Calm in the Storm

I actually like to be organized, but I need organizing THINGS to accomplish that: little shelves, boxes, trays, files, etc....

When those things are lacking I make piles. its' working for me, but just thought I'd give you a glimpse into the chaos that is my quiet place.

Here's the overhead view of my sewing table.


My snoring assistant, Bou, is a spectacular accessory.

A Moment in the Day

A new bag of hand me down toys / dress up clothes from our cousins are opened.

Sewing Maniac

Twice a year a friend of mine runs a consignment sale for fancy children's clothing and for the past year I have set up a table and peddled my goods.

This fall, the sale has grown so popular there simply wasn't room for a table so I would be selling my things in the middle of all the other clothes. At first I was disappointed not to be able to offer the full line of what I make, but then I was excited to try my hand at a couple of new things: specifically skirt sets and pillowcase dresses.

I had been wanting to try these out for awhile, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see how they would sell.

In typical Sarah fashion, I waited until 7 days before the sale to begin making everything. (I work better under pressure, that's just how it is...to my credit I made 12 headbands 2 weeks before that).

Kevin truly kicked it up a notch, watching the kids from the second he stepped home from work and then doing bedtime duty after I broke for dinner. I could not have done it without him. It was exhausting, spending literally every free minute during the day and night sewing, but seeing fabrics come together in an outfit truly was so exciting.

I went to pick up what was left last Saturday and everything but 3 headbands and 1 skirt set had sold. I was thrilled on so many levels: my stuff held it's own next to some big name brands and won over a few of them, my hunch at what I thought would sell well did, and then it was simply gratifying to know that all that hard work and time given up was not in vain.

Here are a few snapshots of my things before I took them to the sale.

Wrightsville Beach - Train Museum

Kevin found a small train museum in downtown Wilmington and we decided to check it out after naptime. Cole is truly into trains, and this place although small, did not disappoint.

It had a real box car, steam engine, and cargo car that you could go in and walk around. It also had the absolute largest toy train set up I have ever seen. It took up an entire room! It was running and even had places where the kids could push buttons to make the trains run themselves.

And if that were not enough! It had a room of all-train toys you could sit down and play with. Thomas, Playskool...you name it. If it was a train, it was in there and you could touch it. It was hard to leave, but so much fun to visit such a great museum!

Wrightsville Beach - Beach Time

This year, for the first time, our family took a trip to the beach that was non-work related, non-extended family. The kids are getting old enough to really enjoy it and although we traveled a lot of great places and had a lot of great fun, we had yet to take a trip that was simply for the 4 of us to hang out and relax with nothing else on the agenda.

The kids loved...LOVED the beach. Cole hardly stopped moving in the ocean and when Adison grew tired of it, she sat (gasp!) with me and we actually got a little sun-time together.

Kevin and Cole built an impressive...hole and put lots of sand castles around it.

A Moment in the Day

A few weeks ago Cole's car seat was out of the car for some reason. He decided it'd be a great idea to put it on top of one of the square stools in the family room and sit there while he watched Clifford (and read a truck book, of course).

Cousins

Cole and Adison get the chance to see their cousins Margot, Constance, Elliot and Eloise often since they live in the same town, and they all get along so very well despite all the different ages.

On this day, they were all 4 over for the day. We met at the park down the road and played and had snacks and then walked home. Margot and Constance made some delicious oatmeal M&M cookies for me while the younger ones played. We had a picnic lunch inside, and spent Adisons nap watching movies and playing games.

I truly enjoy having all of them over and getting the chance to get to know them better each time. But nothing compares to seeing all of them play and laugh together. I remember doing the same with my cousins, and now that we live far apart, I'm thankful for any time my kids and their cousins can spend together.

A Special Day

My sweet niece, Moriah came for a visit to Grammy's house for the weekend, and she spent all of Saturday with us.

She was such a wonderful help! She loves to take care of kids and the extra pair of hands was really great. We had so much fun going to Target and the pool. And when the kids were napping, she and I worked on a few special projects.

We made barrets using all sorts of buttons that she had picked out (I neglected to take pictures of this...) and she helped me put together some magnets for my store. The most fun, however, was when everyone went to bed and we started work on an apron for her.

Moriah picked out everything for this apron, fabric, buttons, ribbon...and I must say she did a great job putting fabrics together. She also sewed together all of the pockets for it and for a first time, she did FANTASTIC! No hesitation with the machine and was so careful with it.

We were up late....but I had such a good time and I was so happy for her to take something from her day with us home. The only thing I regret is that I didn't get a picture of the two of us!