7 posts tagged “girls”
We returned this evening from a lovely weekend away at Williamsburg and Jamestown. We go down to that area once or twice a year, but this was the first time we've gotten there with just the two of us since our honeymooon in 1988! We had a lovely trip, but what really struck me was the excavation at Jamestown. We listened to one of the archaeological volunteers describing...
Okay, so that's the blog entry I began in mid-November! Lots of stuff happening since then:
1. We did indeed travel to Jamestown for a wonderful little getaway.
2. Katie played the part of an Indian in the Waynesboro Children's Theatre production of Peter Pan. She had a blast, did a great job, and is looking forward to returning next year. Her dream gig: staying in the theatre until she's a senior in high school, by which time the rights to Wicked would be released, and she could play Elphaba.
3. In the middle of tech week (which required me, as a member of the costume committee, to be at 4.5 hour rehearsals every night), I made a business trip to Detroit. It was so freakin' cold; I never want to move there. Great trip, though. I had a blast using a GPS for the first time, as well as visiting some really great toy stores. The end result means major changes to the structure of the game night program, which in turn means that I will have some job changes with the new year. A lot of the busywork that has been mine will be doled out to a handful of people. None of it is overwhelming for anyone, but combined together, it will mean more time for me to work on actual marketing and design ideas, as well as more time with the family during family hours.
4. I've been knitting and spinning. I received a HitchHiker spinning wheel as an early Christmas gift from my darling husband! Her name is Lucy, and we love each other very much already. I've attended a couple of Ravelry meetups, and met some new fiber friends, as well as visiting a local fiber guild which meets monthly. I've knitted a Monster Hat for Emilee, and am working on one for Rachel. I'm also working on a pair of plain ol' green socks, and will shortly begin a lovel pair of handwarmer fingerless gloves.
5. We finished our homeschooling "semester" and had our review, which went just fine. Nothing big about that, other than I'm always amazed at how much progress our girls make over the months, and I love seeing how their interests grow and change.
6. We (okay, Chris) worked with the younger girls to move around their rooms and sort through their stuff. He's the most fabulous all-daughters dad you could ever imagine. Not many guys have the patience to wade through boxes and bins and baskets of Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, Barbie, Polly Pocket, Pirate dress-up, odds and ends toys, and a gazillion books. But he did it, and they all helped. We purchased a bunch of lime green bins (to match two of their walls), and two big white shelves, and they now have all sorts of space for their stuff to be put away, which is a Wonderful Thing.
7. We've done all our Christmas shopping, and Rachel (God bless her!) wrapped nearly ALL of it for me! I have never been this far ahead, this early! Tomorrow morning, the last of the need-to-be-shipped stuff goes out. This week is pretty empty, so I'll be taking the girls shopping, wrapping their stuff, and figuring what we might do for a Christmas dinner.
8. Chris' brother and his family (two cousins the same ages as Rachel and Katie) have always come up for Christmas week. In the past couple of years, as the kids get older, they've spent more time camping out at our house with our girls, instead of hanging out at Grandma's. They're not coming up this year, so Christmas week will be quite different. I've invited my dad over on Christmas day, as well as Chris' mom, but don't know if they'll make it or not. We'll see!
9. We had a great holiday family party with my dad and two brothers and my sister-in-law. My mom sent up all the dinner fixins', and my brother and SIL cooked it all. I barely had to lift a finger! I was supposed to bring deviled eggs, and Rachel and Katie took care of that, even. It was a very nice, relaxing day.
10. I'm looking forward to a girls' night out on Tuesday. A bunch of old friends from our old religious group are getting together at Borders for coffee and chatter. I can't wait!
This week has been full. Chris continues to work around the house, mostly in the yard and outside... fixed the gutters, cutting off the big ugly pole that held up a horizontal drain spout from our porch to the road. Gone! Instead, nice against-the-house and along-the-ground spouting, like normal people have. Yay!
We got a steal of a deal on a display lawn shed from Lowe's, and so today he worked on leveling out a spot to rebuild it. Took today off, and is taking off tomorrow to get it re-assembled.
Enjoyed watching some movies with various members of the family over the past few days... Breach (good story) Short Circuit (fun to see those 80's props), Bridge to Terabithia, (so sad, and now we're reading the book) Because I Said So (dumb, so dumb), and Dreamgirls (really good, and Jennifer H. *so* deserved her Oscar!). While doing that, I finished spinning the brown merino, and got it plied with the pretty ice blue, and set the twist tonight.
Katie is at camp with a friend. I miss her, although the house is much more quiet! I hope she's having a good time. I've been writing to her and thinking of her often through the day. I've got some print jobs coming up for work, and I also continue to de-clutter, sort, pack up for our yard sale (July 20-21), and otherwise try to make sense of all the stuff around here!
The weather wasn't the most cooperative at first. Tropical Storm Andrea stood just off of the coast, threatening, but not worsening. It made the surf much too rough for anything more than wading, and that was after two full days of a "don't get in the water at all" advisory! The water was cold, as expected at this time of year, but with outside temps in the high 50's... well, not very beachy, to say the least. So we visited Norfolk, with its lovely harbor and Naval ships. We swam in the hotel pool. We walked and explored and enjoyed being somewhere other than home.
The kids (nine in total!) got along very well for the most part, and it was so exciting to see them playing in the sand and surf for hours, all ages mixing and laughing and helping each other in whatever project they were doing at the time.
By Thursday, the weather was nice enough to play in the sand for the day, although the kids still couldn't go much past their knees without really being knocked around by the waves. Boy, did they play!!! For several hours, they all dug and built and wrote in the sand.
Friday, it was a repeat, but the weather was gorgeous!!! It was a perfect day... cold water (so no wave jumping, really), but safe enough to boogie board and spend a long, long time in the surf. When they tired of the water, they began to build a big hole, which then got deeper and deeper... and another hole began... and they decided to connect the two. It became an exploration of engineering, as they realized that the pitch of the horizontal tunnels weren't matching up. They needed to manipulate the holes up/down to make them connect. They did it! As you can see, the holes were deep enough to hide small children! What a blast they had.
We're home for two days, while C is at his 20-year college reunion. On Monday, we head to Lancaster, PA for five quick visits: Wilbur Chocolate Candy Museum, Art of the Brick (LEGO) at the Lancaster Museum of Art, Intercourse Pretzel Factory,
Intercourse Canning Company, and Herr's Chips. It should be a fun, short trip - just one night, but we're staying at Willow Valley, which has a really cool indoor pool with a slide, fountains, and other fun stuff for the kids to enjoy on Monday evening.
Meet Simplicity 3725. We're changing some things. We have something most similar to the top left, but with the skirt drape from the bottom left. The bodice, sleeves, and drape are all made from a floral fabric, while the main skirt is a solid brick red that matches the floral print.
Additionally, this pattern is a single-piece dress that zips up the back. We changed that to a two piece style, top and bottom, so she has more room to grow. I used the skirt pattern to make a simple elastic waist pull-on skirt with the drape permanently sewn on. (That part is done, yeah!!!) For the bodice, Katie REALLY wanted the front to lace up like the Ft. Frederick dresses... so I skipped the zipper in the back, cutting the whole back in one piece instead of a left and right half.
I cut the center inset front piece wider than it should be, so once the bodice is pieced together, I can slice it up the center, turn in the edges, and put grommets or other little hand-stitched something to lace through up the front. I'll hem the bodice instead of attaching it to the skirt, and she'll wear a little tank top (or we'll figure out a little stomacher insert of some kind) so no one can see her skin between the lacing.
I'll post pics of our dress as soon as it's done. Skirt is finished, bodice is cut and pinned a bit. I'll probably finish sewing it tomorrow night, and she's planning on wearing it this Saturday, at the Museum Ramble at our local Hager House. They're having a small French & Indian festival, with kid activities. I'll be at Maryland Sheep and Wool, but Chris is planning to take the girls.
Next week brings an impromptu trip to Virginia Beach. We're staying just east of Norfolk, about 15 minutes from the beach. Two bedroom suite with kitchenette, indoor pool, and great weather. It should be a great week away, with another homeschooling mom and her kids. Then home for next weekend (while Chris is at his 20-year college reunion), and then a two-day trip to Lancaster, PA, where we'll visit Wilbur Chocolate, the Lancaster Museum of Art (with Lego sculpture exhibition), Intercourse Pretzel Factory, Intercourse Canning Company, and the Herr's Snack Factory. Lots of calories and fun! We're staying one night at Willow Valley, which has a sort of indoor water park/pool thing for the kids - should be lots of excitement, since I'm not sure how much swimming we'll do with the cold ocean water.
On the knitting front, I've been knitting on a pair of top-down socks, from Purple Fixation, so it's got a little elastic to it. Easy to tote, easy to knit, pretty to see.
1. Had a wonderful visit with new friends last weekend. Might get to go snowtubing with some of them tomorrow, depending on the weather. It's a rather heavy-duty post, but if you care, you can read about it here.
2. Got to knit on my sweater this week, and even spent a couple of evenings spinning some merino top that I bought at Knitch. It's a gorgeous frosty taupe with bits of blue and cream and grey throughout. It's delicate and pretty, and I'm pleased to see how thin I'm getting it, and how consistent it is. I can't wait to ply it!
3. The girls are busy reading Nancy Drew, listening and reading Series of Unfortunate Events, sewing outfits for Doggie Day Care animals, and playing Nintendo DS. They've been helping out a lot around the house. We continue to declutter. It's a never-ending task.
4. Emilee lost her job a bit over a week ago... the joint is changing ownership, and the old manager held an employee meeting without calling Emilee to let her know. I only happened to drive by and noticed the sign in the window saying they were "CLOSED TEMPORARY" [sic] She's wavering between enjoying a less busy schedule, and running out of cash. She's going to apply at the tiny local grocery, around the block from our house. Very, very convenient, and the people there seem very nice. And bit more responsible that her previous boss.
5. I've been puttering at work stuff, trying to get ahead on some upcoming projects, but also taking a bit of a break after the busyness of the trade shows and the game nights. Next week, I really need to dig into some prep work for upcoming April events. I usually enjoy it all once I dig into it, but it's hard to take that first step sometimes!
6. Had a wonderful birthday visit with one of my oldest friends. She's been traveling from state to state for the past few years, obtaining her Doctorate last year. Lo and behold, her DH got a job down this way, they quickly had to find a house in the area, and it's ONE freakin' mile from my house, right on my road!!! Pretty wild, I tell you what. Our kids have really hit it off, and we're loving being able to spend time together. Last night, we had dinner at Panera and got to really talk for a while... very nice.
6. I'm picking up the tea vice in lieu of sugar and wheat vice. I've got to lose some weight. I'm disgusted at how much I've gained back after working so hard to lost it four years ago. I will lose it again. Permanently. Back. On. The. Wagon.... ... ... WITH TEA.
7. My heart aches for my dear friend Jay. Just weeks after losing her father, she's struggling with her brother entering his last phases of cancer. I wish I could be there more for her... even just to buy a cup of coffee and sit with her for a bit. I have no answers, but at least she wouldn't feel so alone and abandoned.
Spring is in the air, and my February trade show traveling is over. I've been knitting my first "real" sweater, and I bought lots of new fiber to sping. The girls are digging into some new projects. We had a monumentally fun and inspiring visit with some new friends this past weekend. I have lots to write about, but am short on time. But it's coming, so stay tuned!
I'm beat. I spent all day... ALL DAY... cleaning, sorting, motivating, moving, trashing, and rebuilding stuff. The girls worked on their rooms some - pretty good for a day's work, but still miles to go on it, IFYKWIM. Several bags of stuff removed from there.
Chris and I moved all kinds of stuff around the dining room, including furniture, art stuff, yarn stuff, paper stuff, business stuff, homeschooling stuff. You name it, the stuff got cleaned, sorted, and moved around.
I listed a ton of stuff on Freecycle, and some of it is already moving. I've got more stuff in the hall, which will go with stuff in the closet, when I get done sorting the closet and getting some of the extra stuff out of there and moved along it's merry way.
SO. MUCH. STUFF.
And that's not even touching the attic, which is where stuff goes to live and grow while we think it's just sleeping, waiting for a place to fit into the house one day.
The good news is that I've got a place to work, and place to play, and a place to knit and spin. It's a little more liveable and useable. I'm looking forward to living here.
