A little ART on Fun Friday

Greetings! Now that summer is upon us, I am instituting something called "Fun Fridays". This means we do less formal school work and more arts, crafts and games. I like games, but friends, I am not really very crafty. I know, some of you think because I have taken up sewing that surely, I have a fondness for crafts. I am learning that I do enjoy certain crafts but mostly the ones I think of as "productive, practical and useful." As far as crafts for children, you know, the ones involving goopy glue, pipe cleaners and who knows what else, I am not so great.

However, over the summer, I am going to make a real effort to do better with crafts for Ava & Jenna. We will continue with small amounts of reading, writing and arithmetic over the summer, and add in more fun, hands on activities. They already love to pick strawberries and blueberries, and in the artwork above, they are depicting berry picking. I do love the art they create and watching the bright, beeming smiles on their faces as they share it with you.

As for my summer plans, I am currently working on a custom bedskirt for our bed which I hope to follow with drapes and pillows. I would like to take down some wallpaper in both upstairs bathrooms, and do some painting in the kitchen and side entryway. I suppose we will see how all that goes.

A dear friend purchased some Bishop's dresses for us that are completed but need to be smocked. I am going to try my hand at smocking them after a lesson from a friend's mother who happens to be coming to Columbia next week and has graciously extended an offer to get me started on my smocking journey. I originally decided a while back that I was not going to pursue smocking right now, not for lack of interest, but because Ava & Jenna are getting older, and I just wasn't sure it would be the wisest use of my sewing time. Well, now plans have changed with these lovely dresses hanging in the closet all pleated but smock-less. Truthfully, I am very excited and glad to have this opportunity.

We will be around most of the summer except for a trip to Kentucky sometime in July and Wyoming in August. I hope everyone has a blessed Memorial day weekend.

Little Things

I am proud to announce that we, in the Woody household, have lived an entire week without using paper towels. I know, I know this seems either wierd, insignificant or both, but it is obviously better for the environment if we are not using a million paper towels a day. In addition, I am hoping it is easier on my wallet. Of course, I am using more cloth napkins and cleaning rags so we will see if I can keep this up for the long haul. I am not making any commitments just yet only sharing a small thing I am attempting.

We've had a busy couple of weeks, but then again isn't everyone busy? Ava & Jenna have had 2 end of the year choir performances already and have their Big Show at The Little Gym coming up on Friday.

We will officially be able to begin Kindergarten as of June 1st and are trying to come up with a name for our homeschoool (Yes, we have to have a name for the SC association of Independent Home Schools). That's all I can think of for now.

Me-Marvelous?

For Mother's Day, the girls Sunday School classes gave us a sweet laminated story each child had made about his or her mother entitled "My Marvelous Mom".

Well, here is what Ava wrote about me.

My Mom has brown hair. She cooks the best chocolate muffins. Everyday she has to brush her hair. She wears lipstick and mascara. She has a rule that you don't bring drinks upstairs. We like to go to Charleston together. I like to hear her sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." We play Bingo together. She prays for God to help us not mess up our rooms. If I could give my mom any gift in the world, I would give her clothes.

This is what Jenna wrote:

My Mom's hair is brown with a little blonde. She wears lipstick and powder. She makes yummy fish sticks for me to eat. Everyday she has to fold laundry. She likes to cook food for her friends. We go to restaurants together. I like to hear her sing "Summertime". We play Bingo together. She wears necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. She doesn't like for girls to run through the dining room. If I could give my mom any gift in the world, I would give her stuffed animals.

I still am not sure whether laughing or crying would be the most appropriate response to these! I think I sound a bit like a gypsy with all the make up and jewlery references, but oh well that's what they notice. The other things I think are interesting is that Jenna likes to hear me sing "Summertime"- that's a Bon Jovi song, and that she likes my fish sticks (Thanks Mrs. Paul's fish sticks). I mean really no mention of all the stuff I really do cook, just the frozen fish sticks.

The pictures were taken at the zoo yesterday. It was the last "Homeschool" Monday program at the zoo for this school year. You can't really see their skirts too well, but I made them on the serger and even figured out how to do the rolled hem without any difficulty.

Hope everyone had a great Mother's day!

Toccoa Falls

Last weekend, we went to Suches, Georgia. We make this trip several times a year, but we have never stopped at Toccoa Falls. We had to take a very slight detour to see the falls, but it was well worth it. The girls loved every minute of being right up next to the water and rocks as you will see from the photos.

The little white pants they are wearing were my first "stretchy" fabric project on my serger, and I think they turned our well. I put a lettuce edge on the bottom instead of a real hem, and it is a cute, whimsical addition.

I am also adding a picture of my serger which I am getting more and more comfortable using. I finished a project for Mother's day just a few minutes ago, but I can't say much about that yet. Lots going on around here over the weekend so I better sign off for now.

So as promised, this is the MORE I am adding. I have tried 4 times to upload some photos to post, but something must be wrong with blogger. Anyhow, I finally have added them one at a time. These are some of the things I have made for the girls for the summer. Nothing fancy, and in case you are curious, I often have to bribe them to pose for a photo. That's why Ava is not always smiling!

I am the proud new owner of a serger. I have used it to make a wrap skirt for myself- maybe I can get Ed to take a pic of me wearing it. The serger is awesome, but a bit intimidating, even for someone who is technically minded. I did spend 8 years working with audiology equipment, but none of that required 8 spools of thread on one machine! So far, I have only used 4 spools at one time. I am taking a serger project class tomorrow so hopefully that will boost my speed.

That's all for now!

Spring Happenings

So, These are some of our pictures of spring planting. The girls love to garden with Ed. I love the benefits of the garden: fresh organic produce! I will admit that I have not been an active participant in the gardening process.

I'll add more later!

Better Late than Never

First things first, I will be making some confessions during this blog post.

1. The girls and I went to Dunkin' Donuts this morning in our Jammies. I was even wearing my Ugg houseshoes. We only went through the drive thru, but that is the first time we have done that. Ed is in Dallas, and the coffee I made just wasn't cuttin' it this morning. As much as I like coffee, I am hit or miss with it suiting my palate.

2. I really do want to be a good blogger, but there are some things standing in my way.
Our new computer likes to hide the pictures when I download them even after I have tagged them. It is like an Easter egg hunt to find said pictures to post them. I also find my thoughts are very random and not in any logical order to share with anyone. I can barely string them together these days- Perhaps it is because I am going through the grammar stage of learning again with the girls and am retraining my brain to memorize things such as the presidents of the US. I can now sing the presidents in order and skip count through the
12's. Here's the humbling part, Ava & Jenna can do it better than I can!

Now, on to the actual pics I have posted. I don't know what order the pics are in, so bear with me. The kids are my nieces and nephews in Louisville. While Ed was in Kenya, the girls and I took a trip to visit my sister, Stacey and brother in law, Chris, who have added a new baby (Max) to their family. Clay is now a big brother! Sorry I didn't get any pics of Max b/c I was too busy holding and feeding him. We also got to see my brother, Neil and his lovely wife, Patricia and their sweet girls Lily and Beth. It was a great time to reconnect with them. Ava & Jenna had so much fun with their new found cousins. My father and his wife, Brenda also made the trip to the big city to see everyone.

The photo of Ava in the skirt and top is of a skirt I have made for them for summer. I am making most of their summer clothes (for better or worse). This leads to my next and last confession for this post.

3. Compulsion is defined as an irresistible persistent impulse to perform an act. So here goes, I have a sewing compulsion. It goes like this: I have cute fabric, but I need the right pattern for it OR I have a really sweet pattern but need just the right fabrics to make it. This leads to getting more fabric and even more patterns, and it is a never ending cycle. (At least Ed is understanding because of his woodworking. I may be getting a serger this summer. I have some patterns I am saving to make with the serger because they will go so much faster. Okay, I may not be able to wait to make them, but we'll see, and I will keep you posted.

I am typed out, but feel I have mostly caught you up on things here at Little House in FA. P.S. Ed came home this week with the just hatched premiere edition of magazine by Hobby Farms.