Is it summertime yet?

It's cold
Cold
COLD!

I'm tired of winter already.
So, I'm planning the summertime events already.
Let's see...

Camping, for sure.  A yurt in Pymatuming again? Booked...all friends and family invited :-)  Put-in-Bay again?  Certainly, but may wait to book to watch the weather.  Must remember to order a tent pole and get a new air mattress (ours has sprung a significant leak from little bouncing on it). 

Renaissance festivals are a must.  We enjoyed the Ohio Festival last year and plan to go again, especially since they are running the same great discount on tickets for Labor Day weekend.  I've got until June to order tickets and book a campsite.  We'll see if we can talk anyone else into the 3 hour drive and camping adventure.  Perhaps we'll hit the Geneva Medieval Festival this summer...though I always feel like our costumes are a bit more up-scale than anything there.  We're likely to talk family members into joining us for this one, though it's a bit harder to find discount tickets.

Great Wolf Lodge waterpark fun.  Booked...but haven't told the kiddos yet.  Can't wait for it to be a surprise.  They had so much fun last year and this year will be just a great with my new little niece joining in the water play.  Can't wait to get the ol' bathing suit out for this swimming adventure...and all the swimming we do in Lake Erie.

County fairs are traditions.  Perhaps we'll try the Erie county fair this year or we'll head to Lorain again.  Either way there will be animals, fried food, rides, and big ol' tractors.  Oh my, I think Tamlin will be big enough and want to go on the adult rides this year.  Can Brian and my stomachs handle it?

Family reunion!  Our cousin Rhonda has booked the pavilion so the date is set.  We'll try to make it as a 3 day weekend to see family...or maybe convince some of them to come over to our side of Cleveland for a pre-reunion visit.  Or maybe reunion on Saturday and Medieval Fair on Sunday AND county fair on one of those nights.  Or maybe a trip to Eddie's grill?

Eddie's Grill....a tradition to walk the stip, eat fried hot dogs, get doughnuts, and play arcade games.  We'll squeeze this in some weekend.

And then there are all the going ons in our own town...Third Thursdays, Walleye Festival, Wollybear Festival, countless music festivals....I can't wait for the late nights, the ice cream cones, the swimming, and the fireworks.

Really...is it summertime yet?!

Belts

My boys are growing, like most little boys do.
Tamlin seems to have grown several inches in just as many weeks.  He seems to be all legs and arms right now.  Jude has grown too...but mostly through the torso and arms.
This means that both boys have bumped up a size so that they could stay in clothes that cover all of their extremities.
However, their waists aren't large = pants fall down.
Answer = belts.
So, we made belts :-)
I had the webbing, D-rings, and velcro on hand, so I whipped up basic belts for both boys.
Then, I let them decorate them with fabric paint.
What a hoot.

They love them!  Jude has been sleeping with is the past two nights.  We'll see if I can get a snapshop with them wearing their latest creation.

A sewing project for me

Yep...The next sewing project I'm working on is for me.
I had picked up this pattern during a $1 sale at Joann's thinking I liked the skirts.  I have been wanting to make a victorian/steam-punk out fit just for the fun of it, but didn't have the material to whip one up yet.

Then, I hit the clearence sale and found some lovely green-blue tafeata material for cheap.  I couldn't resist.  I bought some...then realized I didn't get enough and had to go back...and missed the sale for the last 2 yards.  Oh, well.  The end result will still be cheaper than store bought.

Now completing any sewing project takes awhile, squeezed between work, kids, and life.  With the material in hand, I decided to make up the ruffle skirt with the green and perhaps the white shirt with a bit of chiffon.

So far,

• I've cut the pattern.
• Read the instructions,which seem easy enough.
• Gnashed my teeth realizing I'll have to put in a zipper.
• Got out my mannequin, added padding to it in the "right" places to fit my hip, waist, and chest measurements.
• Cut out the material (while the boys played with playdough).
• Over-locked stitched all the edges and narrowed hemmed most of the skirt.
• Sewed the gazzilion lengths of fabric to make all the ruffles and have just begun gathering them.

Next weekend, with luck, I'll add the ruffles to the skirt and start fitting the waist.  This will be the first thing I've made for myself that isn't just a draw-string or elastic waist...we'll see how it goes...I may still add in some elastic!


If I'm really good, and save extra extra money, I'll treat myself to a leather corset at the Renaissance festival this year or next to complete the outfit...or I'll break down, buy the busk and spring-steel boning and make my own.

Playdough

TWO DAYS of snow and freezing temperatures.
TWO DAYS of missed school.
And then a long cold weekend.
The boys were going crazy, which meant they were driving us crazy too. 
And I was sick of letting them watch TV/electronic games.

I broke out the playdough.

Our big 66qt rubber-maid bin of playdough and complimentary implements.

I opened a couple of cans...
Set the boys at the kitchen table...
And let them have at it.

No rules, except playdough stays in the kitchen.



 The car molds are still favorites.




 Rolling and cutting out shapes was a new fascination.

 Don't look, Shelly.  They mixed the colors. Gasp!  Tamlin had fun making cars in the molds and them smashing them with the roller, calling it demolition derby.

Two  hours.  They played with this stuff for nearly two hours with minimal supervision from me. 

 I was able to get much needed house-hold chores done and start on my latest sewing project :-)