Granny Allday

We recently took a trip home to see the family. My grandmother was so thrilled that we came. She always enjoys seeing and spending time with the kids.

I remember spending a week every summer at Granny's house. I had so much fun. There was always kittens, puppies, or baby chicks. We would swing on the porch swing, dig in the dirt with teaspoons, play with animals, gather the eggs, work in the garden, and cook in the kitchen. She also had a big bag of scrap fabric in an old trunk. I would get some of it and she would help me make baby or Barbie clothes with it. She was a hands on kind of grandmother. I am so thankful for her.

Re - dress

I made a new dress for Ella Beth last week. Over spring break, my sister gave me a shirt that just wasn't right for her anymore. She thought it would turn into a great dress for Ella Beth. I think she was right! I took in the side seams, made the shoulder straps, and added the ruffle. It took about 2 hours. (I am a bit of perfectionist when I sew. I finish inseams with a zig-zag stitch. It takes a little more time, but I think it is worth it.) Here is the result:

A Psalm

I just thought I would share a psalm with you today that Jack wrote earlier this year. Our kids our truly blessed to have great teachers at our wonderful church!

A Psalm of Jack

I praise the Lord, oh my soul!

You gave me life, hope, mind, and strength.
You gave me to the world.
You let me live.

You are like a daisy moving in the wind.

You gave your Son to the world.
You let Him die for us
And that is all that matters.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul!

Ella Beth's Recital

Ella Beth and I experienced our first dance recital a few weeks ago. And it was very much an experience! I told Lee that I felt like a crazy pageant mom getting ready for the event (no offense to any pageant moms). I'll start at the beginning....

At 9:45 the morning of May 2, Ella Beth had an on stage rehearsal. She bravely went into a strange building, sat next to strange little girls, and waited for her dance teacher, Miss Debbie. While she practiced in a closed rehearsal, I met with a very stressed but organized helper of Miss Debbie's. She showed all of the moms where the dressing rooms where and answered many questions. We were told to have our girls dressed and ready to dance at 6:15. We were also told to label all items and put them in a box so they would not get lost. When our meeting was over, Ella Beth and I were off to Wal-Mart to purchase the box and aqua net (another suggestion from the organized but stressed helper). We arrived home, some time later, with a box, aqua net, and lip stick! While Ella Beth took a nap, I labeled every item and placed them in the box. Here's a list of the items in our box:
costumes - 3 with matching hair accessories
2 pair of tights
hair pins
brush
aqua net
scissors
safety pins
hair nets to help secure the bun
pony tail holders
wet wipes
make-up which included lip stick, blush, mascara, eye shadow, and brown eyeliner to be used to make her face dirty for the final performance.
The list might explain a small amount of how I felt.

At 4:00, I began getting Ella Beth ready for her big event. We started with fresh nail polish. Then, we put up her hair, did her makeup, and put on the costume for her first performance. She was a beautiful little princess!
At 5:00, Ella Beth, Will, and I left so that we could get pictures made and save some seat. I'm sure you are wondering why Will would come with us. Well, on this same night at about the same time, Jack was awarded his webalos badge for boy scouts. (I'll post pictures of that later). Because Lee had to be with Jack, I took Will to save our seats. His job was to tell everyone that these seats were taken and patiently wait for me to get Ella Beth settled backstage. He did an outstanding job! By the end of the evening, Will had sat waiting and watching the performance for 4 hours. All I can say is wow!

Ella Beth had 3 dance routines. Each time, I had to go back and get her ready for the next performance. It was crazy backstage, lots of little girls and lots of moms. Ella Beth did a great job of staying with her group and getting ready for each performance. Here are some pictures of each routine and how she occupied herself backstage. We had a great evening, even though it was long, and look forward to doing it again.

New Blog

I have found a new blog that I love to read. It is "made". A lady from California talks and shares pictures of things that she has made, mostly sewn. I love all her ideas. She often makes new items from stuff that most people give to a thrift store or throw away (like old pillow cases, sheets, mens shirts, etc.) These items may have seen better days for what they were first made to do, but usually there is enough fabric in them to refashion for children's clothing. Now after seeing all the cute things that she has done, I have to go out to my trunk and open my thrift store bags. There maybe some good stuff in there. I just have to get my creative juices flowing! Here's the link if you are interested: http://dana-made-it.blogspot.com/
Careful, you may get hooked like me :)

Dana, I hope you don't mind me sharing. I had to let others know of your great ideas. Thanks for sharing them.

Mother's Day Giveaway

I found some good giveaways. Leave a comment for your chance to win.

http://www.5minutesformom.com/6032/mothers-day-giveaway-2009/

Aprons

I have been sewing a good bit lately. I've made Ella Beth a skirt, curtains for my bedroom, and 6 aprons. The aprons were for our ladies' retreat at church. Our theme for this year was "back to the basics." When the planning committee started talking about basics I thought of kitchen basics. That is where the aprons came in. We used them for center pieces on the tables topped with jars full of wooden spoons that had recipes attached.

I think they all turned out real cute. At the end of the retreat, the spoons and aprons were door prises for attending. Everyone got a spoon, but only a lucky 6 received an apron. I was one of the lucky six!!!My sister and I are talking about opening an etsy shop. If we do, aprons like these will go on sale. If you could buy one, which one would it be?

Here are some pictures of the detail stitching around the waist band.