One morning of late, my mother in law called to ask if she could have the kids for the morning. YEShowsooncantheycome? I used the time to sew flannel pajama pants for myself that had been waiting since the day after Thanksgiving sale at Joann Fabrics. Unfortunately, I did not have enough fabric to make the pajama shirt, so I made Helen a little nightie. Which turned out very cute. She looks like a little puff of pink cotton candy. It's only a trifle too big for her. I tried to teach her how to hold the skirt up while she walked, so she wouldn't keep tripping over it. Several times when she stepped on the hem, she plodded onward, on up into the nightie, pulling the neckline down nearly to her belly! She stood there with a very puzzled look.
Last week I got to watch Ava. Helen was delighted to host a friend. Here she is greeting Ava, wearing the introductory shirt that Mama made her. Ava wasn't sure what to make of Helen's attempts at hugs and kisses, and in true Ava fashion, stood back quietly gathering information to make up her emotions later.
Ava woke up from her nap before the other two little people. She was all teasing and smiles. Not wanting to go back downstairs to my typing, I quickly sewed something, and within 10-15 minutes, had this silly little kitty skirt for Helen mostly done. Meow, meow. She wore it Sunday, and proceeded to stick her thumbs in the waistband, pull out, look down, then let the skirt ride up to her armpits. This was after having taken her out into the lobby. She had a snotty nose that prevented her from joining the other little people in the nursery, and 5 minutes into the sermon, decided to make a run for it to the man across the aisle (whom she didn't know but thought looked friendly). When I hissed at her to come back, she sat down and grinned at me. I leaned down, grabbed her foot, and pulled her back to me. She started up a gigglefest, so I bolted.
Helen isn’t the only child around here getting new stuff.
We finally bought curtain rods to hang Owen’s curtains that I made from an Ikea quilt cover.
Originally, I had wanted to save money and go for the woodsy look of curtains billowing from tree branches.
Unfortunately, the branches I found belonged to an adolescent shrub of brush, and they weren’t sturdy enough.
Denying reality, I threaded them through the tab tops and rested them on the portable crib.
The longer the curtains hung there, the more the sticks sagged.
I’m sure Jason, loving husband that he is, would have actually hung them on the wall had I begged enough. He had even bought hooks at the hardware, but was looking hard at me, “Now HOW exactly do you want me to hang these things?
The hooks are going to be all over the map…”
The sticks eventually made friends with my compost pile.
The “W” on top of Owen’s shelf is a wannabe papier-mache piñata that didn’t get done in time for the W reunion this past summer. So I painted it and stuck it in Owen’s room.
I had wanted to hang it from the ceiling.
Guess I have the hooks now.
Jason himself was bit by the creative bug. Amazing, isn’t it? He took a pottery class in college, and the only thing he kept was an ugly head, which he attempted to recreate when we were all playing with play dough at the table the other night. The poor statue has a face only its creator could love. When we were at Ikea this past summer, we wanted to buy a child’s table and chairs. On looking at them more closely, the man said, “I could make that.” It was my turn to be skeptical. But hey kids, he proved himself! He used flooring scraps and made up his own pattern. The kids and I love it.
Jason worked on this project off and on for a couple of weeks, with the help and tools of a cabinet maker across the road from us. I am so proud of him! (Aren't you proud of him?) I printed a picture of what I wanted, sketched a few details, gave some measurements, and he did it!
My Dad lent a hand too. He and Jason mixed three different colors of stain to grant my picky-picky wish.
I should have removed the boxes of Kleenex and stacks of running magazines before I took pictures, but the room is a lot cleaner than it normally is. And look! I'll be able to reach my lamp all calm and sophisticated-like now, instead of heaving myself skyward, flailing for the switch. Ooh.
Sweet dreams!
