My daughter, the seamstress

Recently, Caitlyn has been impressing me with her sewing skills.  This is another talent I do not have, so I impressed with people who can do it.  Especially my daughter, as she receives no help from me!
Several months ago, a family friend helped Caitlyn sew a ball gown, most certainly a daunting project!  It went great and Caitlyn really enjoyed the process.
Since then, we have gotten our (been broken forever) sewing machine fixed and she has stayed busy! The top picture shows an old shirt of Bill's that she transformed into a top for Kelsey.  Thank you, Family Fun magazine, for the cute, yet simple idea! It looks adorable in person! 

The picture to the right shows the beginnings of a quilt, which is now complete except for the binding.  Wow.  Did I mention I am impressed? Now she is working on her second quilt, for a friend.  A good friend has saved lots of shirts throughout her kids' childhoods and Caitlyn is in the process of making them into a quilt.

I think reading all of those Laura Ingalls books when she was younger had an effect on her! Smile. 

I am truly impressed with what she has accomplished and can't wait to see what's next!

The Note

Kelsey and Bill are quite the fishermen lately.  Here is a note Kelsey (with a little help from Bill) left me the other morning.

Perhaps we need to work just a bit on punctuation ;0), but I thought it was awfully cute.

Have a great day!

Poster Contest!

Do we?

YES.  At this house, we definitely read more books.

If you know our family at all, you know we love our books. We also love our libraries. Free books, air conditioning, free books - what's not to love?

Recently Kelsey was a winner in a library poster contest.  Her poster will be displayed for a month.  Congratulations, Kelsey!

Watching the Olympics

As you may or may not know, we do not have a TV, so watching the Olympics meant a trip (or several) to Mamaw's, often in pajamas.

(Mamaw was here, too, even though she isn't in the picture.)

That also meant we were not free to roam off in our house, doing other things, when the coverage didn't interest us. And while every sport was interesting to a degree, the nearly endless coverage of beach volleyball didn't interest us for long. Bill liked the swimming, and the girls and I loved the gymnastics. Needless to say, we had plenty of down time waiting for our favorites. So now, at no extra charge to you, the section "How we amused ourselves during commercials and unfavorite events!"

All three girls did a lot of knitting and crocheting. 

As I do neither, this impresses me.

Kelsey, with some help from mom, worked on a cross-stitch butterfly.  She had a tangle here and there, but is moving right along.

Kelsey also did some really cute sleeping, when I didn't have my camera around.

One night as we were leaving, she just couldn't wake up.  She walked around, looking for her shoes, even though we were all showing her where they were and she was right next to them.  When we finally got her to the car, she was quite offended Keegan said she was still half-asleep, right before she closed her eyes again.  The next morning, she didn't remember any of it, and thought it was all quite funny.

Keegan and Kelsey took some Chix-o's. 

Keegan took copious notes, making lists of different countries, medal winners, athletes, etc. Ask her how many athletes Iraq had in the games and chances are good that she can tell you!

I took my trusty laptop and amused myself chatting and playing on Facebook.

Only Caitlyn would think to break in her new pointe shoes this way, haha.

  And finally, the #1 picture taking opportunity during commercial breaks... stretching!

(Don't hold this against me when you see it, Caitlyn. Everyone will just be impressed by your flexibility and work ethic. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Back to Blogging

This week is busy with meetings, the beginnings of dance, soccer, AWANA, and archery ("archery?!?" Yes, and we 've never even read the Hunger Games :), surgery scheduled for Bill, Nutcracker auditions, AND.... drum roll, please - the official return of me to blogging :D! I have missed it and look forward to getting going again.  Thanks to you who were loyal enough to keep checking in during this long dry spell. See you soon!

Wordless Wednesday