The Big Day!

Wedding Gift
Thanks to Sara at http://www.mcmasterandstorm.com for the beautiful packaging of our wedding gift to the happy couple!
Middle Sister and Little Sister on the way to rehearsal last night!
Practice makes perfect!

"Going to the Chapel..."

Well, we are headed out to the wedding rehearsal! And tomorrow is the BIG day! The girls get their hair done tomorrow morning at 9:45 and as soon as everyone is ready we will head to Eaton! Wedding is at 2. They want some pics first! I'll take pictures and post them when I catch my breath! Have a wonderful weekend.

Patterns, and More Patterns!

More pattern making! A couple of weeks ago I drafted another dress pattern! It is so fun to see it come together starting with a straight line and a list of measurements! Yesterday I worked on a few finishing touches on the basic draft of the one shown here and also made a copy of another with seam allowances added. That one will soon be completely altered hopefully. Cross my fingers, please, please, please!!
Today was 'cut-out' day. My hand is so tired of holding the scissors I don't want to see a pair for a month. I'm sure I will though! I also made 3 pies, refereed several fights, administered discipline, took school kids to school, fixed supper, did dishes, gave baths, and now, here I am! Updating my blog is relaxing and fun!
I use this glue for everything that needs a glue stick! I use a lot of it in a pattern draft. There is a lot of slashing and adding flair, etc. that takes extra paper and this stuff is IT. It smells like almond flavoring and is all natural so you don't have to worry if your kids eat it! I bought it at http://onehundredwishes.com and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. This is the glue my daughter took to school this year. I say it is the best stuff since sliced bread! I don't know for sure how to say the name, I'm sure Andrea over at 100 wishes could tell you! She is a great gal and has the cutest, funest online shop around! Make sure you check her out!
I just had to share this flower. Can you believe it is all from one 3 inch pot? (the petunia) the viny stuff underneath is another flower that started out in a 3 inch pot. This pic really doesn't do it justice. They just went crazy this summer!

First Day of School!

Tuesday (yesterday) was the first day of school for Big Sister! She was so excited I didn't even have to wake her up. She was up and ready to go. I'm sure part of it was her very strong desire to wear those new tennis shoes! I wouldn't let her wear them outside before and she really wanted to.

So neat and proper for the photos! But not for long, she was soon running and jumping to excited to sit still for long!

First day went great, and she likes her new teacher!

Dresses are FINISHED!!!!!!

Here you go Bride-to-be!!!! The dresses are Finished!!!
Big Sisters dress has ribbon from http://www.blogger.com/www.mcmasterandstorm.com on the bodice. Love that initial ribbon and have been wanting to use it. Wonderful opportunity! I love how this dress turned out. I will get her a sweater and she will wear it all winter. (hopefully)
And here is middle sister in her dress that now has both layers of netting on the slip/liner. That really added a lot to it. She could hardly hold still because she was acting so silly. This looks so beautiful when she moves in it. As long as we can keep her from messing it up because she can't stand still!
And the back. The crisscross I was supposed to do wouldn't work because of the zipper and the way the dress was constructed. So I used the trim for the belt and I love it! I never did like big bulky belts that I could never get tied right! This looks just right.
And there they hang, ready and waiting for the big day!

Middle Sisters Dress

OK, Bride-to-be, I know you are patiently waiting! Here is middle sisters dress. I still have to put the 6" piece of netting on the slip underneath but otherwise it is finished. Sorry there is no lace on the neck, I just couldn't figure out a way to get it on there and still have a square looking neck. Travis thought it looked much more elegant this way so we decided to leave it alone. See you at rehearsal!

Bathroom/Shower Pics

Here it is! No running water yet, soon I hope!
The rest of the small bathroom.
Girls decided a picture with them would be in order!
Big Sister.

Three Girls!

Cheese! Ready for Church!
New Bike!

Big sister thought I needed to put better pictures of them on my blog so here they are!

Summer's Last Hurrah!!

The girls were finally able to spend a whole day swimming again after a couple of cool weeks. They lived in their swimsuits today! They need to be enjoying it, the pool comes down in about 2 weeks or less!
Little sister has really learned to love the water. She has been getting in without Mommy lately. She always stays in her floaty ring when I'm not in with her. (these pics are from earlier in the summer!)
It has been really hot today. T is working on putting the upstairs shower back in - yay!! Little sister now tells me when she needs to go potty - even in the middle of the night! If I'm going to be getting up with her for that I'm hoping the upstairs bath is soon back in working order!!!
I'm hoping to soon have the wedding dresses finished and will post pics of them early next week. (I know, bride-to-be, you are waiting on pictures!)
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Once Upon a Summer's Night...

Here is something my girls finally got their dad to do for them! They have been wanting their canopy hung outside for awhile and he never got around to it. Last weekend he finally did it and they decided to eat supper in it!
They thoroughly enjoyed themselves! We took it down overnight and have been gone so much this week we haven't hung it out again. Probably will this weekend again!

Pattern Making Day

Today I worked on drafting a dress pattern! I got the bodice and sleeve done and need to do the skirt. Then it will be time to make a muslin and fit it! It is so draining to do this kind of work. My brain feels totally worn out!
I went outside this evening and watered everything then weeded. We have a few strawberry plants along the side of the house and the weeds were really taking over so I got all that taken care of. Some good physical work like that feels good after exercising my brain all day.
Just a shot I took of what my dress form looks like right now. She is needing some new decor I think! I stuck the ribbon spools on her right after I brought them home sort of just as a spot to put them. Haven't got back to her yet! Fall is fast approaching, it will soon be time to 'fluff' the house again.

School!!!!

Can you believe school is just around the corner? For some out there it has already started! We start next Tuesday, so today we went shopping for supplies and shoes. Grandma came over and went with us. We ate lunch at Taco Bell/Pizza Hut and then went shopping. This is what Big Sister picked out. New pencils, new folder, new binder, highlighters, erasers, scissors, twistable crayons, and colored pencils!
The front of her binder had a pocket so I fixed this up for her. She went home with Grandma for a few days before school starts so she hasn't seen this yet. I used a page from a vintage handwriting book and stamped on it. She will probably not be impressed because she says 'vintage is just another word for old and yucky'!! But I had fun doing it and just maybe she will like it!
We always have a problem with shoes for this child. She wore last years new shoes for 2 weeks and decided she didn't like them. This year I took her to try them on instead of ordering them. We got them at The Finish Line and they were not cheap so she HAS to wear them. Hopefully they will work out better than last years!

Birthday Party!

A little out of order, I wasn't sure how they would upload. First time I've uploaded more than one at a time! Middle Sister loved her birthday, everyone was very hyper all day. She looks darling in this pink and brown outfit from Grandma and Grandpa!
I just couldn't bring myself to buy a cake at Kroger so I made one. Very simple and definitely not the prettiest cake I've ever made but it was good!
Balloon bouquet from Grandma and Grandpa.

Larke kept saying she wanted a monkey cake so I used the sock monkeys as a center piece. I didn't have time to make a monkey cake but the theme was kind of there:-)

Birthday Girl's place!

All 3 sisters playing with the new Thomas the Tank Engine toys. I know, I have girls but they love Thomas!

Where does time go??

Middle Sister is '5' today! Happy Birthday Larke! She has been so excited about turning 5. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years already! I have been slow at getting back into everything since my surgery so her birthday celebration is being thrown together today. I usually plan ahead for their birthdays and try to have a theme etc. But somehow time just got away from me! It seems we are always on the go lately, my calendar (above) lies on the dining room table permanently now so I can check daily, sometimes hourly, what we are supposed to be doing when!! I'm headed into school to hopefully send last years Year Book to the printer today. Grandma is coming to stay with the girls so I can head to town afterwards to get a cake, balloons, etc. I almost ALWAYS make the cake but this year I just don't have the time or energy. Hopefully Kroger has something cute I can work with. I'll post some pics later!

More crowns!

Laundry Day.

We've had a typical summer Monday. After sleeping in with the cool breeze coming in the window, I did laundry. Why is it that Monday seems to be laundry day for so many people? My Mother says it always helped her to get going on the new week. It was something that had to be done and something to focus one right after the weekend. I tend to do it on Monday and Thursday when I stay on schedule. I like for most of my girls clothes to be clean for the weekend, so I have whatever I decide they need to wear. Sometimes I do it whenever I can get to it! Somehow, though, it seems like Monday morning is laundry day! I love the smell of fresh laundry in my house, it feels like I have really accomplished something!

Mom and Dad came for supper and then took the girls home with them for the night. I'm headed to the hospital tomorrow for a minor surgery so they get to stay with Grandma! I'll be back soon, hopefully I can post again tomorrow night, we'll see how loopy I am from the anesthetic!! Hope your laundry day was a good one!

Crown Him!!

Have I mentioned my fascination with crowns? This started about 2 years ago when I got a platter with crowns on it at my favorite store. I liked it when I first saw it and then when it struck me that my maiden name being 'King' made it extra meaningful for me I was hooked. I already liked the 'Crown Him' label refering to our Lord Jesus.

Now I have several crowns and pictures of crowns. I have place card holders and mugs with crowns. I like the daily reminder that we indeed should 'CROWN HIM KING OF KINGS!

Shower Gift

Here is my wrapped shower gift for the bride-to-be. From my favorite shop, McMaster and Storm http://www.mcmasterandstorm.com/ They always wrap gifts so neat, it is hard to unwrap them. Inside are 2 beautiful glass measuring cups and a gold letter 'S'. Hope she likes it!

Busy Friday

Just a 'little of what I did today! As I said 2 of my girls are in a wedding the end of the month and I need to get their dresses made. Time to 'sew a fine seam'! So I measured Big Sister and drafted her pattern! I think it is going to work! I made 3 trial bodices before I was satisfied with my basic pattern. I then flared the skirt and squared the neckline. I don't like the way commercial patterns fit her so I decided I would make her patterns since I recently took some lessons on pattern making. I'll have to show you the finished dress on her, providing of course that it looks nice!!!

Middle Sister is carrying the rug with one of the Brides brothers. The Bride picked fabric and pattern for her so now I just have to figure out what size to make and get it done. The lace and shiny fabric is a little much for my taste but it isn't my wedding! I'm sure she will look adorable.

I had pies to make for Sunday at church so I decided after supper this evening I should get them made. I have to take 2 and I'm also taking for 2 expectant mothers so they didn't have to make any. So I made 6 pies! In my counter top-challenged kitchen this was quite a feat, but it got done and now I can do something else tomorrow. I'm hoping to be able to paint my remodeled bathroom! Please, Please, Travis get it done! We have been without our upstairs bathroom for almost a year now and I'm really ready for it to be usable again.

Finished Product! What a feeling of accomplishment! Now I will just hope they taste good!