Ahhh ... summer days

The boys (and I) are enjoying the first week of summer break.  The last week of school was fast and furious, with lots of end-of-school activities.  On Thursday, the kids had field day.

I was working the Otter Pop table, so I didn't get many pics, but this one makes me smile.

On Friday they had their last day of school, and Joel got to join Evan for the ride home on the bus.  We went to the mall to enjoy some frozen yogurt and buy some Legos.  That was pretty much a perfect way for the boys to start summer.

 

On Saturday the whole family went to the Bellevue Strawberry Festival.  The highlight for us was probably the strawberry shortcake eating contest.  That was the only thing that made the boys want to go, and we weren't sure if they would even compete.  But they could!

They just found out that they have to eat it with their hands behind their backs.  First one done wins.

Eat, eat, eat!!!

How did someone finish already?!?  At least they got spoons to finish it up.

Since then, they have been enjoying time together at home.  We have discussed things we want to do this summer, but they haven't really wanted to do any of those things yet.  They are quite content to stay home and play with each other.  They haven't even argued or hurt each other's feelings - too much, anyway.  They have been playing Legos, Monopoly, Wii, and reading.  Today I encouraged them to go outside and play in the beautiful sunlight for about an hour.  While out there, Joel made up a new game.  He is so creative!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for his future!  So, Joel took an empty milk jug and filled it about 1/3 of the way with water.  First he used a stick to bang it and make music.  Then he decided to use the stick as a target line and try to cross the line with the jug by throwing it backwards between his legs.  He and Evan had fun trying it out.

 

After that game, Joel found some more toys to make into a new game, but Evan was ready to get out of the "heat" (which might mean it is 70 degrees).   Right now they are watching Aladdin.  I started reading a version of the story to Joel and thought this movie might be fun for the afternoon. 

So, that's the beginning of our lazy summer.  Hopefully we will have more adventures later, but for right now we are just enjoying being together and using our imaginations.  I will enjoy it while I can!

T-shirt update: fitting and ribbon shirring

I have never attempted a tutorial like this before, but as I was working on this project I started getting excited about my ideas.  I am not guaranteeing that these ideas are original, but as far as I remember I didn't see these ideas anywhere else, unless otherwise stated.


I like having team t-shirts when I go to games, so since I moved to the Seattle area, I needed a few new shirts.  The cute women's shirts are more expensive, of course, and since we are trying to economize with the move I bought a cheap men's shirt to wear to a Mariners game.  It was fine, but after seeing several t-shirt redesign tutorials on pinterest, I decided to give it a try.  Today seemed a good day since I was wearing the shirt to the boys' school for sports day/field day.

I started out by sewing the side seams of the shirt to make it slightly fitted.  I followed this tutorial.  Then I thought I might like a little shirring on the side and was trying to figure out how to accomplish that.  This is the idea I had for adding ribbon shirring by using the existing seam I had just made.

First, I made a little snip in the seam just above the bottom hem. 

 

Then I started threading the ribbon through.  I took a 2-foot length of ribbon and folded it in half.  (Use more or less depending on the size of your shirt and how much of a tail you want to be visible.  Mine is not very long.)  Then I made about 3-4 stitches in the top of the fold with a larger needle, but did not tie off or cut the thread. 

I used  the needle to "thread" the ribbon through the slit and up the seam. 

I decided I wanted my ribbon to start about 9 inches from the hem of the shirt.  So, I measured up 9 inches and once the needle reached that point, I pushed the needle through the fabric.  I pulled the needle and thread until the top (or fold) of the ribbon reached that point in the seam.  (It took a little work to get my ribbon through the slit but one I got the fold through, it was quite easy.) 

Then I stitched through the seam and the fold of the ribbon several times.  I tied it off once I was satisfied and trimmed the thread. 

Now I was able to pull the ribbon and decide how much shirring I wanted.  I simply tied a bow in the ribbon and adjusted the shirring to make it even.  Not much of my bow shows, so next time I might make the ribbon longer.  Or, I could cut the hem off.  Or I could make the slit a little lower.

You can't really see the bow in this shot, but it does give you an idea of the extra shaping it adds.

You can see a little of the bow in the right side of this picture.

I am still thinking about cutting out some of the neck to make it more of a v-shape.  I am not quite happy with the sleeves, either, but I am not sure what to do with them.  I need to reinforce the side seams on my shirt, too.  But it worked for today and it was really comfortable.  I felt a little more feminine in it, too. 

I hope this tutorial made sense.  If you have any questions or constructive comments, please let me know!

Birthday Festivities

It's so hard to believe that my first born is having his last single-digit birthday this year!  He has been planning his party for about a month, and we were excited to have it all come together this past weekend.  We were thankful for the beautiful weather since this party was a flag football party in the park near our house.

We had a few activities for the early arrivers.  The kids got to apply some "eye black" tattoos and make some football keychains.  There was a football toss game, too, but they were most interested in playing the real football game!

Some of the kids had never played football before, but they all did really well!  They learned the game and really got into it.  Steve stayed on the field with them and tried to make sure that they all got some playing time, and got to try out different positions, too.

After some hard playing time on the field, it was time to replenish with food.  After lunch it was time for cake.  Evan had requested a lemon-lime cake, so I searched around and found a recipe for a light summer cake. 

Then it was time to open presents.  He got some fun presents, including some soccer balls.  The guys then all went back onto the field to play soccer.  They had a lot of fun, but I was watching and talking to the parents, so I didn't get any pics of the soccer.

After we got home, Evan got to open his present from his grandparents.  They gave him a badminton set and we have all been having SO much fun with it in the backyard!  Unfortunately, we need to replenish our supply of birdies soon.  The bushes seem to be eating them. 

Tomorrow will be his actual birthday, and I am trying to plan something extra-fun for him.  He gets out of school early, so I am trying to find a cool diversion for us for the afternoon. 

The Mother of All Days

or, Happy Mother's Day!

Since we have moved I have been thinking about my mom more.  Really, I think about her a lot so I am not sure that it has been more, but it does seem like it.  I still miss her like crazy and wish that she was here ... to know my boys, teach me how to can, spend time together, let me sit in her lap, etc.  (Yes, I still sat in her lap even after I was "grown" and married.)  Recently I have been remembering all the times that I and my nieces and nephews sat in her lap or laid our heads in her lap while we were in church.  Since my children have been raised in churches that have children's church I haven't really done that with them.  But our church here has the kids stay in the service with the parents a few times each year.  Once a month they stay out just for the singing.  About 4 times a year they stay for the whole service.  Today was one of those days.  And I had both of the boys laying on me or sitting in my lap for most of the service.  And it was nice.  And I thought of my mom and smiled instead of crying.

Joel woke me up this morning to give me my present.  It was shaped like a purse, and you opened it up to see two pages he had made.  I am sharing the second page since it is where he really wrote. 

I am irritated that this pic got flipped, and I can't flip it back.  But anyway, can you make it all out?  Apparently the only "work" that he knows that I do is "working" out.  And some days he has to go shopping with me when he gets out of school.

Evan gave me my presents at breakfast.  He had decorated a mug, made a flower, and made a card for me.  I am sharing the flower because that's where he wrote. 

You may have to click on it to read it, but my favorite is "Without you I'd be dead."

Steve got my favorite breakfast for me - an egg mcmuffin, hashbrown, and coffee.  He also gave me some tulips, ordered a new coffee carafe (since I broke mine last week), and is currently grilling some burgers and hot dogs for me.  He was telling a friend at church that he was grilling burgers for me today and the friend was a little surprised.  He didn't expect that a woman's favorite grilled food would be burgers.  But I do love those burgers.  And I made chili to go with it.  Yum-yum!

 

Well, I am going to call this post done, and get back to the family.  After I say again, Happy Mother's Day!

Staying busy

I thought I had blogged more recently than I have, so I guess I have some catching up to do.  We have been pretty busy the last few weeks with science week, a visiting Flat Stanley, working on the yard, and exploring our new surroundings.

Science week started with an egg drop at the boys' school.  The students who wanted to participate made a devise for holding a raw egg as it was dropped from a 70 foot tall firetruck ladder.  Joel chose not to participate, but Evan did.  He worked on a design, tested it, re-designed, etc, etc.  His final design worked from the second story of our home, but not at the school unfortunately.  It was a fun event and I am already looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next year.

The next night we went to the science fair assembly at school.  All of the projects were on displays, and students who had signed up were able to present their projects.  Both of the boys did projects, and Evan presented his.  He practiced a lot and did a good job of speaking loudly and talking about the project.  Way to go, Evan!

That Friday after school we took Flat Stanley into Seattle and West Seattle for some sightseeing.  We started off with getting some free Friday afternoon sodas from Jones Soda Co.  I have been wanting to do that since we moved here and finally made it when they were open!  We had fun trying lots of flavors. 

After that, we went to the waterfront area and visited Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe.  We were supposed to go there over Spring Break, but that was the day Joel got sick.  The boys were a little "freaked out" (to quote Joel) in there.  It has even been renamed "the freaky place" by Joel.  They saw mummies, shrunken heads, stuffed animals (including a 2-headed lamb) - to name a few things.  This place is a store and a museum of sorts.  It was the first time we had been, and I don't anticipate the boys asking to go back any time soon.

Then it was time to walk around Pike Place Market.  We saw lots of fun sights there, and even enjoyed a Texas-sized donut.  It was big enough for the whole family!  Of course, we visited the gross gum wall, too.  I thought the kids getting Flat Stanley back would be very interested in that.

After Steve got off work he joined us in the market and we took off for West Seattle and Alki Beach.  Our first stop was Spud's for dinner.  It was very yummy and we all enjoyed eating at "the oldest fast food restaurant in Seattle"!  After we ate, we walked across the street to the "beach".  Joel pointed out that it wasn't a real beach since it didn't have sand. 

The next day was Saturday, and it was time to head out for the Tulip Festival!  We went to a farm (with vegetables and animals), a tulip farm, and Padilla Bay for a bike ride.  It was a long day, but a lot of fun.

This week was a bit of a recovery week.  Evan and I did head out to a Mariners game last night.  It was our first game at Safeco field and we had a blast!  We went with a group from their school, so he was able to hang out with some friends, and I was able to talk to the moms.  And the Mariners won! 

In our "spare time" we have been working on the yard, too.  It's really been more Steve, but I have decided that I like working in the yard more here than I did in Texas.  I would assume it is because it is cooler here.  And the ground is easier to work with, too.  The yard is looking pretty good now and we have some beautiful flowers blooming.  We both have visions for what we would like the yard to look like in a few years.  Hopefully we can have fun together working to achieve that.

The Apparently Super-Busy Day

Evan and Joel brought home some potted seeds this morning from church.  I forgot to ask them about it until tonight.  Joel was already in bed so I asked Evan what they were, and he told me they are wildflower seeds.  I asked him if there was a significance to them, and he said there is but he forgot what it was.  I said, "You forgot?"  He said, "after the day I had ..."  So, I guess this day deserves a recap in the blog.

Before we headed to church this morning, the boys and their dad got in some Zelda-playtime.  At church the boys attended a kids' worship service and Sunday school while we attended adult Sunday school and then worship.  We had a guest speaker today for both services who talked about the current state of affairs in the Middle East and how they relate to Biblical prophesy.  It was really interesting!  And the guy is a radio host from Dallas, Kerby Anderson, so that was kind of fun, too.  After church, the boys had their usual snack and play time with the other kids from church. 

This is the school where our church meets.  Their mascot is the Sockeye - as in, salmon.  I think that's funny.

We came home and worked on Evan's science fair project some more (the one we started on Saturday).  We played a little outside, picked up a little inside, worked on the project some more, and then headed out for an adventure.  We joined an athletic and recreation club yesterday, and today we went back to enjoy it all together.  We started by playing some tennis together.  That was pretty fun until we (quickly) lost all of the tennis balls.  We were able to get two of them back, but we decided it was probably best to call it quits then.  After tennis we headed inside to an indoor pool.  Evan practiced swimming the length of the pool, which he successfully did many times.  He also practiced treading water for 60 seconds, which he also accomplished.  Looks like he should be able to pass the swimming test to be able to swim in the pool independently (while his dad and/or I are working out). 

Playing "Mr. Shark"

The boys playing tennis together while I hunt for one of the lost balls.

Once we got home from there, it was time to shower up, eat dinner, and work on the science fair some more.  There was a little more Zelda-time in there some where.  After dinner we worked on another project for scientists week - an egg drop launcher.  He started it yesterday, but got really motivated to finish it tonight.  After he got one model ready, the guys all took it outside to test it.  Unfortunately, the egg did not survive a 5-foot drop, so we are pretty sure that it wouldn't survive the 70-ft. drop that is the challenge.  He has some more ideas, so we will try to implement them tomorrow. 

There was more to the launcher, but this part held the busted egg, so it needed to be dumped out.

Evan got to stay up a little late tonight to finish the second trial of his science fair project.  Now we have one more to finish before the project is due Wednesday.  But we also have to finish the egg drop launcher by Tuesday morning.  So, it looks like tomorrow will be another busy day.  Maybe it won't wear him out quite so badly, though.

Not the Spring Break I had planned

That's the way life often goes.  I make plans for all of the fun things we will do, and then we don't do them.  Sometimes we find even more fun things to do, and sometimes we have bad attitudes and stay in our rooms.  Thankfully at least we didn't have a bad attitude week.

Monday the boys played at home a lot.  They had an impromptu playdate with some of the kids in the neighborhood.   And I met a couple of other moms in the neighborhood, too.

Tuesday we played at home again.  We made some "mock rocks" for Evan's class at school.  We tried to start Evan's science fair project, but I didn't read any directions for it and did it incorrectly.  So, I have found a new project that I have to talk him into trying. 

Wednesday was the game-changer.  Joel woke up feeling really bad and running a fever.  I got him in to the doctor that afternoon and found out he had strep.  Thankfully we caught it pretty early.

Thursday was the day that went about the way I had planned it.  I had an upper endoscopy just as a re-check for the one I had several years ago.  I was really looking forward to a frappuccino and a looooong nap afterwards.  I was feeling a little more awake (and a lot hungrier) than I anticipated after it was over, so we all went to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet.  I was pretty tired (and stuffed) by the time we left.  I did get about a 6 hour nap once we got home, and it was lovely!  Unfortunately I didn't sleep too well that night.

Yesterday we worked in the yard mostly.  We started by weeding the flower beds and the yard.  That was exciting since the plants are different up here.  We weren't always sure what was a weed and what was "supposed" to be there.  We also weren't sure if some of the plants were dead or dormant.  So, we did what seemed right to us.  Then we went to get a few gardening supplies and picked up some new plants.  I am so excited about our purchases because they included roses!  I love roses and was sad to leave some special plants behind in Texas.  The houses here didn't have any roses planted, but did have some bare trellises.  We found some climbing roses on clearance yesterday and picked up one for each trellis.  We also got some herbs for my planter that Steve had made for me a while back.  The herbs we bought were already pretty healthy-looking.  I could even start using them now!  I was also missing the large rosemary plant in Texas, so I am glad that I have a little bitty one now to sort of replace it.

Today ... well, hopefully we can get in some park time or maybe even a trip to the Ballard locks.  Joel seems to feel 100% (or close to it) today.  He even pulled a loose tooth this morning by himself!  (Loose teeth have been traumatic for Joel so this was a major development!)  For right now we are just hanging out and enjoying the gorgeous weather.  It hasn't been the Spring Break I planned, but we have had some good family time together and that's what matters.