Silverwood

After a bit of a break from Silverwood, we decided to get season passes again this year. The best part about season passes is that we don't feel like we have to make it a whole day affair...we can go for just a few hours or until kids get cranky, and we don't feel like we wasted our money! 

Yesterday we spent a few hours just riding the rides. We avoided the waterpark since it wasn't super warm. It is so nice to be able to do a lot of the rides as a family. We did the log ride, bumper boats, kiddie roller coaster, and big swing as a family, then the kids did a few rides by themselves. This was the first time the boys talked me into the bumper boats. They assured me that I wouldn't get very wet, but we all came out of that ride SOAKED! I should have known...

We came home from Silverwood and I got to have a sewing night! The dads were on kid duty at our house while the moms were sewing at another house. It was so nice to chat, sew, and be kid-free for a few hours. Unfortunately, my poor house got the bad end of that deal! But I did end up making some good progress on a birthday present for Arch, and it's much more fun to see with other people around.

Bears & Backpacks

My boys are very into hunting. They found a wii gun the other day (that goes with Big Game Hunter or some such game) and they have been carting it around the house hunting all sorts of animals. The gun has actually caused so many problems (with them fighting over it) that I've confiscated it for the moment. The animal that they seem to favor hunting is a bear. I'm not sure why, but that's what their doing in these pictures: bear hunting! Kind of surprising, considering the amount of deer who frequent our backyard...I would've expected more deer hunting (they have been nesting down under a tree right off of our deck).

And while these 2 have been bear hunting, and the oldest is in school, I was able to complete a sewing project that I'm pretty proud of: a backpack for Arch! We are going on vacation (soon!) and the littlest boy didn't have a backpack for the plane. It's not perfect, but he LOVES it, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't realize that it's not perfect, thankfully. I do really like the way it turned out, and I'm hoping to have an excuse to make another one so I can perfect it!

"Overalls" for B

Ever since I made Preston's "overalls" B has been wanting a pair.  I've taken a bit of a sewing hiatus after those stinkin' Christmas Care Bears, but since the weather has been so cold/snowy/windy I have gotten back in the sewing mood.  

Preston has actually already outgrown the first pair that I made for him, so along with this pair for B, I made him another pair as well.  I thought B's turned out pretty cute though...I made them from an old pair of shorts of mine since I pretty much refuse to wear shorts post-babies.  It took quite a bit of modifications to get them to work right (especially because I wanted to save the back pockets), but as long as you don't look too close, they look cute!  I realized AFTER I took the picture that he is kind of camouflaged by the stairs...oops.  

B showin' off his new "overalls"

The Latest Projects!

B's new shirt (I have almost conquered sewing knits...just one small pucker around the neckband of this one!)

And Preston's jeans. They're a little big, but he can keep them up at least!

Sewing for Mr. B

I finished a few more sewing projects last week! Bryton is definitely a little more reluctant (sounds a little bit better than "stubborn" right?) to try on clothes. I made him a t-shirt and jeans, but it turns out the t-shirt was too big and actually fits Preston. Oops. But the jeans fit, despite the fact that I didn't use a pattern and just kind of went for it. Next time I'll make a slightly higher rise because they are a little low on the waist, especially because I made cuffs on the pants so theoretically he would be able to wear them longer. Now he'll definitely outgrow the rise before the length. He's wearing the pants today...I wish I could get a picture but he's unwilling. I'll try to sneak one later after he's forgotten that I was trying to take a picture!

The t-shirt was incredibly difficult for me. I'm guessing it's because of the stretchy knit material. UGH! Complete frustration. It ended up a little bit puckered around the neck band but after a few re-do's, I decided to leave it because...well...I gave up. I'll get it right eventually. Plus, I recycled fabric from an old shirt of John's so I figured that must have had SOMETHING to do with it. It couldn't be my lack of experience, of course. :)

I'm in the process of making him a pair of corduroy pants from the Japanese Pochee magazine. They look like they're going to be really cute, but they probably won't fit perfectly either since I can't get him to try them on (or sit still long enough for me to measure him!).

Project #1: Compromise Pants

My new sewing machine got here yesterday, and since I have a gracious husband, I was able to finish a project! He cleaned up dinner and put all 3 kids to bed so I could work on the "compromise pants."

I ordered this Japanese pattern magazine for kids called Pochee. It has super cute kids patterns and a surprising amount of stuff for BOYS. Rare. It seems like there are about 10 patterns for girls for every 1 boy pattern normally, but Pochee has it right...they give almost equal attention to the boys! Anyway, I told the boys to look through the magazine and pick out something they wanted me to make. Well, they basically chose every pattern in the book (seriously, the stuff is CUTE), but Preston especially wanted overalls. Now, I love overalls on little boys, but I think Preston is a bit beyond the "little boy" stage, plus I was trying to imagine how he could independently use the bathroom in overalls. I don't want to stifle my children's fashion sense...however...ummm...I just didn't see overalls happening.

I managed to convince him that these suspender pants are in fact "overalls" and I think he's in L-O-V-E. They are far from perfect (seriously, what was I thinking using a pattern WITHOUT ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONS for my first apparel project?!), and they still need a little work (the suspenders are too long), but they actually look like pants! It turns out I'm not very good at sewing straight lines - I need practice! As a bonus, they actually FIT him as compared to the multiple pairs of pants he has that are gigantic on the waist but short in the legs.

After I finished the pants, I found out the REAL reason he wanted overalls. He put the pants on, shoved his hands in the pockets and said "Now I have pants like A Pocket for Corduroy."

He picked out his own shirt to go with his overalls - I think he did pretty well. And he looks so EDGY with his collar up. :)

Retail Therapy

A few months ago, my sewing machine broke. Not really sure what happened to it, but after determining that it was unfixable, I decided not to replace it. It's not like I used it that much, and it had been on the fritz for a while so I figured I could just live without one.

Apparently not. The weather is nasty, and I'm ready to take on a few projects. So, after a couple of days of intense research and driving John crazy with sewing machine talk, I placed an order for this...a cute little Janome:I'm excited! Except that for some reason, my order is being subjected to "Security Authorization" by the "Verification Team" - whatever that means. Not sure exactly what they are planning to verify, but I hope they do it quickly! Maybe they think I stole my own credit card?!