Upcycled

I have become quite fond of the Goodwill in the next county over (The one we had here closed several years ago... Poo!). When I find myself with nothing to do on a Saturday morning, a sewing machine calling my name, and absolutely no material to use, Bunny, her papa, and I mosey on over. We scour the racks and racks of clothes, hoping to find that perfect piece. I can usually spot the good ones without even pulling them out, but The Hubs is still learning what the different fabrics and fibers look like. He walks around and randomly grabs a hanger to check the tag on whatever he thinks looks good. Bunny usually likes to ride in the buggy, and sort through the pile. On this day however, she had a bit of extra energy to run off. And with a nearly empty store, I was inclined to oblige her.

We have decided that, since we have a large selection to choose from, we will be very picky and only select 100% wool (or cashmere if we are lucky). We actually end up with quite a large pile in our buggy. At the end of our search, we sort back through all of our finds and only keep the best.

Once home, I decide what piece I want to work with.

I lop off the sleeves.

Using a pair of well fitting pants as a template, I mark were the inseam should be.

I splice down the seam (leaving a couple of extra inches at the top for the waistband).

I pin and sew the two leg pieces together.

Then I fold down and sew the waistband, and insert the elastic.

I also like to use the chest piece of the sweater.

Trim it up and sew, making it into a dress for Bunny.

I have to say that this is my favorite outfits of Bunny's. She gets lots of compliments on it.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

It IS so sad....

 "It's so sad. Everything is gone," sighed a playschool boy, after he had begged and begged to run ahead into Poppaw John's garden.  I am sure memories of berries, warm and sweet. Of bite size tomatoes and crooked carrots. Of green beans and sweet peas eaten off the vine. Of pumpkins peeking out from behind massive leaves....had prompted his desire to hurry to the garden. He was so sad when he saw.... nothing.  Just sticks, dried leaves, straw and nothing else. 

He was right, it IS so sad......

Unless you know where to look.

And there, buried deep, in the mud and the muck.... Hope.

The garden isn't gone. It is simply resting and soon.... very soon, it will produce an abundance of

Joy!

red stained mouths and hands full of strawberries

children running here and there, unsure where to start first

the look of awe as they pull on some green and out comes a carrot

watching their own pumpkins grow from green to orange

feeding the dried sunflower seeds to the birds

Pure Joy!

Until then, we wait. And we remember. We breath in deeply and go back... just for a moment. Soon.

An Enchanted Childhood Playschool ~ January 9th-27th ~The Letters L, M & N

L is for......

Lion!!!

M is for...

Marsupial!!  (One family has Sugar Gliders and loaned us a book, pouches, and lots of fun ideas!

The Mitten!!

One of our favorite books!

And Muffins!!

We read If You Give a Moose a Muffin and sang Do You Know the Muffin Man!

Mmmmmmm!!!!!

 N is for....Nocturnal!

Linked to~

Virtual Book Club for Kids

A Birthday Surprise

Yesterday, The Hubs and I were finally able to have our Birthday Day Away.  (Our birthdays are January 10th--YES, we share a birthday!)  We had a wonderful day, eating and shopping at IKEA, just the two of us, while Bunny had a day with Nana.

While out for the day, we were able to get a sneak peek at our joint present (still under construction).  Seeing it makes it even harder to wait for our gift to be delivered in early July.  Do you wanna see a picture of our gift?

Children are gift from the Lord! Psalm 127:3

Stats~

*We are 17 weeks pregnant.
*Baby's estimated due date is July 2nd.
*Which should mean the baby will be here by mid July (Bunny was 7-11 days past EDD).
*We are planning a home birth with My Ruth, a sweet, experienced midwife.


The day before the ultrasound, we tried a few of the "gender predictor" type tests.

*The Chinese Gender Predictor said GIRL (ha! It said "boy" with Bunny.)
*The Ole Ring on a Thread over both tummy and wrist both said BOY
*The Ole Needle on a Thread over both tummy and wrist both said BOY
*The Pee in Baking Soda (yes we tried that too) said BOY (slight fizz...)
*Brother-in-law (who's never been wrong) said BOY
*A solid, landslide majority of family (who voiced an opinion) said BOY (except my dad who held strongly to GIRL)

So we went into the gender scan thinking we might have an idea of what we were having. It was beyond words how wonderful it was to see our healthy, beautiful, precious baby.....

GIRL!!!!!!!!

Our baby, Squirrel, was very active and bounced up and down for about half of the ultrasound. Even so, we managed to get a clear view of her bottom.

We made the gender announcement at our family's Sunday evening dinner.  Family members were given a choice of a cupcake or cookie and when they bit into them, the baby's gender was revealed!

 Thank you, Pinterest!

With two little girls, we will probably be seeing a lot of pink over the next few years. Bunny is very happy to have a Tiny Baby in Mama's belly. She is going to be such a little mama, and teach her little sister everything she needs to know. I wonder what kind of things they will do together. They will be quite a pair. I am very excited for the many adventures of Bunny and Squirrel.

Wonderfull (Full of Wonder) Wednesday

Really?  Could anything be more wonderfull than a tent for the "Twin Cousins"?!?!

Underwear Are Fun To Wear

We introduced the idea of the potty to Bunny late this summer. I would take her to sit on it a couple of times a day, just to get her used to the idea. Sometimes she would pee, sometimes she wouldn't. It was all very casual. Around Christmastime, she started saying, "Pee potty!" and getting more and more interested.

The the week after Christmas (I had a few days off), I decided it was time to get serious. I took her every 30 minutes. If she didn't pee, I would take her again in 15 minutes. We still had wet diapers about half of the time, but she was starting to catch on. The next week she had a mild backslide. With doing full time daycare there were a lot of thing to distract (her and me) from remembering to potty. We slowly got back on track.

We ordered some Little Comet Tails Trainers (cloth pull ups). The go up and down like undies, but still have the snaps for big messes. We ordered smalls, but they made Bunny look like a plumber, so we got some mediums. I started saying corny things like, "Underwear are fun to wear!" and "Push out the pee so we can get a potty treat!". We buy Annie's Organic Fruit Snacks and gave her one anytime she pottied. This is the only time she gets them, so she thinks they are a great reward.

(Disclaimer: I know some people don't like using food as rewards, but I am not too concerned that she will develop an eating disorder from potty treats. She is already forgetting to ask for one most of the time anyway.)

Over the last week and a half, she has started telling us she has to go. We put her in dresses and no undies at home, and she just runs off to her little potty when she has to go. When she is done she yells, "Pee potty!" and we go and help her wipe and dump her little potty. She is very independent about it, and loves to tell people about her great feat.

We haven't had a pee accident in a few day, and haven't had poopy pants in over two weeks (Thanks, God). She is still in diapers at night, but other than that, she is pretty much potty independent. I still remind her (or even have her sit to try) every now and then if she hasn't gone in a while, and I know she will still have accidents sometimes, but I am very excited that she has come so far in such a little bit of time.

(Pics to come!)