Over the long Weekend

I know it's a little late for a weekend recap post but it was a busy weekend, so it took me awhile to get my thoughts organized enough to write this post. Please forgive the cell phone pictures- I can't wait until I can upgrade and have a better quality camera on my phone. I know it will never be as great as my actually camera, but I can't always get my real camera out in time- life moves fast when you follow a two year old around. 

Saturday we spent the evening at a BBQ held by a club Brendon belongs to. Actually we spent most of the time next to the BBQ at the park playing while the men cooked- which Miss C was fine with because she is pretty shy, but we did sit and watch the guys play a couple rounds of corn hole. By the way, just so you know, corn hole is Brendon's new favorite game. The BBQ was fun, but I wish we had been able to stay for the outdoor movie- Brendon stayed and had a lot of fun but Missy and I had to go home and sleep.

Sunday we spent a lot of time outside, playing, running around, and most notably- blowing bubbles. Bubbles are the best part of being a kid.

We actually ended up making a family trip to the store to grab some more outdoor toys- and yes more bubbles because we ran out. 

It was a great way to spend the day, and to top the perfect Sunday off I had a surprise date with my sisters. I see my sisters all the time but I never get to spend "real" time with them. It was great to sit and talk and eat way too much. My sisters are a couple of years older than me, and they are very close, so sometimes I am more like a third wheel, but I always know that no matter what, they have my back. I had a lot of fun and I really hope we get to do it again soon. I did however fail as a blogger and didn't take any pictures- except some not so great food shots I shared on Instagram.  

It's a lot of fun to have an extra weekend day- in fact I think we should make a permanent change. Monday we broke out Miss C's new golf set, and our blow up pool- even though it was way too cold to swim!

In the afternoon we went to a graduation party for a friend of ours. She worked her butt off to get her degree and we couldn't be more proud of her. I didn't take many photos of the party because I haven't gotten over the awkwardness of taking pictures of strangers! Does anyone have any tips?

So maybe you guys can help me with something- and maybe this is just a phase. I feel like when I go to gatherings (which really isn't that often) I'm not really able to participate that much. Miss C gets so shy, and she wants to do her own thing (well, her own thing with Mommy by her side), or she wants to play with the other kids (but with mommy close by), which is fine I guess because she is a kid so that's just the way it is. It's kind of lonely though to stand off to the side of a group of people while you keep your kid from eating sand, or hitting another kid or whatever. I also find it harder to talk to adults without kids- which is insane because not many of my friends have kids. Maybe because it's hard to focus on a conversation about work/the weather/politics when your kid just snatched the sand toy away from another kid and said kid just started freaking out? Maybe I've just changed? Maybe I'm just a helicopter parent? Either way it just plain sucks. Do we ever get past this? Or will it just be a never ending cycle because at some point I will have another kid to keep from eating sand?

To end off on a happier note- look at the cute card I made! I got the idea from pinterest of course (link). I really like how it turned out- but if I make one again I plan on using lighter weight paper so it folds nicer. I hope you all have a great day tomorrow! 

Vintage May

Two of my favorite blogs to follow, Craftiness is not optional  and Skirt as Top, have been doing a segment this past month called Vintage May. It has been so much fun to see what vintage inspired pieces their guest bloggers made. You can see the round up of the guest posts- and flicker favorites here and here. I felt inspired to tackle my own vintage piece and I am pretty proud of it, even if I am a little sad that I didn't get this post up in time to share it with flicker group. 

I used a simpicty pattern from 1977, my Mother made this dress for my Sister when she was Miss C sized. The top left of the pattern has her notes about what year she made it and how much elastic she used for the sleeves- she made the long sleeve version. I love sewing with vintage patterns because I love reading the notes on them- especially when they were written by my mother and grandmother. 

I used fabric that my sister had in laying around in her stash- which was great because my hubby keeps complaining about my desire to buy new fabric for every project. The pinafore is made out of a nice white Swiss dot and the dress is a light weight quilting cotton with a small star print. I like the combo because it's a nice mix of vintage and modern quirky.  Miss C seems to like it- even if she keeps telling me she doesn't like it. Does anyone else's kid do this? 

Hope you all are having a marvelous evening, and I hope you click over to see the awesome Vintage May projects! 

Over the Weekend (and some other ramblings)

Today I opened my computer and thought- I have nothing to say. I have said it all. Again, and  again. I know that really there are things I could say- but I am feeling kind of repetitive, and blah. Really, I am just feeling blah, so please forgive my tone being not so perky. Tomorrow will be better- I think.  

This weekend we had a less than successful yard sale, I worked, and Brendon super cleaned the garage. And even though we were busy all weekend long I still feel guilty because every dish in the house is dirty, there is no food in the house, I haven't planned the meals for the week, and my to do list is insane. I struggle with the notion that I have to be perfect and do everything. But the reality is that I am a mostly stay at home mom- so everything is my "job". I think because it's my "job" I'm harder on myself too, because I don't know how to slack- I have a good work ethic, I expect the best from myself.  To top it all off, even though I want to just sit and sew and not think about anything (or read and not think about anything), I keep looking at all the amazing sewing bloggers I follow and  thinking "I'm soo not good enough for this". Sometimes I am really good at being positive about my creativity and my skill sewing, today is not one of those days. Do you ever get in a rut like this? How do you give yourself a swift kick in the tush and get back on track? I know that if I keep on with this I will sit and get nothing done- and failure is not an option right now! 

So, yesterday, while Brendon (with the help of my nephew) worked on transforming our garage, Miss C and I spent some time playing outside. Miss C received this tricycle for Christmas and every time she spots it she pitches a fit to sit on it- I say sit on it because her feet have never been able to touch the pedals. It kills her, shes just too short. That is, she was, until yesterday. 

She was soo excited! She hasn't gotten the swing of steering, or pedaling yet- and my back cannot  wait for that day to come. She had me push her around for what seemed like hours, but I think by the end she was getting a little better! I love that our little girl is so active, and wild, and crazy, and I love her determination. I think I can take lessons from her when it comes to determination. Maybe that would give me the push to quit moping.

 

Our Trip To The Baltimore Aquarium, Part 1a

On Cordelia's actual birthday, we went to the National Aquarium. Last year we took a family trip to the zoo. However, because of her current obsession with fish, we thought she might love a trip to the Aquarium- and man did she love it! At first she was a little overwhelmed by how big everything was, and how loud some of it was, but after about an hour she warmed up and was running around like a crazy kid saying "WOW!".

  Due to the  fact that Brendon works normal 9-5, Monday through Friday hours, it always feels super special to see him in the middle of the day on (in this case) a Tuesday and we hope to take Cordelia somewhere really fun each year on her birthday and spend quality time together as a family. So I'm not going to bore you with words, I'm just going to spam you with photos because I think they say more than I could. 

This turtle was white!

                                                                                                             His neck is sooo long!

These guys look like zombie frogs. 

These are my sister's favorite frogs.

By the way, Fish are really hard to photograph! 

 

I could stare at these guys all day. 

We got to watch a feeding!

A whole shark tank and  this is the only photo that came out clear! Miss C was completely amazed by the sharks. Our second time past the tanks she stood and held up her dolphin stuffed animal and made it swim back and forth with the sharks.

Hope you come back to see part 2 tomorrow!