July 30, 2009

The Rainy Morning Lazy Days Skirt

We had a rainy morning, no complaints, we needed it and we had no pressing things to do outside. After all the sewing lately for other people, I felt some 'for-us' sewing was in order. I finished up the cafe curtains for the kitchen I'd been tinkering with for a few days and moved on to something for Piper.

The Lazy Days Skirt pattern has been in my binder for months now, just haven't gotten around to using it. I dug out enough left over fabric and some ribbon that Piper picked out on a trip to the fabric store. Set to work. Thirty minutes later, minus the breaks to get drinks and put sandals on Oo oo ah ah, we had a new skirt.

Perfect for twirling (with our milk in our mouth nonetheless.)

July 29, 2009

Weekend Glimpse

: : Girls Night Out v. 2 - (no worries, that's a virgin in my hands) : :

July 25, 2009

Yet Another

I once again made this little jacket for a friend's two year old. Every time I make it I can't get over how darn cute it is.

Piper had been waiting for days to put this one on. And was thrilled when the time came to model it. She's a big fan of polka dots and buttons, this has both. She had a firm grip on the buttons in every picture I took.

Good thing I don't have more sewing time or Piper would have a dozen of them. But alas she only has one, which is by far not the cutest one I've made. I do have this grand plan in my mind of working it into a winter jacket for her. How cute would that be!

July 24, 2009

Starting Young

Looks like Papa likes to start them early around these parts. We all know she's not getting her computer skills from me.

Enjoy your weekend!

July 22, 2009

For Someone Else's Baby

Over the weekend we met a very new, very tiny, beautiful baby. Piper was awed. The baby also had a puppy so she didn't know how to spend her time. So for a bit she ignored them both and read books.

For this special little lady I designed, and it was quite a nerve racking process, a sundress and bloomers. She'll have to do a bit of growing before she'll fit, but she'll get there. I also made some matching Mary Jane style crib shoes which I forgot to photograph (I know major crafting sin, right.)

A little sundress to entice the sun to show it's face today. Fingers crossed.

July 21, 2009

Up to Our Ears

We had a busy weekend and a busy start to the week. We're up to our ears in house projects (we got a bead board ceiling in the front porch!), green beans, cherries and sand. Piper and I met her Marmar, three aunties and an uncle for a midway picnic yesterday. Marmar and Grandpapa gave Piper a beach set from the same company that made her kitchen ware, all made from recycled milk jugs. Intended for use at the city pool, but perfect for a sandbox too.

Her gift came just in time for Zac to bring home a sandbox and sand. Yes, it's plastic which goes against all our toy philosophies and ideals. We needed something with a cover to keep the nature preserve we now live on sans Binger out of the sand, a compromise was in order. Plus its used so really we're recycling (desperately trying to justify it here.) Although its ours, its technically in the neighbor's yard, so that his granddaughter can use it too. In exchange for Piper using their swings on an almost daily basis.

Between bread rising and hanging laundry Piper played in the sand and swung on the swing. She gets in and covers herself in sand, in an organic way I truly admire. I see hours of sandy fun in our future.

July 15, 2009

Coffee and Art

On this damp, from last night's rain, morning Piper and I hunkered down at the dining room table for some coffee and art.

Iced coffee, a very big weakness for me, made in our just received coffee pot. Oh so good, even though its decaf. The pot is cool looking, I'm tempted to never put it away in a cupboard. Thank you to my Mama and Papa for the anniversary gift!

Then we started with the art. Piper had some fun with a big ball of homemade play dough. She tried two bites and spit them both out. I didn't mind letting her try it, its colored with ground turmeric so absolutely no toxins in there. She mostly just liked to squish it between her fingers and pull off little pieces.

(The 'artwork' on her face: a result from some playing in the play house with her Hess cousin. Oops. No worries, it will heal before she gets married, as my Grandpa would always tell me.)

Next up, homemade watercolors. This required putting on a smock since I saw the potential, and right I was, for a big mess. She loved that she was given a little dish of water (which she eventually dumped) and quickly took to the process of dipping the brush in the water, paint, and then onto the paper.

: : the resulting artwork, a Piper original for her portfolio : :

I also wanted to share, slightly off subject - but just as beautiful, the first bouquet Piper has picked and given to me. Clovers.

On a side note regarding the blog. We've added a 'Loving' section on the side bar. A few of our favorite sites for the moment. One is Zac's new company website (YEAH!). Enjoy!

July 13, 2009

Weekend Outcome

First: Thank You! to all who posted or emailed congratulations on our state of expectancy. We are extremely happy. And for those of you who haven't gotten the information yet, we expect Two to arrive in December.

We spent our weekend working on projects from out 'house to-do' list. Not sure what it is about getting pregnant that kicks us into gear in this area. But my pregnancy with Piper resulted in a new kitchen, I'm not complaining. Two has inspired us to begin checking things off our, what sometimes seems mountainous, to-do list. Amongst a few other *small* projects we redid the paint on our stairwell and railing.

Now some of you may be thinking, I don't remember it looking that bad. That's because it didn't. It was scraped and sanded in order to achieve that look. Luckily so, some spots scraped nearly clean with far too much ease. We're happy with the result. BIG CHECK. Next step re-staining the tops of the steps.

We hope your weekend was fun or productive...or both!

Sorry for the completely mundane post. I promise something much more fun for the coming posts.

: : edit: Two is not twins. Just called Two in reference to his or her birth order. : :

July 08, 2009

Three Becomes Four

Everything around our home is growing. It's a down right growing frenzy. Outside there are tomatoes, beans, potatoes, the list goes on.

As we're busy nurturing those things that are growing out of doors, we're also nurturing those that are growing indoors:

There's our budding musician/artist/photographer, with her repertoire that grows by the day.

There's the pile of lovingly hand knit baby items, started months ago, that will get larger as summer turns to fall.

And there is the wee one, we ever so lovingly call Two, that will continue growing through summer into fall and winter, until it's their time to emerge... with that monumental event, we'll become four.

***Don't ruin the surprise for others, send them to our blog to find out for themselves.***

July 07, 2009

Mini Golf

After a dinner last night with two old friends (one a sister) and one new friend, we played a round of mini golf. A first for Piper, who didn't actually play the intended game, but managed to have more fun then the rest of us put together. The smile never came off her face. Vitense is a kid's dream come true. And we let ours go wild. Papa won... of course.

: : On the green with Papa : :

: : 'Yellow!' (always resulted in my ball being moved from it's spot) : :

: : A new ride : :

: : Always kissing someone/something : :

: : Yet another slide : :

: : Twirling : :

: : Spelunking? : :

July 05, 2009

A Long Weekend

While most were celebrating our country's independence, Piper and I were celebrating having Papa home an extra day this weekend. We disagreed a bit on whether that meant doing projects or relaxing with our extra time. A compromise was the result. A little of both.

Music and a picnic dinner at the Union, a little yard work, a little strawberry picking, some time looking at some puppies, some time at the Stoughton fair, some sewing, a BBQ with friends, an afternoon at the pool, and a new clothesline rounded out a long weekend. A full weekend, for one that started out with no plans.

In addition to the strawberries that need to be made into jam, we also got the first delivery from our CSA fruit share. Twelve pints of blueberries. We've been eating a lot! But still a lot of fruit work ahead of us this coming week.

Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend!