First day of school

I am taking tonight off.  I have settled into the couch and not moved for the last hour and a half.   Today was more emotionally draining than I thought it would be.  When I dropped child one off at school this morning I really didn't think I'd cry, but by the time I left the tears were falling. 
After school we talked all about her day.  She was so excited and had a
wonderful day.  I love hearing things from her perspective, and she loves having my undivided attention. 
Then at dinner tonight she discovered her first loose tooth.  She was so excited.  What did I do?  I started crying.  Yep, I lost it.  I'm not ready for her to grow up yet.  Of course my response startled her and she started to cry too.  I finally managed to convince her that Mommy was just being goofy and that everything really was o.k. 
I'm headed to bed soon, and I'm sure I won't have any trouble sleeping tonight.

A little nervous.  Is she checking her zipper?






















Taken the instant the vehicle pulled into the driveway!
"MOM!"

Tutorial- Chair back storage

Child 1's kindergarten teacher and I have known each other since I was little. She also happens to live down the road and isn't a stranger to Child 1. So I wasn't at all surprised when she asked me if I'd make some bags for the back of the K4 students chairs. The following is how I made them just in case you ever need one. These were made for 11 inch wide kid chairs, but I'm sure you could easily adjust the measurements for a bigger chair. Just at 2 inches to your chairs width make them as long as you like.
What you'll need- Half a yard of fabric, 12 inches of 3/8" elastic, Bias tape
First cut your pieces. You'll need- 1- 14 x 19, 1-14x10, 1-14x6. I added a decorative fabric over my bottom pocket because I didn't have enough to make the entire pocket.

If you have a serger serge the top edges on all 3 pieces. I attached my decorative piece at the same time. If you don't have a serger just zig-zag stitch the edges.

Now hem each edge. I folded them down about half an inch. For the largest piece of fabric this will be your casing.

I used a wider, more noticable stitch for the middle piece so the kids wouldn't have trouble finding the pocket since the fabrics matched.

Now feed your 3/8 inch elastic through your casing.

Next attach your smallest piece to your medium piece by sewing the bottom edges together. You don't have to worry about the raw edge because you'll be covering the sides and bottom with bias tape.

On the smallest piece measure 7 inches in from the side, draw a line from top to bottom here, and sew down the line to create two seperate pockets. I made sure to go over the top of the pocket a few times to reinforce it.

Now take your largest piece and measure eleven inches from the top on each side, and draw a line all the way across. Fold the top down to meet this line, and press with a hot iron to crease the top.
With the top folded down lay your top two pieces on top as shown in the picture, or if you plan to put bias tape around the bottom you can just attach all the raw edges. I HATE the possibility of any strings showing so I chose to flip the raw edges to the inside.

My fabric is a heavier canvas and the strings were really bothering me so I chose to run the edges through the serger. You don't have to do this, but I recomend stitching your sides together at this point so it's easier to put the bias tape on.

To finish it off just sew on the bias tape. Make sure you keep the back piece folded under, and pull the front pockets tight.

County Fair

Child 2 LOVES his John Deere tractors and books so when he heard we were going to the county fair he was really excited. Of course the only thing he cared about seeing were the tractors, but we also saw all the exhibits, animals, rides, and food.

AND I found these ADORABLE suspenders for Child 2 at a rummage for 25 cents!

Terrariums

The kids and I put together a few terrariums yesterday.  It never fails that projects that should be fun and relaxing turn into frantic chaos, but we did make some very cute plants for the kids rooms. 

By the way did you notice the kids faces? While I tried to take a shower they were supposed to be painting with water colors. I know, bad idea! They decided to paint each others faces!

All I could do is smile and take their pictures. I mean really, they are only little once!

Date night with my sweet little lady

With Child one going off to school in a few days I needed to get in some last minute one on one time. So tonight her and I will be picking up last minute school supplies, eating ice cream, possibly seeing a movie and then heading home AFTER bedtime. I love that sweet little munchkin!

I know posts are so much nicer when they included pictures so here is the most amazing flower I have yet to grow!

It's a dinnerplate hibiscus, and it is huge! Child 1 took these pictures for me, but I should have had her in one for a size comparison. More fun posts tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have some terrariums to show you!

Pretty little bird

Remember my cute little birds from the flea market? Well here's what I did with them.

I probably didn't need 3 pictures of these, but I thought they were cute. I spray painted the birds, super glued them to some tea saucers I had that were missing cups, and then glues magnets on the bottom of the saucers. They now beautifi (is that a word?) my desk and hold my pins and paperclips. Lovely!

Flea Market finds

I think I enjoy flea markets more than most people. There were so many wonderful things to look at. Of course I had to limit my purchases so that my wonderful husband allows me to go out again soon :) So here are a few of the things I enjoyed but didn't bring home with me.

I LOVE vintage toys!

And of course we found some cool fabric!
The lady I asked to take the picture of us digging through the pails of fabric thought I was really weird for not wanting a picture of us looking at the camera. I know she's probably right, but o'well.

We did stop at a few little quilt and fabric shops. I LOVED these Dr. Suess prints!

We enjoyed a quick kayak outing before heading home. I love being out on the water
Of course I didn't say no to everything I liked so here are the things I brought home.

This roll of paper is a little strange, but so COOL! I plan to use it for wrapping anything and everything!

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with these but for $1 I'll bring all 3 of them home and think about it. I'm pretty sure I've decided to make terrariums for the kids rooms.

These old needle holders will make cute sewing room decor. I just have to put it all together somehow....

I love unique ribbon and cheap lace.

This old box was cool in and of itself, but it was also FILLED with safety pins. I think I'll use the box as decor on my bulletin board.

You'll be seeing more of these cute little birds in an upcoming project.

The kitchen towel was to funny to pass up! It says, "Whisperred words beneath the Bower-Holding hands at some late Hour usually lead as you well know- to raising young ones Crops and dough.
I thought it would make an awesome bag.

What can I say I have a thing for weird old toys!

Kind of a bad picture, but this is the fabric I got. The brown and white piece is an old table clothe, but I'm going to turn it into a blanket. I love the soft feel of the fabric.

Again bad pictures, my camera isn't really working tonight. I think the flash is broke or something. This is the irresistable fabric I found. I love the girls swinging, but what really sold me is the tiny snail by the tree.

The last thing I bought was this old book for a quarter. Books seem to catch my eye for some reason. Here's one of the odd little poems I found in this one.

The Jellyfish                             

Odgen Nash                            

Who wants my jellyfish?

I'm not sellyfish.

If that's poetry that is worth being published maybe I should be a poet!