Spring Walk at Mill Hollow

A couple of weeks ago we went for a nice hike in the woods.  And by "hike", I mean a stroll along a smooth path whose length was under one mile.  We have been to this park before, but had never actually taken one of the designated paths.  It was sunny and warm and the boys were freshly awake from their naps.  I was just itching to get out in the local nature and see what spring flowers were blooming.  Mill Hollow's woods did not let me down!   Our little path took us through a wooded area that flitted about with a wetter / boggy area.  There were lots of maples, hickories, a few ashes, sycamores, oaks...and lots of ferns :-) 

The boys held up well.  Tamlin climb on and over every rock or fallen log that we came across.  It was fun to point out cool things that we saw together...mushrooms, spiders in their webs, smelly flowers, even a little garter snake.  Jude started well, but got a bit more ornery toward the end.  He has worn his croc shoes and often got little rocks in them (note to self...no crocs next time).  He got tired and wanted carried...and then wanted down to chase Tamlin...and then wanted up because he was tired (repeat).  But there were still many smiles and ice cream afterwards.

Yes...we are a hat family.

Frozen Dress

 We borrowed and watched Disney's Frozen movie this past week.  It was... cute.  Not my cup of tea because there was way too much singing.
But my neice loves it.... so a dress had to be made inspired by one the lead characters.

It was to be a dress up dress...so easy on/off and doesn't need to be lined.  And it had to have a cape.
And be sparkly.   This was key.
I used a peasant dress pattern from Simplicity 2377, which is an easy pattern, and I've used it before.
I had most of the fabric in my stash (I think I was going to do a Cinderella dress at some point).  I just had to pick up the sheer cape material.  Here's Tam modeling the nearly finished project.  I used a new old technique of torching the edge of the cape to finish it, instead of sewing a rolled hem or using the serger.  Easy and it gives a clean, wavy, finish.   I still have to put elastic in the cuff of the sleeves and finish the hem.  I may take in the waist...still considering...it was based on the 6x size of the pattern and may be a bit big.

Not exactly the same...but I didn't want to try form/fitting top without a pattern :-)
And it twirls well.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Jude!
On May 17, 2011, our little Jude was born...and now he is three years old!  He has grown so much in this last year.
 Latest accomplishments:
* Talking up a storm and always expressing his opinions
* Potty trained...mostly...and wearing big boy underwear
* Putting shoes on and off, at least his favorite Crocs
* Brushes teeth by himself
* Sings his ABCs, and can carry a tune :-)
* Sings "We will Rock You" and "Jingle Bells"
* Counts to 12, but skips a bit: 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12.
* Favorite # is 10..."1 and 0 make Ten!"
* Recognizes his shapes and colors.
* Favorite shape is the star
* Recognizes many letters, tries to read like big brother
* Knows his name starts with the letter "J"
* Very into art and craft projects at school. Likes to color with markers.  Drawings are mostly circles still.
* Still takes and afternoon nap, but some nights has a bugger of a time going to sleep in bed.
* Finished his first kiddy ice cream cone all by himself, and most of it got into his belly and not on his face.
* Knows his body parts.
* Great at running, kicking balls, and throwing overhand.  Loves to swing at playgrounds.
* Likes to pretend to be a puppy dog, especially when playing with grandparents' greyhound Kirby.
* Favorites are tiny cars and tiny airplanes, helicopters, geotrax trains and thomas trains, loves to cuddle and sit in laps, reading books, legos, and playing with friends.
* Gets frustrated easily when he can't do something or something isn't going his way.

Favorite phrases of late: 
"Don't know"
"Please help me"
"Play on kindle?"
"One and Zero make Ten"
"That's my car, and Tam's car, and mommy's car, and daddy's car" (As he points to 4 different cars, or trucks, or plants, or whatever vaugley resemebles a family).
"No!"
"I go potty"
"That makes me happy"
"You make me sad" (when he gets into trouble and is scolded).
"I do it"

We celebrated over a couple of weekends, which included a big party with neighbors, friends, and family and a smaller party with Brian's folks.  I made this Number Three shirts for the little guy the night before the party...he choose the yellow color and that there should be 3 stars.

We decorated the downstairs with balloons and streamers.  I know the boys love playing with balloons :-)

There was cake.  I freely admit I like to NOT have to make the cake.  Giant Eagle came through with an awesome Thomas the Tank Engine Cake. Jude thought it was Awesome!  After blowing out his candles, he immediately made to dive into the cake with both hands outstretched.  No, Jude!  Let us cut out pieces for everyone first.  Besides cake, Brian also made a big pot of chili, and lots of chips/dip/and veggies for everyone to eat.

There were presents...and all the kids wanted to help Jude open them.

Jude loved opening the wrapping paper...but wanted to play with each gift right away.

The grown ups had a good time mingling around and talking.  Our neighbors brought their new little baby for all of us to coo over.  It was good to see some of our friends from college again, which is one of the new luxuries of living closer to the Cleveland area.  The pack of kids had fun playing good guys / bad guys together...Ciearra was quite unnumbered by the boys, so she played princess dress up mostly by herself.  Jude had fun playing with all the older kids and being included in their games.

One of our great gifts to Jude (and Tamlin) was an imaginext castle.  I had been looking for this at consignment shops for over two years since it is not manufactured anymore.   I totally lucked out last winter and found it, with a whole bag full of knight dudes.  It has lights and sounds and trap doors and lots of other really cool functions.


And the dragon swivels around and CHOMPS DOWN ON THE KNIGHTS! 
How wicked cool is this!

 Jude was a little afraid that the dragon would chomp him at first.

It was a great party and everyone left with smiles and full bellies.   And, I'm pretty sure that his most favorite thing from the day was the Thomas Tank Engine and Coach that came on his cake, which he can now play with around the house.