we're home!

I'm calling this our "Family Tree". It's one of my favorite pictures (taken at Animal Kingdom).


We had a wonderful, magical, busy week in Disney World. I won't make this a travel blog, but will tell you that we felt like there was still so much more to see and do - we can't wait to go back! Some of our favorites shows and rides - Mickey's Philharmagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Kilimanjaro Safari, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Beauty & the Beast, Lion King, Turtle Talk with Crush, and Soarin'. We met characters, watched fireworks, rode every kind of transportation, and had a lot of fun together as a family.
I'm looking forward to getting back to some of the everyday things, like sewing! I have a lot of work to reveal soon - new embroidery designs and the Tinkerbell purse tutorial. I'll be back with that later this week!!!

Oh - one of the best parts of yesterday - coming home to NO SNOW! (yes it was colder than Orlando, yes we were MUCH later than planned due to a cancelled flight, yes it was raining, but at least there's no more snow!!!!!) Spring is here!!!

do you hear the sirens?

All I know is that I think I'm living in a fire station because I've got a fireman at my door and a dalmatian running in the yard!!!
I made the coat and pants. I tackled a collar and I don't love how it looks inside, but it turned out just fine for a costume. I bought some iron-on reflective tape and then reinforced it by stitching the edges. My husband tracked down a Fire Supply store and we got the hat, boots, and letters for our last name on the back of the jacket. The suspenders were actually my brother's when he was little - my mom had them in a box and they were perfect for this!
The air pack is a 2-liter bottle spray painted gray. I then hot-glued webbing straps to one side, added D-rings and tried it on for size. We realized it needed a little more so we looked up Scott Air Packs online. I enlarged the picture, printed it out, and Mod-Podged it on. That added a little shine to make it glossier, and made it look like a little more than just a spray painted bottle.
The dalmatian costume is a white sweatshirt & leggings (store-bought) with felt dots I sewed all over. The ears are white felt. I made sure to give her a cute little collar with a heart tag. She wore black patent leather shoes too - just because!Hope you had a Happy Halloween! I'm off to enjoy a little more chocolate...

fishing

We spent some time recently in Wisconsin with family & friends. This is my favorite shot of the bunch, I think! They were having such a great time together.

HAPPY 40th ANNIVERSARY, MOM & DAD

From left to right:
Aunt J - Aunt L - my great-grandma - Dad - Mom - Grama Mega - Poppa - Aunt W - Aunt C

Did you notice all the blue? hee hee. Even my Grama has on blue. See, I come by it naturally.

Now here's the awesome part (well, besides the fact that my parents have been married for 40 years!) -
My Grama made all 5 bridesmaids dresses, her dress, and my mom's wedding dress. (One bridesmaid is from the other side of the family and isn't pictured here. Sorry Aunt N! Didn't mean to leave you out!)
Then, within the next 18 months... 3 more weddings.
Aunt C - Aunt W - Aunt J
5 bridesmaids each + wedding dress + Mother of the Bride dress
Do the math.

(Ok, I'll do it for you)
Yep, that's 4 wedding dresses, 4 MOB dresses, and 20 bridesmaids dresses for a grand total of 28!!!

Oh yeah, and she worked full time.
And oh yeah, the last daughter was still in high school.
WOW!

(mom/dad/aunts... if I did the math wrong, or told the story incorrectly, please feel free to comment and correct me!)

Most importantly, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Mom & Dad!!!!! Thanks for being an amazing example of communication, caring, commitment and unfailing love.
xoxo

vintage sewing

My parent's wedding anniversary is coming up, and a lot of my computer time has been spent scanning in pictures & doing something special for them. I did come across a couple little things I thought you all might be interested in.
Really, it just proves my mom and I have always loved blue.

My confirmation dress - 1989 - handmade, blue.

Church directory picture - 1983 - my dress, handmade, blue.


Warning... no pretty blue handmade dress here!!!
This is just a little shout-out to handmade in the early 70s. My aunt made my mom & dad these matching shirts. Stylish, no?

Be sure to come back on the 16th for some fab wedding photos & stories from 40 years ago!!!! (a WHOLE lot of handmade dresses!!!)

elevator bucket

Do you know what this is? Well, duh, yes, it's a yellow bucket. Oh, but it became so much more yesterday afternoon!!!!
Here's a hint. Figured it out yet?

Here's Abby trying to figure it all out. (It's also got another pictoral hint. See the rope?)

Yep - it's an ELEVATOR BUCKET. What you've never heard of such a thing? Let me explain. When I was a kid, my cousins and I invented an Elevator Bucket to go from the loft of the cottage to the main level (where the parents & food were). We toted up and down MANY snacks, drinks, books, stones, and who knows what else. So yesterday, I decided it was time for my son to have his very own.

He's so looking forward to toting up a snack for himself. But yesterday it was all about the ball, a book, and some nature treasures. He would roll the ball down the slide, she'd run over and pick it up, put it in the bucket, he'd pull it up and repeat. So much fun!
Off to have a snack in the tower!

hi wheaton!

This is just a little tribute to my hometown, Wheaton, Illinois. It's not a perfect town, but I'm proud to say it's where I was raised. Although I live in the neighboring town now, I can still call it my hometown, right?

Today was the Taste of Wheaton, and although it was a little cool, cloudy, and rainy - we enjoyed it! Here's Conner on his first ever Ferris Wheel ride. He was LOVING it!

This would be the "mom, stop hugging me, I'm trying to enjoy the ride!" shot. (thanks Grandma for the photography skills.) Grandpa and Abby were waiting on the ground for us.Here's a view to the south. I included it for a couple reasons... just a little shot of my town, but also a possible last view of the town's first high school. If the Ferris Wheel is in the same spot next year, the high school will (probably) not be there - it's an old decrepit building that is being torn down and replaced by offices or condos or something. A piece of history, changing with the times.

Do you have a penny candy shop in your town? I guess, there's not really such a thing as penny candy anymore, but you know what I mean. The candy shop in my hometown was around the corner from the movie theater. It was actually just an alley that they covered and turned into "The Popcorn Shop". It's so skinny, it's address is actually 111-1/4 Front St. Too funny, huh? Here's my son continuing the family tradition. (Unfortunately, no movie theater anymore.) You pick up a little white bag at the front of the alley, work your way towards about the middle picking candy off all the shelves on one side. Then you give your bag to the worker who dumps it out and miraculously counts it. I would swear the tax sheet is the same one from my childhood tacked in the same place on the shelf - except that tax rates have changed! Then you pay and head on your way with a bag full of the best stuff you could pick! Our first treat was Pixy Stix. Yummmmmm....Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday - flying high, enjoying some candy, or whatever else made you happy today!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

The flowers are forget-me-nots. They have held special meaning for me since I was young. My gift to my teachers at the end of the school year was a potted plant - full of these precious little blue flowers - forget me nots, with a cute little card hoping that they would "forget-me-not".

I just think the flowers themselves are so delicate and dainty. A beautiful shade of blue. They have sort of become a recurring theme in my life. They have showed up throughout my wedding, on my daughter's birth announcement, in my business logo, in my front yard, and wherever else I can squeeze them in.

My grandmothers and mother are such truly amazing women, and I can only hope that someday I will be remembered as fondly. So in honor of all the wonderful mothers I know (and women who deserve to be mothers!) I wish you all a beautiful Mother's Day!

(enjoy this little tune if you'd like. It's my favorite mother/daughter song!)

a great team

Sarah Stewart and David Small make a great team.

The first book of theirs that I read was The Gardener. The principal who hired me was retiring, and this was a special part of her retirement party. It still brings a tear to my eye & gets me all choked up. I loved this book so much that I had to scout out the rest...

The Library - a book about Elizabeth (love the name) who "learned to read quite early/And at an incredible rate" - hmm... sounds familiar. She ends up turning her house and collection of books into the town's library. LOVE IT!

The Journey is about a young Amish girl's trip to Chicago. I have been to Chicago more times than I can count - but it still amazes me. Seeing the skyline, driving under the "Post Office", the lakefront... I can only imagine the journey through this girl's eyes! What makes it even better is her ability to compare life in Chicago to Amish life. Fascinating.

The Friend is the one book of theirs that I don't own and don't remember reading. I just remembered about it when I was searching for the links on Amazon. Hmmm.... off to the book store I go!

The Money Tree - OK. I went down to get it off my bookshelf, and realized I don't have this one either. Guess I'm just remembering it from my school library. Acckk... Well anyway - the title caught me first because my grandparents had a "money tree" growing in their yard - you know the kind with the paper-thin translucent leaves. What a cool "tree" that was. The book is just an interesting look at community.

a routine errand

Today I took a simple trip to the UPS store. To be exact, I was (finally!!!) mailing off my Mountain Baby Blankets. What seemed to be a routine errand changed into a thought-provoking trip into my family and my nation's past.

I was third in line, and I put down my bags on the floor next to me, and then set down my wobbly-kneed daughter to dance to the music and stand next to me. An elderly gentleman saw her and asked if she was learning to walk. Not quite, but she's trying, I responded. And a friendly comment opened up the floodgates...
"My great-grandson is too. I missed that stage with my son, since I was off at the war you know. World War 2."
gulp.
ummm... where does the conversation go from here?
"Where were you stationed - were you in the Pacific? Europe?"
(I'm not much of a war buff, but I figured that was the next logical question. My grandfather was in the Pacific and always loved talking about the ship and his buddies.)
"Yes, I was in the Pacific."
(now WHY oh WHY did I not ask the name of the ship? because I couldn't remember my grandfather's ship that's why. ugh. Should have asked anyway - I got the ship info this afternoon from my mom.)

This kind man proceeded to tell me that the atomic bomb probably saved his life, and numerous others. He looks at life differently now. How being in the Pacific taught him to value his life. And how he is 94 years old with a pacemaker, and the doctor says he's healthy as can be.

Then it was his turn to pay and leave. I wished him well, and he walked out.
The man behind the counter at the UPS store and I could hardly believe he was 94 years old!!!

I don't really know what more to say. Other than this...
Do you value your life?? What would it take to value yours as much as he does his?
Why oh why do we still have wars that tear away fathers (and mothers) from their sons and daughters... and all their special moments...
And just a little reminder to myself - enjoy the moments with my kids - - - my daughter will (hopefully) never again have to learn to walk. It is a precious thing to be a part of every experience.



***Want info on my grandpa's ship? Check it out at USS Barnes - that's where I got this picture from. If I was really cool, I would scan in some of my grandfather's pictures - maybe another time. That means digging through boxes at my parent's house, and I don't have time for that this week.

***If you want another little dose of viewing life through different eyes, please check out Blue Yonder today. Except for the fact that my grandfather wasn't bald, she could have been driving behind him.

the times they are a-changin'

I was sitting there at my sewing machine cranking out some products for my artfire shop yesterday, and I paused for a minute to get the next pieces together and had to kind of laugh.
This was my set-up...

My new fancy Brother with more computerized functions than I ever thought I would be using, my pincushion, and my iPhone. (Luckily there's enough room that I can have it sitting right there cranking out the tunes and not getting in the way of my sewing.)

I remember all the times learning to sew on my mom's Singer. The times I ended up in tears, fighting with my mother that I knew what I was doing, or that I just didn't want to hear what she was saying. (Now of course, I turn to her for advice and tips. Well, sometimes. haha.) She can hardly contain the excitement when I suggest a trip to Joann Fabrics together.
My grandmother never knew so much about who I am as a grown-up. She died right before my senior year in college, so she never even saw me through my student teaching years, having my own classroom. That saddens me a lot, since she was a teacher too. Let alone my transition to Children's Librarian, or my transition to motherhood. She would be floored that I sew as much as I do... I was quite anti-sewing in high school and college. Or maybe she wouldn't be that surprised - she would know it was in the genes.
Let alone my other grandmother - a former home ec teacher. She died when I was in 8th grade, so I feel like I know her even less. But I wonder what she would have to say about how I spend my afternoons.
I'd like to think that they would both want to sit down and sew with me. We'd have fun with my new machine, fun fabrics like minkee, and they'd help me get over my [irrational] fear of zippers and doll clothes. We'd talk quilts and cottons, and maybe they would even try to convince me that handwork isn't that bad. [I know better!] They would tell me about the joy of smocking a dress for me as a baby.
Then, of course, we'd all have a batch of chocolate chip cookies with milk. Because that's how all perfect days end. And we'd make up our project list for the next day!
(sounds like fun, right mom?)

old threads

I've been doing laundry and it still amazes me that my old college sweatshirt makes it through without falling to shreds. I got the sweatshirt almost exactly 15 years ago so I'd be able to show my freshman pride at the football game. It was so soft and fuzzy I waited as long as I could to wash it because I didn't want to lose it.
Now 15 years later it holds more memories than I can count. It has taken numerous trips across the country, cried with me and laughed with me.
So much I can't let go of.

I go back and forth about replacing the cuffs. Someday I'm sure I will replace them, when I have the courage to sew with knits. And when I have the courage to let go of the past. That's a hard thing for me to do! Right now, I cling to the sweatshirt as a reminder of all the places I've been. And it is a reminder of the work that will be to come.

Need your own little trip down memory lane? Listen to This Shirt by Mary Chapin Carpenter.
And remember a soft spot from your past.