Ever have a week where the stars align & you can get a lot accomplished?

Well last week I had been thinking of an outfit to make for Bonnie. I bought this cute fabric while visiting my sister last month. So I got to thinking about making a dress and started looking on the internet at patterns. Then after a while search I remembered I had tons of magazines with patterns in them. I pulled out my Ottobre magazines and flipped through them. I found a cute jacket that I thought would look nice on Bonnie and so I traced out the pattern and began cutting. Figuring out what size she was in centimeters was probably the hardest part. Then the next day I began sewings. On Sunday I finished up her skirt. I had so much fun making this outfit.

Don't worry I'm not trying to protect her identity. Currently Bonnie is in a stage where she doesn't smile at the camera so I figured I wouldn't include the crusty look on her face. Bonnie loved the outfit and kept telling me she was a princess. Now I did think about shortening the skirt but then I remembered how she is always sitting improperly in skirts so I figured I'd keep it long. After letting her wear it on Sunday I do realize I need to tighten the waist just a little.

Then last night I finished out a project that was started many years ago. When I started it I didn't really know what I'd do with the embroidery. But then a few months ago I saw the two pieces and figured out what I'd like to do with them.

There is also this second wall hanging.


I hung these two wall hangings in the office/guest bathroom. I love the way they look and actually makes the small little room homey.

Other than that I spent the rest of the week being Mommy & house keeper. The first job I love the second I think I could do with hiring someone else to do the job!

The past few days

Friday Night:

Boise was a sweltering 75 degrees and 0% humidity.



But hey at least we've finally got them playing in the sprinklers!

Sunday:


My sad attempt to take a cute photo of the kids dressed nicely. I ask two things of them. First, sit still. Second, Bonnie hold Charlotte up. I don't think either request was heard.


Tuesday:


Charlotte contemplating if she'll smile at the camera.


Of course she'll smile. She always smiles for mommy!

The Kids

I've been wanting to do a little photo comparison of the kids for a while now. As little ones they all look so very much a like to me. But then that is my opinion, just like I think they are all the cutest babies in the world. I'm allowed to feel that way, I'm Mommy.

We begin with Bonnie Jean.


Hands down Bonnie had the biggest cheeks of all the kids. Look at those adorable kissable cheeks.

Now to Mr. Chas.



His top is so correct - he stole my heart. To this day Chas is still our smiling little character. Jay described him as a cute stuffed animal - you just want to hug and make him giggle all the time.

Now to sweet little Charlotte.



Charlotte isn't as old as the other two kids are in their pictures. She is our long skinny little girl who has exploded with smiles all the time. I am so amazed how much she adores he siblings & parents. When I get her up in the morning she is just ready to smile & brighten everyone's day.

Thrifting and Such

On Tuesday my sister watched the two older kids. So that meant it was just Charlotte and me for the day. This is usually my day to get a lot of work done (for the office) because I'm not interrupted.

After dropping off the kids at my sisters I thought I'd hit a thrift store. I've been dying to go thrifting but with three kids it just isn't something I can do on my own. Here are a few things I found.


This first record was the biggest score of the day. Bonnie was so excited when she saw it she ran around for a bit screaming Scooby-Doo!


A few more for the record stack. I had fun trying to get the kids to sit still for photos. I know so silly of me.


I found this record and neither Jay or know who the musician is but we both loved the cover. I figured the cover was worth the 50 cents I spent.



The cross stitched chairs were not thrifted. I finished up the green cross stitch chair earlier this week. I hit the fabric store and picked up five hoops. I am thinking I'll use the other two hoops to put some fabric in. I'm planning on hanging the three chairs in our bedroom. I've been thinking of doing the cross stitch for a while I just hadn't gotten around to it. I started the blue chair after I had Charlotte as a way to get myself to sit still so I could heal. How silly I had to find something to keep me still.

Last and not least a cute photo of Charlotte.

Baby Gift

This past Labor Day I decided to not do anything and just sew. It had been a busy weekend with all the family that was in town and Charlotte's Blessing. Plus I threw a dinner for everything, something I never thought I'd ever do in my life. But heck I did it.

So Monday arrived and I decided no cleaning and no working - I was going to sew. For the second time since Charlotte arrived and my mom left everything seemed to work out and I was able to sew!!

I made a burp cloth, flannel blanket, and a matching onsies for my friend. My friend and her husband are having their first kid in December and they are just so excited.


I also like this photo because Charlotte's foot made it into the photo.

Well it's finally quiet at my house. I've been up way to much the past two nights with Charlotte. Then this morning she cried for two hours and we finally went on a car ride to get her to sleep. So I'm going to collapse on the couch and maybe get 30 mins of sleep. Then I need to furiously clean the house (really just do dishes and fold laundry.) Ugh. Wish me luck.

September 11th

My sister got me thinking about what today is (along with the flag in our front yard). I don't think I've ever written my experience down so here goes. This is a really rough draft.


Jay and I had gotten up early that day so I could get to school and work on a paper for school. I was attending Baruch College. I was in the building on 2th and Lexington. Jay I think was around 47th Street at his office building.

The computer room was really empty that morning. I over heard someone saying that someone had a bomb but I didn't know where and I didn't know anything. I took the elevator down to the first floor where there was a big projector and TV. On the screen there was some news on it and I saw a lot of darkness (I think it might of been debris) and a lady reporting but I couldn't tell where this was. I was starting to get a little nervous (which is never a good thing in my family, it usually amounts to a lot of bathroom visits). I walked into the lobby and heard a lady talking loudly, our school was a voting place and the city was voting for something that day. Again I was totally confused as to what the heck was happening.

I left the building and walked over to Lexington Ave. I turned my head left and looked down the street (south) and saw a small strip of black smoke floating through the otherwise beautiful sunny day.

Instantly my stomach started to gurgle but I told myself there was no time for bathroom breaks. I needed to figure out what the heck was going on, and I thought to myself scary things don't happen in cities I live in. This can't be happening.

I tried calling Jay on my cell. I couldn't get through to him at all. So I walked over to a drug store and bought a camera and was able to get some quarters to call Jay on the pay phone. I got some quarter and walked back to the school and used the pay phone. Finally I got a hold of Jay and he said, "Ready to go home." I'm pretty sure I choked out a yes, I can't remember. I told him I was walking to his building because I had overheard the subways were not working. At this point the towers had not collapsed but both planes had hit the buildings.

I started walking north to Jay's office and taking pictures randomly. At one point I could see that the Empire State building was blocked off by a police car (this was from my angle - there could of been more cars). I took another street and ended walking through Times Square. I was walking and wasn't stopping for anything. People were crowed on the streets (they were either looking south at the buildings or could see what was unfolding on a TV screen). I heard everyone gasp, but I couldn't bring myself to turn around. I was really too scared to see what was happening.

I finally made it to Jay's building but they wouldn't let me enter. I called him and told him I was there. But I ended up waiting an hour or two before he could get down. There was no cell service at all (the cell phone towers had been on the World Trade Center).

While I was waiting I could hear planes flying overhead. I didn't know if they were going to crash or not. It didn't occur to me at the time that all planes had been grounded and it was American fighter jets that I was hearing. I swear every time I heard a plane flying overhead my heart stopped and I held my breath. I kept thinking they wouldn't want to crash into Jay's building or that they were going to crash in Times Square. All I could think was, am I far enough away from Times Square that if a plane did crash Jay and I would be able to get out ok.

Finally Jay arrived at the doors of his building and was able to let me in. I was relieve to see him and I think I finally cried a little. We went up to his floor, he worked a level below or above some of our friends Eric and Bryce. After I dumped my school bag on the floor Jay took me to the stairwell of the building. Now I don't like stairwells since my Mom and I were locked in one when I was kid (a story for another day).

Jay looked at me and said, "Did you know the towers collapsed?" I looked at him stunned and couldn't figure out an appropriate response. I was shocked. Things like this didn't happen in America.

After a while Jay, myself, Eric, and Bryce decided we needed to head home. I sent an email out telling family we were safe but looking back I'm pretty sure people weren't checking their emails that day. We all stood together before we left and said a prayer.

We then began trekking it home. We walked over the Queens Bridge (or I think it is also called the 59th Street Bridge). We were lucky because we lived in Queens and not Brooklyn. I'm not sure how anyone was able to get past the towers to get home. From the bridge we could see the collapsed buildings and smoke in the air. One of my biggest memories was how the smoke was such a huge contrast to the blue sky.

Once we were on the other side of the bridge we decided to try to catch a train. Luckily they were working and we were home within a half hour.

At some point that day we were able to get a hold of our parents and tell them we were fine (I really don't remember when that happened).

On Thursday school was back in session. At Baruch you were only allowed to miss something like 3 days of class and if you missed more than that they kicked you out of the class. Being a rule follower I never missed class. So on Thursday afternoon I came out of Spanish class. Right across the street from the building is a big armory. The city had decided to use this as the place to report missing people.

I remember seeing the huge mass of people and at the same point the wind changed direction and I could smell the burning buildings. I started to tear up and headed home.

Once home I called my mom and cried on the phone. She said she had been worrying about me but was still unable to get through to me on the telephone. I told her how seeing all those people looking for loved ones brought it all home. I couldn't believe what had happened. For a solid two years after the collapse of the towers I always told Jay I loved him before we parted. I wanted him to always know how I felt about him because I never knew if another desaster would happen and maybe this time I wouldn't see him again (I know over dramatic but that is what I did).

Today I hug my kids and husband and little tighter because I am thankful for all that I have.

Some things just have to happen

My sister's family had the headstone arrive for Calvin's burial site in the cemetery. It looks wonderful and reminds us just how much love he had to spread throughout his family and friends. We sure do miss him.

So anyway go check it out. The headstone looks great.

Have a wonderful weekend.

the elephants

I realized I never shared the elephants I made. I made these probably in 2007 before Chas was born. That was back when I had oodles of spare time (mainly because I neglected house work). Now with three rug rats I have so little time for sewing. These old projects always lift my spirits.


I made this cutie for a friend's little baby.



I also made this one for another friend's baby. I had such a blast making these. I also enjoyed using cute fabrics on this one. The elephants were made with Alexandar Henry prints and the blankets on the back of the elephants using Fair Market Fabric.

Family

It seems everyday our family grows. Not just my kids but my bigger family. I married Jay & my family doubled. But we have births & marriages as the family continues to grow. Yesterday we blessed Charlotte & we had the most family I've ever had at a blessing. It was just so wonderful. We had my parents, my sister Suzanne & her family, and Mike & his fiancee Allison. We took up an entire row - it was impressive. Jay's parents were there, his sister Jill & her family, his sister Heather & her kids, and then we had Jay's sister-in-law in town from Okinawa. Ok Rachel was here to take her daughter Rebekah to college but they stayed for the blessing. It was just so absolutely wonderful.

Charlotte did so wonderful being passed around from person to person and rarely sitting in my arms. She could hear my voice but couldn't find me. It was just a wonderful day.
Charlotte fast asleep for a little while after church.

Two Months

It's hard to believe it's almost been a month since I last posted. It's not because I don't' have anything to say it's mainly because my hands are always busy doing something. Having three kids to care for seems to find me busy all day long.

What I can't believe is that it's been 2 months since Charlotte arrived in our world. She has really adapted well to living in a crazy family with a very crazy mama.


Not to mention she survives being loved by her siblings.


Last Friday I was able to sew for maybe the second time since Charlotte's birth. I didn't really do a whole lot besides attach the stars to my Christmas table runner. I started the table runner last Christmas but ran out of steam once I finished all the Christmas presents & Bonnie's Christmas dress. I really like how it is coming together myself.


Then I bought this other Christmas panel. It is super cute and I bought more fabric to match it. I have no clue as to what I'm going to make but I'd love to have a Christmas quilt to have to snuggle under during December & Christmas morning.