Tank Top Dress and a Little Fashion Model

Hello, blog.

I go hot and cold with this thing.  Half the time I think, what's the point?  Who really cares what you have sewn or what you do with the kids?  But then I remember my mom...and my mother-in-law...and think, hey! They do!...I think...  Ha.  I sometimes feel weird sharing the posts on Facebook...but then I think...isn't that the point of a blog--to share?

I do like having a little scrapbook online here to keep track of what we've done.

We've been busy just doing summer things...which makes it real easy to forget about blog posts. :-)  Nick is in the homestretch of attaining his master's degree in exercise science, so he has been gone all day, every day for most of this summer, so, I have been attending to the kids from morning til night....which makes for sleepy Mommy.

I've been going back and forth between painting and sewing.  I go hot and cold, there, too!  I am painting the corn hole boards Nick made and will share them when they are both finished. I am 50% there.

Next for painting is the play kitchen!  Still waiting for someone to help me with the saw cuts.  Hmmmm.  On a walk with Marin last night, I found another much smaller old piece of furniture that I think I will turn into a mini play kitchen. Maybe Nick didn't notice the new addition to the garage?

I finally got around to sewing a dress I pinned on Pinterest 29 weeks ago!  You better believe I comment on each of my pins when I actually complete one. :-)

Here it is:

Of course, when you stand around taking fashion pictures of yourself (she says with a hearty laugh), this happens:

My little mini-me

I made the sash extra long for reasons beyond my conscious brain.  But it worked out.  Here is the back with the sash tied in a bow:

I am so thankful for my MIL's friend, Nancy, who sent the skirt fabric for me.  There was a lot of it!  She probably intended it for quilt backing.

Here is the link to the tutorial: Tank Top Dress

I have to tell you, though, I had a terrible time dealing with elastic thread in my bobbin.  I still have tons to learn!

In case you had any doubt your little children are watching you...

Our Summer So Far

A visit from Grandma Cinder

A trip to the zoo

Chalk Walk!

Scaling walls

Climbing trees

Getting down from trees

Bruschetta with fresh basil and dill and soon fresh tomatoes!

T-ball

Painting outside

Painting inside

Homemade dill pickles

Being goofy with my brother

Waiting for the fireworks to start in our pajamas

Tie-dye

Traditional trip to Cracker Barrel after camping in C-bus

Blueberries

The big blueberries are down low where no one squats!

Collected by Emory

First red tomato...might get eaten tomorrow! 

College Friends

This past weekend, I had the wonderful delight of spending some time with two of my dear friends I met in college 12 years ago.  It was a brief moment for me to see them, after many years of not, but it was awesome.  Andrea and Christine are best friends, and they came as a pair when I met them in college, I a freshman, and they juniors. Andrea held a surprise birthday party for Christine, who lives out of state.

Andrea was my spiritual mentor and Bible study leader, nurturing me as a young christian. Both ladies were spectacular encourage-ers and great friends with whom I was able to live with my sophomore year in an on-campus house.

First Sunday in the house; housewarming flowers from my sister.

Since we lived together...we ate together...we went to church together...had Bible study together...we did special things together...we all did music together.  Andrea and I organized the praise and worship for our weekly Crusade meetings. She sang and I contributed my voice and guitar and piano.

At Christine's birthday party, I started Marin singing the song, "Our God" to show everyone how much she loves to sing. Andrea and Christine joined in. It was an "ahhhhhhh" moment and it felt so good to hear our voices sing together again.

At a Campus Crusade for Christ leadership retreat

In order to live in a campus house, you and your roommates had to come up with a theme and a laid out plan as to how you would provide service to the community.  We called ourselves "Women of the Word (WOW)," and honestly, I can't remember what service we provided. Ha!  I think we cooked dinner once for all of our guy friends?!?!?  You know...showing them our domestic prowess?  :-P  GREAT service for the COMMUNITY, I know...but one of those guys did end up being my husband...so I guess the domestic proof was in the pudding! ;-)

W-O-W...get it?  Get it?  Shirts made by Andrea

Of course, I had to dig out hard copy photos and *scan* these. The normal person didn't have a digital camera back then.  We didn't take many pictures either!  I guess you didn't if you had to *pay* for film and *pay* for developing.  That just meant, you could live your life without having to capture every moment with a picture!  :-)

Andrea and me

Christine and me

Back when turtleneck sweaters were all the rage

Aren't we cute and so incredibly absolutely funny?  ;-)

Sadly, I have never heard from our fourth housemate again. She was the one I even shared a room and bunk bed with!  Guess that's just how it goes sometimes.

So happy to have briefly reconnected off of Facebook with these lovely ladies!