Sewing Room Re-Do.

Last weekend Kevin packed up the kids and the three of them went for a nice visit to Nana and Grandaddy's. I'd been planning on this weekend for awhile, my weekend alone and my big project would be to touch up, and organize the sewing room.

On a trip to Home Depot picking up supplies, I walked by the returned paint section and lo and behold there was this beautiful blue that I've always been a fan of. Right there and then, I knew my sewing room would be painted.

I absolutely love how the paint turned out, but I think what makes the most difference is the simple move the desk made from the window to the wall.

Kevin built me a small desk attached to the wall that is just for my sewing machine, and I love that becasue now my large desk gives me a little more work space.

I also organized all my fabric scraps by color and happened to find a cheap cube organizer at Target in a neat-o frosted look.

There are still finishing touches. I have 5 more frames to put on the wall that will be filled with some of my favorite fabric swatches. There's a wall I didn't take a picture of that has magnetic paint on it and I'll paint over that this weekend in white chalkboard paint so I can make little lists or just have the kids keep busy if I need it.

I really had a great weekend, working away, no one to answer to and I am so happy that my room is so functional now, so that when I want to work I can just sit down and go instead of cleaning for 30 minutes....






Because I need to be reminded often....


Ikea organizer that attaches to the wall. Ikea trip in the works....


I used magnetic paint underneath this blue stripe.


I realized when I was putting the room together the blue on the wall was almost the exact blue on my machine.

Cole-ism

3 Great ones in one day:

"Mama, Adison is the funniest girl God made."



"Bou's a good doggie, mama. She looks good in brown! Because that's the way God made her."


"You're a good chocolate-milk-maker, Mama."

Lunch Surprise

The kids and I met mom and dad for lunch on Tuesday and while they were walking the kids out in the parking lot they spotted the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile nearby.

There was nobody with it, but we had a great time checking it out. Adison was especially excited since she loves hot dogs. (Kevin had to cut her off at 2 last sunday afternoon).
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Two

Adison turned 2 yesterday. I can hardly believe it.

We didn't have a party since we are having one for her in a few weeks when all sorts of family are in town. But it felt wrong to do nothing, so we sang Happy Birthday to her at every opportunity.

Adison came into this world small and frail at just over 4 pounds. It is hard to believe it now. This little girl hits the ground running (really bouncing, as she goes up and down when she runs more than she goes forwards).

She's been making eyes at people since she was 6 months old, strapped into a Baby Bjorn while I shopped at Target. She is chock full of life, drama, attitude, and hilarity. She is entering the terrible two's in fantastic fashion. It is both horrifying and fascinating at the same time, and I love every minute of it.

At two, Adison loves to read books, talk, laugh with Cole, eat green peas, loves chocolate and chocolate milk, loves doggies and babies, and moves CONSTANTLY.

Happy Birthday, Sweets.

One More Time...

We thought last year would be the last year we would be able to go to the fund raiser Luncheon for the Hurricanes. But surprise! One more time! I was beyond excited.

I had guessed that we would be at a table with Cam Ward, our goalie, but I was wrong. (although he was one table over). We sat with Brandon Sutter, our draft pick and rookie and from a famous hockey family. He was so absolutely pleasant and friendly, chatty, and put up with all our questions.

We snapped a picture with Brandon, and then scouted out Matt Cullen, who was trying desperately to leave. We snagged him anyway and he actually gave a nice little smile. I'm saying the word "lunch" in the picture. That's what I get for trying to make jokes with hockey players.

I also wanted to get a picture with Cam, who happily obliged.

We won't go next year unless we go in with friends to sponsor a table, which seems unlikely, but you never know....it's kind of our tradition now.

Oh, and the shirt look good, right?

Finally.

I have tried making myself clothes a couple of times. The I'm-Going-To-New-York-Dress didn't quite pan out. Then there was the un-named replacement for the aforementioned dress. And while it was cute, it still was lacking in fit.

Enter Simplicity 3835. This pattern came out about a year ago and in the sewing/crafting blog world was a big hit. Everyone talked about how easy it was, how cute it was. And the general consensus was that everyone who made this ended up making 2 or 3 of them they loved it so much.

I forgot I had the pattern until recently. After searching my sewing room up and down, I found the pattern. Why did I need this pattern?

Kevin and I were headed to the We Love the Hurricanes Luncheon the next day and I decided I needed something new. Thankfully I've been on a mega-fabric buying kick and was stocked and ready.

2 hours later (that has NEVER happened to me), I actually had a completed shirt. I even took him time, did the right finishing seams on the inside, took time to hem it all pretty. All the things I usually blaze through when I'm excited about doing something new.

I strutted around in it for about 30 minutes and Kevin made me go upstairs and change after I started talking about how you could even put a belt around it (or "belt it" as I like to say) for a different look.

I'm calling this shirt the: I'm-Going-To-Meet-Some-Hockey-Players-Shirt

It Was Bound To Happen

The kids love to take shoes out of the basket at the front door and try them on.
These boots were upstairs, under my bed, in a box so I'm not sure how Cole found them.
But find them he did, and put them on.
Every little boy is going to put his mama's shoes on sometime. Kevin cringes at this picture, as most dad's would, but at least I didn't use the picture of him in my black heels...

New Deck

Before



After


The deck isn't new, but the paint job is. Kevin is so handy with everything. He added onto the deck shortly after we moved to the house, but we never got around to painting it until just a few weeks ago. It was a split-second decision, as it usually is with us, so we started it mid-morning on Saturday. We used a really dark paint to go with our dark floors in the rest of the house. I think the design term is "flow". :)

As usual, Kevin had to finish it up when the kids started to get up from nap and quiet time and we really love it. I love our backyard, and we are finally cranking up the fire pit we got from his parents last christmas. Next on the agenda...maybe a small brick patio for the fire pit?

Disney Speedway

Cole begged to go ride on the Disney Speedway ride and I relented.

I even let him drive. You can see the pride on his face. We held up the whole line and fishtailed the entire time since Cole is new to stearing, but had the BEST time and laughed our way around the track.
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Disney

Sometime in August I was doing my daily chat with my good friend Dana and we were talking about her family trip down to Orlando to go to Disney. The more we talked, the more I thought about how fun it sounded.

So I did what any normal person would do, I invited myself.

Faster than you can say Mickey Mou--Dana's mom had booked me a condo and it was set. The kids and I were driving 12 hours down to Orlando to meet up with Dana and all of her family.

If you're thinking right now that it sounds like a lot to drive 2 kids down to Disney by yourself, you're right. But the back story is Dana and I went to Disney together when she turned 16 and I couldn't resist the idea of re-creating that trip with our own children.


It was a full trip. We saw Hollywood Studios Sunday(where Cole was fascinated by a "scary ride" that had a flashing yellow light. Not scary enough to keep him from going twice, though...) We also visited the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground that Dana and I went to over 15 years ago. That could have been the scariest part of the whole trip. That thing was a series of slides and tunnels and I swear I thought I had lost my kids (seriously) at least 3 times. The kids loved it though.
Dana's mom watched the kids while I went on a ride with the other adults: Tower of Terror where you sit in an elevator that drops I don't know how many stories. Probably the most fun I've had in a long time...I miss amusement park rides.

Monday was Animal Kingdom. I have to say the most amazing part of Animal Kingdom was the Safari. Truly truly amazing. Animals right there in front of you, and Cole and Adison were really awe-struck.

Tuesday was Magic Kingdom, my personal favorite. So many rides! I think Cole really is a speed junkie because he really liked the faster rides. Teacups, Peter Pan, Goofy's Barnstormer just to name a few. We met Mickey and Adison was thrilled (which is surprising since she doesn't really know who he is or watch him on TV). She told me in line she was going to hug Mickey, and she did! It was so cute.

As you can imagine, at the end of the trip we were all exhausted. We got up at 3:30am and drove straight home. If you're thinking this post is pretty condensed, it's because I'm still exhausted. :)

I didn't have near the amount of hang-out time I wanted with Dana, but it was fun to re-visit Disney together and see our kids laugh and go on rides together and it was very nice to see all of her family again. Growing up, if I wasn't at my house, I was at Dana's house and it's always such a treat to be able to see her parents and David.

Winkmaster

A few weeks into preschool Cole had a project to fill out a huge paper puzzle piece with color, pictures, things he likes, basically all about Cole.

We sat at the kitchen table working on it together, and when it was time to put a picture of him on there, I realized I didn't have a good recent one. Enter camera. And when I said "smile!", he winked.

I guess we wink a lot around here, because Cole has done it for quite awhile, but he found it hilarious that he winked in a picture, and actually it was.

I put it on the puzzle piece.

HARD WORK

Cole sat down to do one of those kiddie work pages they give you at restaurants one day, and when he finished doing everything he wanted, he asked for me to spell "hard work" for him.

And then he wrote it on the bottom of his worksheet.

Because being 4 and making your own rules for doing kiddie worksheets really IS hard work.

First Day of Preschool

Cole's first day of preschool was just after Labor Day. (Yes, I'm late on the posts. Thanks to my husband and friends for the MANY reminders that I need to blog). I took the pictures with my camera phone when I picked him up, not wanting to look like a reporter with my big camera. :)

Cole is going Monday through Thursday mornings this year, which is a big change from Tuesday/Thursday's only the past two years. I was hesitant to send him to school so much, particularly since he is nearing Kindergarten and I knew our time would be much more limited sooner than I'd like.

My fears melted away when I met his teachers this year: Miss Beth and Miss Sherry. Beth has been teaching for 20 years and made a point to say that there is enough pressure on kids early on in school and she was determined to learn but have FUN.

I don't know if it's Miss Beth or the fact that Cole is now very used to preschool, but this year he has talked more about what he's doing at school than ever before. He's making new friends, as almost all of his class from last year ended up in a different class. But he is really enjoying it and will inform me daily of some fact he has picked up or something funny that happened at school.

In years past, I have tried to garnish ANY kind of information from Cole when picking him up from school, only to be met with either "I don't know" or "I forgot", both of which I know aren't true since he seems to have a great memory. This year, I've decided to back down and just let him talk when he's ready and ask my questions then, and there has been a lot of opportunity.

I love seeing him excited about things and hearing that he is a good friend in class. But I love our friday's most. No school. No plans. It's become our special morning, the three of us and I am loving the freedom of using that day to let all the things that usually "need" to get done in a day slide and just hang out, laugh and play.

One more thing: Cole has been asking for a backpack with wheels ever since a boy in his class had one last year. He is SO PROUD of this backpack. He rolls it around like a little business man, all careful and serious.

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.