Convention/Vacation

Four days of convention followed by six days of vacation in Ohio makes for one messy house, three piles of laundry, six papers to quickly read, 214 e-mails (mostly to delete), tall grass, lonely cats and weary me. I shall return.
Peace

Sweet Al's 1st Birthday

We had a birthday/Father's Day celebration at the Anderson's home on the lake. Tubing, swimming, friends, family, cake. Great fun.

Brothers, cousins and friends (and this picture shows only part of them!)

Cake or cookie?

Happy Birthday, Little Buddah.

Peace

Bubbles!

Why did it take this long for Tommy and Nate to discover the big bathtub? I'm not sure, but I'm fairly certain they will never be satisfied with the little tub ever again.

Paul and Alex, getting ready to walk any time now . . .

Peace.

Paul's Baptism

I'm a little behind, once again. But here are some pictures from Paul's baptism:

Will and Sarah are his godparents (thanks to a little dispensation from Father Todd -- godparents are to have "completed their 17th year" -- Will's not quite there, but I think it was a goodwill parting gesture on Father's part.)

He was so good, and barely fussed

I'm not sure what Nate thought of the whole thing, with all the prayers, ritual and good-smelling oil all over Paul's head, but he was a good sport. And then we had a nice dinner at our house together. It was a beautiful day all around.

Paul's outfit (made with fiddly satin -- my poor old sewing machine did not like this fabric. I hope his baptism still counts even if his mimi cussed over this little suit!) The buttonhole setting doesn't work anymore either (along with the bobbin winder) so I did them by hand --it's been a long time since I did that! Where did I get the buttons? From my mom's tins, of course!

He was baptised in the gym, where we have been having mass, because our church looks like this:

They are putting in new carpet, new wiring, new sound and the pews are being refinished. It's sad that Father Todd got all this going in preparation for our big anniversary next year, and now won't be around to enjoy it.

peace

A little handywork

Dishtowels, for a wedding shower this weekend:

Crafty

The Giveaway really inspired me to get busy, so here are a few of the things I made the past week:

More baby onesie dresses

Someone asked about a pattern -- I just made this up myself after seeing some on Etsy, but I bet there is a tutorial out there somewhere.

It's pretty easy -- you just measure out the width of the fabric 4X the width across the waist of the onesie (ie: onesie=8" wide, fabric=32") and however long you would like the skirt to be, accounting for hem and ruffle. Stitch the back seam of the skirt and gather the top (in two sections). Mark both the skirt and the onesie at the sides and in the middle of the back and front in order to keep the gathers even, and draw a line with a washable fabric pen through these marks on the onesie. With right sides together and following the line, pin the skirt to the onesie. Stitch, hem and you are done.

Then I made this journal cover as a graduation gift:

I bought the fabric and pattern at CraftTown in Salem a few weeks ago, along with my first Amy Butler fabric and pattern -- I am anxious to get started on that. Here is the inside, complete with a zippered pocket, which was much easier than I expected:

I have a baby quilt and a tote bag in the works, but need to put those aside to finish Paul's baptism outfit.

These were kindergartner's Mother's Day presents. Another idea I Stumbled upon and an awesome recycling project. Sharon and I spray painted big vegetable and fruit cans that the cookers saved for us, and I drilled holes in the sides for the handles. Then we had the kids sit on them to flatten them out a bit and gave them strips of paper and lots of watered down glue to decoupage. They added an "I Love You" cut with the Cricut (the world's best Valentine's present!) and the next day, they beaded the handles and attached those. Sharon had them write a short paper about why they loved their moms, and they slipped those inside. They came out pretty cute, I think! They could be wall or door pockets, or just a catch-all in the kitchen or on a desk.

I also used the Cricut to cut out words for the main bulletin board -- the kids wrote short papers on what they were going to do for the summer, then made flip flops after tracing their feet and beading pipe cleaners.

And a picture of Paul, just because.

Peace.

Giveaway Winners

Well, that was fun! The May Day Giveaway sponsored by Sew, Mama, Sew! is over, and the winners here are Elizabeth Kay (baby dress) and Sandra from Thistle Cove Farm (buttons). The thought of putting all those names in a hat was a bit overwhelming; I was so glad to see a mention of random.org on another blog -- a much easier way to choose a winner.
And in comments this morning, I had a note that I had won a giveaway, as well -- a beautiful patriotic bunting from girlville!
I know I didn't get through half the giveaway blogs, but I saw some wonderful things and got some great ideas. And I'm trying to visit the blogs of those who commented here -- it's just that I start reading blogs and get wrapped up in the crafts, patterns, pictures, stories -- there is so much great stuff out there in blogland.
Now that school is over, I'm turning my summertime thoughts to home improvements (although I should first catch up on laundry!) This week, I'm also working on Paul's baptism outfit, a speech for convention and family reunion plans. Home improvements may take a back seat.
Peace.