Colorado

It's been a while since I've updated! We finally left Georgia on the first of September, and we made the long trip across the country.

Leaving Georgia was hard for me. There are so many wonderful memories wrapped up in that little brick house...our first house, the birthplace of Mae, growing our family. I was so excited to start a new phase of our lives in Colorado, for sure, but it was not easy to leave my home.

Before heading to Colorado, we all drove up to Pennsylvania. The rental house that Jay found for us in Colorado doesn't allow pets, so our dog and two cats were going to stay with Jay's parents for the time being. We had a lovely time visiting them, and Pennsylvania was beautiful. Jay surprised me and took me to Lancaster County. He knew I had always wanted to visit, and we weren't sure when we were going to make it back to Pennsylvania, so he decided to take me this time. It was lovely, really lovely. I'm as addicted to technology as the next person, but I think I could fall in love with the simplicity of life without all of these gadgets.

One thing we found out on the drive to Lancaster County was just how much poor Mae hated riding in the car. We drove up from Georgia in the middle of the night, so she slept the whole time. But the hour long drive to Lancaster was not easy for my poor baby. After that trip, we decided that Jay would drive out to Arizona with his father and Zee, while Mae and I would catch a flight from Harrisburg to Phoenix. It was hard saying goodbye to our pets, but we knew it wasn't forever. I was worried how Zee would take it...Moose is her best friend.

Our visit to Arizona, to see my family, went as well as could be expected. My family can be somewhat volatile, but everyone seemed to be in good spirits for the most part. I was terribly stressed, so I was the one behaving badly. We had an early first birthday party for Mae, and it was great to see so many people come and show their love for us.

We finally headed up north to Colorado! We spent the night at my grandmother's cabin in northern Arizona, then we did the long drive from there to Colorado Springs. It was an interesting drive, but very stressful because of poor Mae. She was not pleased, to say the least. After 13 long hours of driving, we finally arrived to our new house...and no utilities! Jay had set up the utilities before he flew back to Georgia, but the utilities company never switched the account over to our name, so the utilities were turned off. So we spent the night camping out in our new house! And the utilities company promptly fixed the problem the next day, and the movers also showed up and delivered all of our stuff. And we have a lot of stuff! Too much!

Since then, I have slowly been unpacking, and we have been exploring Colorado Springs. We purchased a family membership to the zoo, and we've been USING it. We've taken the girls up the train to Pike's Peak (not the best idea we've had!), and we've driven around, getting a feel for the geography of our new town. Jay decided to get out of the military after all, so we will be leaving Colorado next spring. So I have a lot of stuff to pack into a few months! We did not take advantage of Georgia, and I learned from my mistake, and we're making the most of our time here in Colorado.

One new thing for me is snow. We had our first snow fall not long after arriving in September. What a shock! I did not care for it at first, but now after several snowfalls, I'm starting to really enjoy it. The beauty of the snow dancing and fluttering towards the grounds is something to behold. I might grow to love it after all!

We have been trying to find a new church home while we're here, and we tried a new church today. It was quite the experience! I loved the architecture of the church from the outside, so we decided to give it a try, not knowing that it was a gospel church. We really loved the service there, but...it was LOUD! Our ears were ringing for quite a bit of time afterwards. I think we'll go back next week...Jay actually really got into it, and that's the first time I've seen him truly ENJOY a church service in a long time. The pastor was great, very animated, and it was probably the first service where I didn't have to concentrate on keeping my focus on the sermon. I truly enjoyed it as well. And what was great...with all of that noise, it was okay if the girls made noise as well!

What I'm thankful for today: a warm home in a cold place, Mae learning to fall asleep without nursing to sleep, Zee being the funniest little girl imaginable, and Jay, without his love and support, I never could have done this move.

This and That, Copy Cat

Okay, that's from a Miss Pattycake song.... It just popped into my head!

This is just another story to demonstrate how darn sweet my Zee is! I decided that we could make some cake yesterday because I heard that you could use cake mix with soda. Instead of mixing all of the ingredients called for on the back of the box, you just pour in a can of soda instead, then bake as directed. I wanted to try out this theory, and I happened to have purchased a box of chocolate cake mix just for this purpose.

But...I couldn't find the mix anywhere. Zee asked me what I was looking for, so I told her I was looking for the cake mix. So she said, "Mommy, you can use my cake mix!" Then she ran out of the kitchen. I had no idea what she was talking about but thought, okay, she can go get her "cake mix" for me.

Then she came running back and said she couldn't find her cake mix either. So I continued searching and didn't think again about her mix. But a few minutes later, she yelled, "I found it!" And she came running to me...with her toy whisk.

She handed it to me so solemnly and said, "You can use my mix, Mommy."

And it just about broke my heart with the sweetness of it. Oh my...what am I going to do with that girl?! She has such a compassionate heart, and it makes my heart full to see it and experience it.

And May? She is just as sweet and cuddly as ever. She loves to snuggle and will sit on my lap all day long, if I allowed her to. She started walking about a month and a half ago, so she's quite busy and on the go. But I love how she takes time out of her day to love on whoever happens to be around. She is quickly creeping up on her first birthday, and I've been feeling very weepy. It's so bittersweet to watch my children grow.... I love this baby stage so very much, and I can't imagine ever being ready to leave it behind. But at the same time, I love watching my girls grow and learn and become their own little women. It absolutely amazes me to see such distinct personalities in my two little girls. I never realized the extent to which it was possible for my body to carry unique people. I guess I always thought of children as an extension of their parents, but I'm realizing more and more that's not the case. Jay and I can guide our children, but in the end, they are unique in all the world (isn't that a line from Le Petit Prince?). We can plant the seeds in them, but we can't make it grow.

All of this is really humbling to me, and it's definitely something I try to keep in mind while I raise my children. Because when the days are long and the frustration grows, I have to remember -- they are people too. And the most special people at that. I just hope that I can nurture them in all the ways they need to be nurtured, but also let them lead themselves when the need that freedom. It's really very hard work, especially when I want to hold them close forever.

Girl's Sundress Tutorial

Sooooo...this is my first ever tutorial, and I'm not quite sure how to go about it, so please forgive me if it's not exactly cohesive. And please feel free to tell me if I need to make any changes, or ask me if you have any questions. So, without further ado, here is my tutorial.

First, a few notes.
1. I'll try to make sure everything is labeled, but in case I forget:
a. All measurements are in inches.
b. The seam allowance (abbreviated SA) is always 1/2" with the exception of the gathering stitches.
2. I did not follow my own instructions and wash/iron my fabric, so it's kind of wrinkly in the pictures. Sorry!
3. I've really put a lot of work into the tutorial, so if you use it and post your finished dress, please give me credit =). That's all I ask!


Must Have Materials:

About 1 yard of washed and ironed fabric (I prefer lightweight 100% cotton prints, but it's really your choice)
Coordinating thread
Elastic thread
Scissors
Ruler
Buttons (about 5/8" in diameter; these go inside the dress, so purely functional, not decorative)
Iron
Ironing Board
Spray bottle filled with water
Hand sewing needle

Optional But Really Useful Stuff

Self-healing mat
Rotary cutter
Clear wide ruler
Extra bobbin
Seam Ripper (get friendly with it...if you're like me, you'll be spending a lot of quality time with it)
Straight pins
Water soluble fabric marker
Measuring tape
Chopstick (yes, you read that right)

Okay, I think I got it all!

Now let's get started! First, grab your kid and measure. A measuring tape is handy but not necessary. If you don't have one, or if you have kids (like mine) who squirrel away all of your earthly possessions, grab a string and use that, then measure it along a ruler when you're done wrapping up your kid with it.

Measurements:

A = chest measurement (at its widest circumference)
B = from armpit to desired waistline
C = from desired waistline to desired hemline
D = from chest over shoulder to shoulder blade (this will be the strap length)
E = desired strap width (about 1" is good, but you can go wider if you'd like)

Mathematics:

I know it's probably been awhile since algebra class, but finally your math teacher's predictions that you would indeed use algebra someday are coming to fruition. We are going to measure and cut our straps, bodice front, bodice back, and skirt, but we need your little one's measurements to figure it out. Here are the equations:

Straps (cut two):
D + 1" (add another inch or two if you want it to criss cross) = length
(2 x E) + 1" = width

Mae's dress: 3" by 10"

Skirt (cut two):
C + 2" = skirt length
(3 x A)/2 = skirt width

Mae's dress: 25" by 11"

Bodice Front (cut two):
A/2 = width
B + 1 = length

Mae's dress: 9" by 4"

Bodice back (cut two):
A - 2 = width
B + 1 = length

Mae's dress: 16" by 4"


That should leave you with this:



With right sides together, pin the two bodice back pieces together along the width. (Forgive me, but the fabric I used does not have right/wrong sides, so you can't see it in my pictures!)

I like to clump my work together, so I also pinned the straps at this time. Fold them in half lengthwise with right sides together, and pin along the length.

Top left are the straps pinned together, bottom left is the bodice back:



And you can also pin the skirt together now...with right sides together, place the two skirt pieces on top of each other. Pin the length of the skirt on both sides. These will be the side seams. One trick I learned from heirloom sewing is to sew in the same direction each time. So I pinned my skirt a little funky so that I will sew from the waist to the hem on both side seams.



Now, for the straps.... With a 1/2" seam allowance (SA), starting on the folded edge, sew one short end until you have 1/2" left, making sure the needle is in the down position. Lift the presser foot and pivot the material so that you will be sewing down the length with a 1/2" SA. Sew all the way to the end, leaving that short end open. It should look like this at one end (where you pivot):



And like this at the other end:



Do the same thing with the second strap. Next, cut the SA close to the seam:



Then turn the straps inside out. This is where the chopstick comes in handy. Mmmmmm, sounds like a good enough reason to order Chinese!



Press the straps, then topstitch all around (stitch really close to the edges).



Now, take one bodice front piece and lay it right side up. Place the straps where you would like them to lay (the inside edges of the straps are 3" apart on Mae's dress). Place the open end of the straps even with the top edge of the bodice piece.



Place the second bodice piece directly on top, right side down (so the two bodice pieces are right sides together). Pin in place, especially making sure to pin the straps in place.



With a 1/2" SA, sew along the edge where the straps are flush with the bodice top. It's hard to see in the picture, but the seam is at the bottom of the picture, NOT at the top where the straps are coming out.



With a 1/2" SA, sew along the length of the bodice back.



Press open the bodice front and the bodice back.



With right sides together and lining up the seams, place the bodice front onto the bodice back. Pin into place and sew with a 1/2" SA. These are the side seams. Press open the seams. The first picture only shows one side seam pinned, but make sure you do both. When it's done, it will look like the second picture because the bodice front is not as wide as the bodice back.





Now, fold the bodice down so wrong side are together and the straps are out. Press. This is the entire bodice top.



With a 1/2" SA, sew the skirt's side seams. I used my serger here, but your regular straight stitch will do fine here.



Adjust your stitch length to a basting stitch (the highest stitch length on your machine). Sew two rows around the top of the skirt, the first with a 3/8" SA and the second with a 1/4" SA. You can get away with sewing only one row, but I prefer two because it's stronger. It will look like this:



Pulling the bobbin threads, gather the fabric until the side seams match up with the side seams on the bodice. The bodice back is much longer than the bodice front, so match up the back first. Tie off the bobbin strings once you have the skirt gathered to the correct width.

Place the bodice top into the skirt, with right sides together. Match up the side seams and pin.



Adjust the gathers so they are spread evenly and pin, pin, pin. I like pinning. A lot. So I pin the heck out of my stuff. Turn your stitch length back to the normal length you use. With a 1/2" SA, sew the skirt to the bodice. When you turn it right side out, it should look like this:



Press the skirt with the bodice/skirt edge down towards the hemline. With the dress right side out, topstitch the skirt just below the waistline.





Starting just above the waistline, about 1/8" of an inch up, use a ruler and a water soluble fabric marker to mark even lines on the bodice back, from one side seam to the other. Continue marking rows up the bodice back in increments of 3/8" until you reach the top of the bodice. It's kind of hard to see because I used a blue marker on green fabric, but you can kind of get the idea:



Now, wind your extra bobbin by hand with elastic thread. Take care not to wind it too tightly or too loosely!



Remove the bobbin with your normal thread and replace it with the bobbin with elastic thread. Leave your regular thread in the needle, so when you sew, the top thread is regular, and the bottom thread is elastic.



With the right side up, starting at the line closest to the waistline, sew along the marked lines. Make sure you backstitch at the start and end of each row, and cut the threads between rows. It will start to gather and look like this:



The elastic thread will be on the inside of the dress bodice:



Head over to your ironing board and spray the bodice back. The elastic thread will shrink up and gather. Press with the iron on a hot steam setting to help it shrink. It will look like this when you're done:



Now hem your dress however you prefer.

Almost done!!! Mark where you want the buttons to be on the back bodice. I do this by lying the dress flat and putting the buttons about 1/2" in from the inside of the straps, on the second row of elastic from the top. This works well for criss-crossing the straps, but you might want to move the buttons just a tad further apart if you don't plan to criss-cross the straps.



Mark on your strap where you want to buttonholes, making them about 1/8" longer than the button's diameter, and stitch them. If you've never used your buttonhole feature before, PRACTICE on scrap fabric first! I'm still not great with mine, but oh well...I can get the job done. I place two buttonholes on each strap so it will be more adjustable. You can see them in the picture right above.

Last but not least, this is very optional, if you'd like, you can sew a ribbon around the waistline. Sew it across the bodice front from side seam to side seam so that it doesn't interfere with the stretch on the back bodice (otherwise you might have a hard time getting the dress on your kiddo). If you want, leave enough ribbon at the side seams to pull back and tie in a a bow in the middle of the back.


And voila! You are done, and you have made a lovely (if I do say so myself) sundress.

Here are some pictures of my cuties in their dresses:

Izziosyncracies

Funny Zee stories.

1. Came running to me yesterday and told me that her toy told her that she had to roast a marshmallow over the fire. So I told her to go roast a marshmallow then, and she got really indignant and said, "But princesses don't roast marshmallows over the fire!" Okay then.

2. Came up to me and announced that boys have peanuts and that Daddy and Cooper have peanuts. I said yes, they do (just because it's easier). She then got a very pensive, quizzical look on her face and asked, "What do you call it what we eat in the restaurant?" Okay, so it wasn't easier after all.

3. My lips have been extremely, painfully, inexplicably chapped lately, and I just bought some medicated chapstick. I was looking for my new chapstick and realized that I had accidentally left it in my pants pocket, and my pants were in the washing machine, so I said, "Uh oh!" Zee asked why I said that, so I told her. A minute later, she came running up to me and said, "I brought you my red chapstick!" I keep a strawberry-flavored Bonnebell chapstick in her bathroom, and she remembered and brought it to me! So kind and sweet. Proof that Jay and I are doing alright as parents.

4. Just got out of the shower, Zee, May, and me, and Zee was complaining about being cold. She always complains about being cold even though it's hotter than sin here. She was fussing and I told her that she didn't have to fuss, and she said yes, she did have to fuss. And I said no, she didn't have to fuss. And she said, "Yes, I do have to fuss. It's in my story!" Hahaha, way too much Super Reader on PBS! Zee is really starting to use logic, even if it's not correct logic.

/vl/njikghbnvubigfvvguy

Okay, that last line was Zee. She was checking her email =).

Thankful for God answering prayers, even if it's not the answer I wanted or asked for. God knows my heart better than I'll ever know, and He knows what is true and good, and I have faith in Him.

Honey Do....

Hahaha, this is a funny one!

Jay really has one consistent chore (that doesn't mean he only does one thing!), and that is to take the garbage to the curb on garbage day. Jay consistently forgets to do this chore. Inevitably one of two things happens come Wednesday morning, depending on my schedule: either I take the garbage down myself or I yell for him to ruuuuuun to get the garbage out as I hear the garbage truck passing by our house. It's usually the latter....

So today, I heard the familiar rumble of the garbage truck passing our house and I yelled out for Jay. He jumped up, and I went to check out the front window to see if it really was the garbage truck. And lo and behold, our garbage can is already on the curb! I ran to Jay and told him how sweet he was for remembering to put the can out last night. Awwwww, he remembered! But then he looked confused when I thanked him. He didn't remember putting out the can.... But he has a bad memory, so it's entirely possible that he just plain forgot he did it. I decided to go outside and make sure it was our can and not somehow a neighbor's misplaced (on purpose) can.

And I saw our neighbors dragging our can back up the cliff we call a driveway. They started laughing and saying they hoped we didn't mind. I said, "No, thank you for taking out our garbage!" And they said, "No, thank you for letting us use your garbage can!" Haha, they're in the process of moving and had too much garbage, so they needed another can. We keep ours out on the driveway, and they tried knocking to ask permission. I didn't hear the knock, so they used it anyway (which we, of course, don't mind). We had a good laugh over the mistaken garbage-taker-outer identity!


Things to be thankful for:

1. Small universities. I've experienced both small and large, and while small does have it's cons, the pros outweigh the cons by a mile. The personal atmosphere...nothing compares to it.

2. An unexpected hour to finish my homework sans kids. Now I have the afternoon and evening to spend with my family.

3. Homemade bread...soooo good! I don't really have anything to add to this =).

Sunday Morning

It's a beautiful day, and we need to fill it with something beautiful. We should be at church, but we're not because we're lazy and we're trying to spend as much time together as a family before we're split up in August. But I think we'll head to the craft store so I can get supplies to get started on a beautiful knitted afghan for sweet Mae. I have a gorgeous quilt in progress for Zee, but I'm having a hard time pulling out the sewing machine. It's too tempting, and I really don't have the spare time to work on crafts until school is over. Which is why knitting is the perfect craft...it's so portable! I have a quilt idea in mind for Mae too, but quilts take a long time. Well, they don't have to, but I like them to. I like to mull over it for a good long time before I even make the first fabric purchase. It's like growing a baby...the idea starts as a small seed then grows and grows. It takes time to come into itself. And that's all before buying even square of fabric. Only when the idea is born is it ready to dive into the actual making of the quilt. And it's a whirlwind of fabric choices, patterns, just getting to know the actual being of the quilt. And the actual construction is much like the toddler years...fast and frustrating. But when it's done, it's lovely. Perhaps that's why Zee's quilt is still in progress...because she is still in progress. It seems to be growing with her.

As for Mae's afghan...I'm excited to get started on it. It's a beautiful lacy pattern with a medium-weight yarn (hopefully I'll find some nice bamboo yarn so it will be so soft and silky...perfect for a soft and silky baby). I've never done lace-work, but I think I can handle it. I pray I can, anyway!

Anyway, I'm off to spend these precious few minutes with my family.

Thankful for Sunday mornings full of sun and warmth. They fill me with ideas and love and hope and pure joy.

More blessings....

1. Graduation. It's going to happen in just 7.5 short weeks! But it's so much more than just graduation...it's the support of those who love me and who have encouraged me, who have nourished my dreams from start to finish. I couldn't do this without every single one of them.

2. A little more time with J before he leaves. It might not be a lot, but I'm thankful for the little bits here and there. We will make the most of it. It's just now hitting me that he's leaving and that deployment is a very real possibility.

3. A beautiful home. To raise my girls in. To grow in, as a woman, a wife, a mother. To wrap its arms around my family and hold us together.

4. Moose. Who reminds me to let go and not worry about the mess, the fur, the accidents, but just to love freely, all-forgiving, over and over.

5. A milk-drunk baby with little cream droplets sliding down her chubby cheeks while she falls asleep at my breast. Because really, what on this earth is more perfect?