Just finished sewing this little beauty today. I remember having a favorite shirt or two when I was 8 that my mom had made for me. Imagine my delight when I found the very pattern in Mom's sewing box a few months ago! She let me take the pattern, and here it is--real retro in all its glory. It's so fun to see my own daughter wear something I made from the same pattern my mom used for me when I was little. Mom had traced the pattern from somewhere, so there were no instructions at all--just the pattern pieces traced in pencil and a few hand-written markings. I think I'll be making another one soon!

Back to sewing! Here is the dress I made for Annie for Easter. We went to my parent's house for Easter weekend, and I hadn't had time to finish the hem on the skirt. I worked on the hem in the car on the way, and finished it just before the Easter Bunny hopped away. The skirt is a swiss dot print, and the sash is satin. I thought it turned out really cute, and Annie loves to wear it. Don't know why she wouldn't smile, though.

I made this little shirt for Annie, and it turned out so cute that I bought more fabric to make another one. The next one is blue with little white flowers, and I'm going to try changing the pattern for buttons in the back instead of a zipper. This pattern can also be made into a dress, which I'd like to do as well. I made Annie an Easter dress, too, which was my first effort at sewing using a pattern (and actually finishing it.) The dress turned out cute, too, and we get complimented on it almost everytime she wears it. The dress is pink with white polka dots, with little gathered sleeves and a gathered skirt, and has a wide ribbon going all the way around the waist. I even made a matching purse! I've tried sewing in the past (clothes) and have never really been patient enough, but for some reason am really enjoying the creativity and the challenge of it now. All I want to do anymore is sew! I'd try to sew for myself more, too, if I wasn't getting so darn fat and hard-to-fit...

April snow

Remember how excited I was for my weeping cherry tree to bloom in April? WELL!

She's the cutest little birthday girl on the planet! Annie just turned 4 years old. We invited 2 little cousins over for a tea party, and they were all adorable in their dress ups. Each brought a doll as a guest. The girls were determined to enjoy themselves to the max, and didn't want to stop until the food was gone. Emalee(cousin) kept saying "This is wonderful!" and "This is fun!" The girls got to use real glass plates and cups, and the dolls each had their own mini cup and saucer. The girls had little tea pots to pour water for the dolls, and I poured juice for the girls. I'm pretty sure Annie will insist on this tea party becoming a birthday tradition. By the way, it's AWESOME to be able to do girly things with my daughter!!!!

By the way, be a good sport!

Josh, my 9-year-old, put this sign on his door a while ago. Eventually he got tired of no one knocking before they came in, so he taped thumb tacks to his door knob--sharp side out--along with the sign. Do you think that after ignoring the first part of the sign and grabbing the knob, you should be a good sport about your hand getting skewered?

Jacob's Surgery

The deed is done! The surgery was on February 27th. The first photo was taken in pre-op, when Jacob was being silly with his hair net. He thought it was pretty funny until he saw what he looked like in the picture, then he took it off and wouldn't put it back on--even when the doctors asked him to as they wheeled him away. I wonder if they had to do it after he was asleep? The lower pic was taken on the way out to the car. The nurse pushing the wheel chair was the nurse who helped us throughout the recovery period, which was about 3 hours. She was awesome! About the surgery...it was horrible! I hope I never have to go through that again, especially considering this was only a "minor" surgery! It gives me a new respect for my brother and his wife, who have had to go through major cleft palate surgery with their son (who is a year older than Jacob) several times. Anyway, Jacob is fully recovered, and we are just waiting another week for the swelling in his nasal passages to go completely down. His voice is SO different!