Mother Knows Best

This morning, B insisted it was warm enough (because it was sunny) to wear shorts and a short sleeve tee (though it was only 50 degrees). I suggested she wear jeans and a tee. When we went to her haircut at 10:30, she asked for a sweatshirt. I told her she should listen to me because Mother knows best.

This afternoon, she was asking about the spider crawling up the wall. I said I didn't know what kind it was. So she says to me, " but you said Mother knows best."

I can't win.

Late May Photo Update

May is coming to a close. Of course, it is cold and rainy today, more like April. I am sure June will come in with 100% humidity and 100 degree weather.

What else is new on James Street? Not much. Sewing more. Kids outside whenever possible. Layla ate Charley's Keens (well, one shoe anyway). See, not much has changed. I am sleepy today. Must have something to do with it being pitch black when I woke up at 7 am. Seriously, B thought it was the middle of the night. But now the sun is shining...... So, I will need eye shades for my nap. HA! Like I will get a nap.

On with the pictures.

Here are some photos of Charley in the dress I made.

I'll see how well I made the dress. I now have to wash it.

This is from Sunday. Building with blocks while Mike mowed
thew lawn. Like B? She wanted to sleep "like" Mike.

B built a dolphin show. A ramp with a pool at the end.
There is even a place for the dolphin to dive through a hoop.

Seriously cute right?

Here is the dress I made B out of Mike's old shirt.
(Those lovely shoes are her new "blue and green mixed together" Keens.)
You should know I was injured making this dress. I sewed through (yes, out the back)
of my finger, the yanked it and split the tip. So lovely.
I am dedicated to my craft. HA!

This is the pose B really wants you to see.....

One day B wants to be like Fancy Nancy, the next day, a weird faced, mud covered worm whisperer. Yes, she actually calls herself a whisperer. Bug Whisperer, Toad Whisperer. Oh, Mike took her to Fermi Saturday morning to hunt for toads, frogs , snakes you name it. She got to hold a toad, but they saw frogs and snakes and buffalo. She had a blast. She hasn't wanted to go to school, but wants to go with Mike to work. She is my nature lover. OK, laundry and cutting out fabric for a new dress await. Oh, and my kids too. I won't forget about them.

I Made This! Shirred Sundress for Charley

OK, I hit publish before I added text. I made this cute little dress for Charley. I worked on it a bit each day. I lucked out on Tuesday and Wednesday because she took long naps. Isn't it cute? I really like my new machine. It is a Singer, which I said I would never buy, but IO like that it sews by itself, without using a pedal. This is perfect for me because it sews very slowly. That way, my lines are straight and I can see what I am doing. So, hopefully, I will be posting new stuff, sewn by me, on a semi-regular basis.




One thing I don't like about sewing. I get ahead of myself with all the things I want to make. I bought this fabric for a top I wanted to make B 3 years ago. I am trying to stop myself from ordering fabric until I use up my stash. Though, I really want to order this.

Mid-May Update

Not too much going on here. The kids are making me crazy as usual. B is signed up for skating, gymnastics and tennis, so that takes up some time. Charley is going to swimming, which she LOVES! She is also going to B's Montessori on Mondays as in introduction to the class she is starting this summer. This she does NOT love. Today she make it a little over an hour before they called me to come get her. Much better than the 2o minutes last week. What else? I may be jinxing it, but she has rocked with her potty training. She goes days without an accident. Of course, on the fifth day, she may only use the potty once and the floor the other 6 times...... But, she is really good. She was good at school too. Shadow fell down the basement stairs, so she is laid up and on some serious pain medication. I am not happy (imagine that) about the weather. We went to the zoo Friday and it dropped 20 degrees while we were there. And imagine, I actually brought sweat shirts. YEAH for being prepared. Charley, my non-sleeper, took a good nap today, so I practiced a bit on my sewing machine. I may actually have something to post by the weekend. You know, it takes some other bloggy person 20 minutes what it takes me a week to make. OK, on with what everyone ( and I mean Lee) wants, pictures.

Charley took a nap, so B and I broke out the
colored sand and glue.

Isabel joined us for a little love.

This day must have been warm. Shirtless Chuck, short sleeves
on B and cantaloupe.

I think they ate the whole thing within two days.
I am sure on the third day it was 30 degrees and
decidedly not cantaloupe weather.

B started ice skating a couple of Saturdays ago.
Lee, Jeana and Jordan came for the first lesson.
They provided lots of cheers for our first time skater.

Who did pretty well. She listened to the instructors, and
only fell a couple of times.

More importantly, she had a lot of fun and wanted to go back.

The girls made cardboard cars.

Boxes make the best toys. Mike, if you are reading this,
remind me of this next Christmas.

Millipede?

Charley's Mother's Day gift to me was a long nap.
B gave me a necklace and bracelet she made and Mike gave
me a beautiful necklace and a mug with my initial.
(B and I also had a Mother's Day tea at her school.)
Mike worked on the heap in the garage while B and I did
chalk drawing. And hopscotch. Mike eventually joined us.

Sometimes B is so cute.
OK, OK, all the time.

Mike taking over hopscotching was part of my Mother's Day gift too.

Mike cleaned out the sand and water table and just filled
it with water. The girls favorite. They can't tear themselves away.

Even to go to the bathroom. Both of them. I hate laundry.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
aka
Dangly.
B loves these bugs. She calls them Dangly bugs.
Mike finally asked someone at work what they were.

As always, I will try to post more. I thought my camera had bit the dust, but Mike found the magic button inside to reset it. YEAH!

Easter 2011

This post is about Easter week. We colored eggs, the park district bunny delivered baskets to the girls and we had two egg hunts. One at home and one at Lee's. B, of course, was into it. Surprisingly, Charley was into it too. She hunted for eggs, loved the big bunny and of course, ate chocolate. This is funny, we were walking in town, when a man dressed as a bunny was passing out chocolate. He gave Charely some, which she promptly ate. Then she made the more sign, then the bunny sign (meaning, she wanted more chocolate). While the signing is cute, and she gets her meaning across, actual WORDS would be nice.

Anyway. You would think, since Easter was so late this year, the weather would be good enough for some cute little Easter dresses for the girls. No such luck. It was leggings and wool sweaters for my sister's annual egg hunt. We still had fun and ate some good Easter food. Sausage, egg casserole (with sausage), some really good potato thing my sister made from the Williams Sonoma catalog, rolls, cake, ice cream, chocolate, it was a good day!

Coloring with the wax crayon.

B thought dyeing eggs was great.

So did Charley. Though she wasn't as
into it as B. Probably because the results aren't instant.

We did two dozen. There were some dropped casualties.

The kit came with stickers. I bought the kit at Williams-Sonoma.
The accessories were good, the dyes not so much.

Here is B waiting for the Bunny. Grandpa took the photos.
He and Pat were over to watch the kids while we
went to dinner with friends. We are decadent, aren't we?

He comes the bunny.

This is offered through our park district. Isn't it great?
Isn't the bunny so cute?

Here is Isabel goozing up Charley's basket.

Charley was up early Easter morning. We had to wake B up.

This is Chuck's Fur Real Kitty.
Isabel isn't sure about it.

Aren't they handsome? Especially
the crying baby. I swear, I was ready to leave Charley
at a truck stop that day.
That is Champ the dog.

How cute is the tutu from Aunt Lee?
And the magic wand? It makes this cool sound when you
turn it on.

And nary a seizure.