Morning Sunshine

Cora was so precious this morning when she woke up, 9:30am. She could smell the waffles that Patrick was so sweet to make me for breakfast. She calls them wapulls as I'm not sure she's mastered the f sound completely. She's such a joy to us and so readily embraces everything. Just a few minutes ago she was out trying to catch honeybees. She has no fear.



We've discovered that she really enjoys being home alone. She almost seems to do better without any siblings around. She seems to play longer and more imaginatively. She's our sweet ray of sunshine! My favorite part of the day are my morning cuddles with Cora. And she's such a cuddle bug.

Live and Learn

I am nervous even to type these words. I'm scared to make the committment of doing this again. I fear to fail. I want to use this blog as an outlet for me. I look around and see so many well written blogs and feel the competitive drive in myself gear up and then I want to quit. I do not know why I would rather not try then try and fail, but that's honest. That's me. That's where I am. I can acknowledge that and I can go from there.

So here's to posting about our life through a blog for personal history purposes. My goal is to make a small update every day for one week.

Peter Pan Returns

I have always wanted to do a group theme Halloween and never have gotten to do so. This year, about two weeks ago I had an idea that we could do Peter Pan. We all love the story and it's got enough characters that we could make it work.

I had to sell it to my picky 4 year old and the 7 year old who had said she wanted to be a witch. At first the 4 year old resisted and then he embraced it. Now he just wants to know where his costume is.

So, I've never made costumes before and now I have several to make in only a month. Eek!

We're going as:

DH: Captain Hook
Me: Wendy
DD: Tigerlily
DS: Peter Pan
DD: Tinkerbell (bought)

So now I have four costumes to make and another one that needs a little embellishment. I figured at $25 that I could use the less stress of one bought costume. Hers was the only one readily available in stores.

Captain Hook's costume will be based on a discontinued pattern:




Wendy's will be based on a McCall's pattern 4948 that I scored for $.99 yesterday and I'm thinking that the bottom of the dress is too full. I'm not sure if I should modify it or not. I can't see the worth in using that much fabric to do this costume.




I'm going for Disney's Wendy. Here's a picture that someone else took at Disneyland Paris, I think.




Question: Is this pattern going to look like Wendy even though it is somewhat different? Does it matter?


For Tigerlily I bought some microsuede yesterday for half price that will be embellished with some native indian looking ribbon. I went ahead and purchased the simple McCall's pattern for a basis. I like the triangle bottom look I've seen on some pre-made costumes and I like it longer like a dress. Probably with something tied around the waist to give it shape and form.




My son's Peter Pan costume will be based on Disneyland cast picture above. I'm trying to decide how to do it. He's picking about fabrics so I wanted something soft, which seems to also mean expensive. So I bought a misses t-shirt from Goodwill yesterday, v-neck and green and I'm hoping that we can modify it to be his shirt. I'm not really sure how to do it, as I'm a complete novice, but hopefully my mil can help me make all my dreams come true.

I think he will be wearing pants and not tights, as I do not think my picky little 4yo will agree to wear them. He has a thing for clothing be done the "right" way. I'm pretty sure he will not agree that tights are something that little boys wear.

Tinkerbell I bought, she just needs a little bit of wire for her wings so they'll stand up and I'm hoping to cover a pair of her shoes with lime green fabric or something. Maybe a fluffy ball for the end of her shoes.

"I am a Turkey" ??

I found this while putting away laundry this morning and it really made me laugh. This was Monday nights art project and I'm curious if it was Gillian or Samantha who added the 'a'. At any rate it's a beautiful turkey. The back is fun to read as well. I might scan it too.

I love Jane Austen!

I have always been such a fan of Jane Austen. I remember the first lengthy report I got to do on an author and book of my choice was on Pride & Prejudice. I love that book. I've read it many times. So, when I saw this quiz, I just had to take it. I was pleasingly surprised at the result. For those who know me you'll be amused as well.



Take the Quiz here!

You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a little to vocal in your honesty. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately.

What a day!

My rose decided to have one last bloom before it gets cold. It is the most beautiful it has looked since I planted it this summer. It never had this many blooms all at once until now. I think I'll be in for quite a treat next summer. The pity is that they really fade fast. The blooms on the left of the plant really only opened yesterday. By tomorrow they will have lost all of their petals, but they sure are gorgeous while they're there.



Yesterday I spent my birthday gift card to IKEA on a new sideboard for my dining room. It was tough to choose something from there. It's where I do all of my furniture dream building. In the end the number of drawers on this bad boy won me over. Nine new drawers have now been added to my kitchen! I'm so excited!! Now my table linens, trivets, and other goodies for setting the table and serving will have real homes. And that nasty free shelf will be gone from my dining room.

The only thing left to do is to put up chair rails, paint, and change the chandelier out. Oh, and move the larger table over. It'll be splendiferous!

Patrick and I spent almost all day getting this put together. Neither one of us realized the amount of work that would be needed to finish. I think I counted 14 different things that had to be done to each of those nine drawers before they were completed. The drawers alone made us rethink our policy on having someone else assemble our furniture.



Last, but definitely not least ... The best behaved children in the world! I'm biased, I know. They were all so wonderful today! And Oma told us that last night not a single one of them complained about going to bed. They were all even more delicious today than usual, listening, cooperating, cuddling. I don't think we could have gotten through the six hours of labor on that shelf without these three to keep us smiling. Thank you Gillian, Liam, and Cora for making each day so very special. It's an honor being your parents.

How many bites ...

How many bites does it take to get to the center of a Nerf ball? And why are they so yummy? I bought the kids some small Nerf balls yesterday, by evening Cora had discovered she could hold it up without her hands by only using her mouth. She was so proud! She was giggling about it and showing off until time for bed.

Inseparable

I had a friend say to me that I was lucky because I was going to be having another girl while I was pregnant with Cora. We were talking about not having sisters and I thought, yes, but I don't have a sister. She told me that I was lucky because I'd get to see a sister relationship in my own home and family and experience it that way. I didn't really think that she was right. Now I know she was.

Watching Gillian and Cora together, even with their 5 years in age difference is an amazing thing. The way they relate to each other is so different than the way that Gillian relates to Liam or Liam to Cora. They have this special bond. They enjoy just being in the same room together or sitting together.

Just before I took this photo Cora had been in Gillian's chair with her, of course, once the camera was in the room she never did it again. It was quite sweet. They really enjoy each other's company. It is one of those things that makes a parent smile. They played alongside each other until it was time for prayer last night.