then we move him to the couch.