Memorial Day Weekend

Lovely :)

Next, we vacation.

Until then...

~Stacy

Camping and Not Camping

This past weekend Chad and Charlotte went camping for the first time this season. They went to Punderson State Park (about an hour away from us) and loved it--they had perfect weather (though a little chilly) and, since they stayed over on a Sunday, there were hardly any other campers there.

Charlotte was SO excited to go. She skipped to the car with her backpack on yelling "buh bye, Mommy, I'm going camping!" She was a great sleeper in the tent--even sleeping through the middle of the night rustling near the campfire of raccoons having a midnight snack.

I stayed behind and did yard work, which was a remarkably less fun way to spend the time. But it was also a quiet and peaceful way to spend the time...which was nice. But after a long day of doing manual labor I treated myself to a hard earned sundae from Mitchell's Ice Cream, so there's that. 

The day began with two huge piles of dirt and mulch. With the help of my good friend Mike (who only required beer and food as payment, which is a pretty sweet deal) we laid new dirt where the groundhog tunnels had been collapsed, then covered everything with mulch. It was a lot of work and I am very, very glad it is done.

Before:

And after:

Now we can enjoy the upcoming Memorial Day weekend without involving any big yard projects. And it's supposed to be beautiful outside, so that makes it even better. Enjoy your week!

~Stacy

Summer Sewing

I've had some fun summery fabric hanging around since Christmas that was waiting for the right project, so after seeing a sea of pink and yellow in Charlotte's summer wardrobe I found the the right one: summer outfits.

I used a basic shorts pattern for both pairs--nothing fancy at all, and each only took 1/3 yard of fabric and about fifteen minutes!

The blue floral top is McCall's pattern 5835 and the white top is Butterick 3477. Both are size 2T but cut on a 3T length; the white one was still too short, which is why I added the eyelet trim. And, as per usual for these patterns, they still ended up being way too wide and needed to be taken in on the sides about 1.5". The blue top actually isn't finished yet--the yoke lining still needs to be hand sewn but you can't tell in the photos :) The construction of that top was a little odd...but the end result is cute.

Happy Sewing!

~Stacy

Outside Stuff

It feels like we've turned a definite corner with the seasons. I no longer worry that there might be a random day with snow or freezing temperatures. It's a nice feeling. Also nice is the burst of green that happened last week--the buds on the trees just blew up all of a sudden and now there's beautiful color everywhere. It is the best. 

It was a week of seasonal firsts, as in summer, which I know it isn't technically summer yet. But it feels more like it every day so I'm just going to pretend that it is.

We mowed the lawn, went to garage sales, bought a few hanging baskets, went on a wagon ride/walk and ran around outside without shoes on--all firsts for this pre-summer season.

The photo on the lower right is from Thursday, when we spent the morning at garage sales. I love doing that, and I'm happy that Charlotte loves it too. My mom and I gave her some random items to put in her purse and she was thrilled. She bought a Snow White nightlight at one sale and scored a free baby doll at another (photo in the top left shows the doll). When we were done she announced "I'm ready for the next garage sale!" so she'll be happy to find out we're doing it over again this week.

Today Chad and Charlotte spent some time setting up the tent and organizing their supplies for their camping trip next weekend. Charlotte asked all winter long when she could go camping again, so she can't wait to go (and neither can he). I think she was more excited preparing for her camping trip today than she was on Christmas morning.

I hope you're enjoying the weekend!

~Stacy

May and a Visit

This past weekend Chad's mom and sister visited from Maine. It was great to see them again and Charlotte had a blast--she's been asking all day today if we can pick them up from the airport again.

Though the weather wasn't awesome it did cooperate enough for us to do a few things outside: playground, lots of swing set use, tricycle riding demonstrations, and the botanical gardens. The gardens looked beautiful, with tulips and hydrangeas in full bloom. The children's garden is open for the season now and Charlotte proudly climbed up a large rock hill instead of the treehouse that is built for that purpose. Why take the easy way out, right?

On Sunday they took Charlotte shopping for her birthday presents (a few weeks early, since they wanted to be able to see her playing with her gifts in person for a change). Charlotte is a lucky girl. My trunk was full to bursting and now so is our living room :)

It was sad to see them go, but we all had a wonderful time. Their visit kept me busy enough that I didn't even really realize that it's already May. YES! May marks the beginning of my favorite half of the year. It's about time.

~Stacy