Tooting my own horn a little bit.
My caterpillar onesies have been included in a delightful treasury on Etsy called "A Rainbow on Caffeine". Yeah, my color love fits there.
(I recently lowered the prices on all my onesies ... the caterpillars are now only $12 each.)
My caterpillar onesies have been included in a delightful treasury on Etsy called "A Rainbow on Caffeine". Yeah, my color love fits there.
(I recently lowered the prices on all my onesies ... the caterpillars are now only $12 each.)
I made these pants (long shorts?) for River ... and I'm darn happy about it.
While this may not seem like a big deal to me it is. You see, I've tried to sew pants for him before and "epic fail" is all that comes to mind. Somehow, even on that skinny body I made shorts and pants that were too narrow in the waist, so narrow in the legs that they reminded me of something I wore in the 80's, too short (but not in a cool guy way), too long in the waist, or too short in the waist ... oh, just plain awful!
But this time the pattern I made (after tracing a pair of his shorts) worked. It worked! It did require a little tweaking as there was way too much rise the first time, but overall I'm thrilled.
I've since made him a pair of shorts from a bandanna and a pair of pants (which I did have to adjust a little -- I didn't have the legs tapering in at all and that looked terrible, with the tiniest amount of tapering they hang much better).
Next River project ... t-shirts. Maybe.
While this may not seem like a big deal to me it is. You see, I've tried to sew pants for him before and "epic fail" is all that comes to mind. Somehow, even on that skinny body I made shorts and pants that were too narrow in the waist, so narrow in the legs that they reminded me of something I wore in the 80's, too short (but not in a cool guy way), too long in the waist, or too short in the waist ... oh, just plain awful!
But this time the pattern I made (after tracing a pair of his shorts) worked. It worked! It did require a little tweaking as there was way too much rise the first time, but overall I'm thrilled.
I've since made him a pair of shorts from a bandanna and a pair of pants (which I did have to adjust a little -- I didn't have the legs tapering in at all and that looked terrible, with the tiniest amount of tapering they hang much better).
Next River project ... t-shirts. Maybe.
I found out the night before Cow Appreciation Day that we could actually participate. I was supposed to be watching one more child, which meant we wouldn't all fit in the car ... but due to a last minute cancellation we were good to go.
Which meant 8 costumes in a few short hours.
The kids had already painted a sheet just in case. Just about every inch of that sheet was used in some way - the last little pieces were made into ears, most of which were never worn or taken off immediately.
The 3 youngest girls got pillowcase dresses. The tops are a blue cow fabric and the bottoms are white muslin. I basted cow spots on and basted their tails on so they could remove them and wear the dresses on a day other than Cow Appreciation Day if they wanted to.
The rest of us got pants and tunics (or a summery sleeveless top for Mia ... because nothing was going to be easier to throw together than that!). Any sewing rules ever written were broken in the making of these outfits ... no finished seams, no measuring, no patterns, no pins, even the thread used was the wrong colors. By the end of the project my room was covered in little black and white bits and pieces, a cow explosion.
The kids loved the whole thing. They talked to every cow we passed on the way to ChickFilA. They mooed. They swished their tails. The little girls had to wear their dresses all afternoon so they could show their Mama's when they got picked up.
Which meant 8 costumes in a few short hours.
See the spots? Each one bled through to the driveway ... my driveway is now full of black blobs.
The 3 youngest girls got pillowcase dresses. The tops are a blue cow fabric and the bottoms are white muslin. I basted cow spots on and basted their tails on so they could remove them and wear the dresses on a day other than Cow Appreciation Day if they wanted to.
My cows.
Look at all the cows at the tables behind us!
The kids loved the whole thing. They talked to every cow we passed on the way to ChickFilA. They mooed. They swished their tails. The little girls had to wear their dresses all afternoon so they could show their Mama's when they got picked up.
His car seat matches. :)
And what exactly is Cow Appreciation Day, you ask. Well, if you go to ChickFilA on July 9th and dress like a cow you get a free meal. If you dress a little like a cow, say a t-shirt or face painted, you get an entree.
We're a little bit ChickFilA obsessed around here. Here too. Oh, and here's last years Cow Appreciation Day.
Cows love ice cream (this cow won't eat the cone, just the ice cream).
but Thank You. From the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of my daughter's heart. Thank you.
When I wrote the last post I didn't expect any positive or supportive response, I was just writing it to "have my say" and, maybe, encourage a few people to see things differently.
And then the support started coming. And I was blown away. Seriously, it feels like a blanket of reassurance and caring. I've cried so many tears of comfort over the last 24 hours. I hope that when my daughter reads the messages and e-mails that have come in she too feels differently about the negativity and feels a renewed, or at least reinvigorated, confidence that we did the right thing (because we did).
I'm sorry I can't respond to each message individually. I've read them all, I'm saving them all, each one has touched my heart, and they all mean the world to me.
Again, Thank You.
Jody
When I wrote the last post I didn't expect any positive or supportive response, I was just writing it to "have my say" and, maybe, encourage a few people to see things differently.
And then the support started coming. And I was blown away. Seriously, it feels like a blanket of reassurance and caring. I've cried so many tears of comfort over the last 24 hours. I hope that when my daughter reads the messages and e-mails that have come in she too feels differently about the negativity and feels a renewed, or at least reinvigorated, confidence that we did the right thing (because we did).
I'm sorry I can't respond to each message individually. I've read them all, I'm saving them all, each one has touched my heart, and they all mean the world to me.
Again, Thank You.
Jody
This post is far removed from anything I've posted about before. It is a subject I've completely avoided mentioning. However, as time goes on I've come to realize that I need to say something on the subject, I need to tell my side of the story.
So here goes ...
In February of this year I was looking for a pair of socks in my daughters room and found a letter written to her from her coach, who had also become a dear friend to all of us and a support person for my daughter (like a father to her) and our oldest son. This letter was 10 pages long, typed, in a plain white envelope - no handwriting or signature on it whatsoever. I glanced at the letter, was shocked, put it away, and later asked my daughter where it came from. She told me and also told me that she wasn't sure why he gave her the letter, but that she hadn't read it because she'd started to and it made her too uncomfortable. She explained to me that she didn't show me the letter because she didn't know what to do with it, she didn't want to get him in trouble, and she didn't want to lose him in her life.
It took me 3 days to read through the entire letter. It was extremely graphic and sexual and very, very inappropriate, detailing how to perform many sex acts. After finally reading it I alternated between crying and trying not to vomit.
I decided to sit down with the coach, his wife, and my mother to discuss the letter and its contents. I wanted his wife to be aware of what was going on so it couldn't just be swept under the rug, and my mother there as my witness and back-up person (I'm too passive at times, I wanted this to not be that time). In the meantime none of my children were to have any contact with the man. Instead of having this meeting he showed up at my house, alone and uninvited, to discuss it with me. As far as I'm concerned, that was intentional - he didn't want anyone to know, I believe. He admitted to me that he wrote the letter, said he did so because he was concerned about how close my daughter and her boyfriend were, and wanted to "scare her". I informed him that it was very inappropriate and crossed every line ever made, that subjects like that I'd handle with my child (and have never had a problem discussing with her). He apologized and then asked if he could still drive her to sailing(?!). I did also receive an e-mailed apology ... that said "nothing like that will ever happen again", not stating what "that" was.
The next day I gave a copy of the letter to my ex-husband (Jason) and he also had a talk with the coach, receiving the same response I did. At the same time Jason looked through all of our daughter's emails and facebook conversations with the coach and was even more concerned and sickened by what he found (though there were also many conversations that were very positive and supportive, not frightening at all).
Throughout the week or so that this went on our daughter was very upset with us and didn't want us to do anything about the situation. She did not want to get the coach in trouble, as she felt he was a father figure to her and a valuable part of her life, and was someone she loved and trusted. One evening Jason came over and showed her all the e-mails and pointed out the parts that didn't sit well, the parts that looked as if the coach might be "grooming" her - where he mentioned that he was the only man she could trust, that he was upset when she didn't give him attention in a group, etc. (or he could just be a caring man, it's so hard to tell, and we're not experts at this stuff, of course). I tried to tell her, gently, that I knew this was horrible for her right now, but that we needed to work to prevent something more horrible from happening to her or anyone else in the future.
Over this time I really wrestled with what to do with this information. The letter was inappropriate, other actions seemed to raise red flags. But we'd known this man for many years. Nothing like this had ever been reported before (I scoured the internet and found nothing negative at all about him). He has done great things with kids and great things with the community. He has a family, children, grandchildren. All around, we've always felt he was a really great guy. It was so hard for me to grasp this, to believe it. On the other hand ... what if next time it went further than a letter ... and how was I to know if it would or wouldn't? Could I sit and do nothing and just hope that never happened? What if it someone else's child had gotten that letter? I'd want to know. These kids go to events with the coach and often shared a room with him, something we all felt comfortable with and had no problem with ... I'd want to know about this and I'd be pretty ticked if someone else knew something like this and didn't share it - it seems to me that'd be contributing to the problem, it'd certainly affect the decisions I'd make in the future. When it came down to it, doing what we felt was necessary for our children and everyone else's children was the only option.
So Jason and I did two things. First we called the abuse hot line, to see what they suggested and whether or not they felt it was something to pursue. The counselor we spoke with told us to call the police, which we did, and they actually called the police also - so whether we'd called the police or not the wheels were set into motion. We didn't know if the letter and/or accompanying emails/facebook communications would be considered sexually abusive or obscene but we felt it really wasn't our place to make that decision so we turned it over to the authorities, the experts. We knew that if they looked at the letter and thought it was nothing they would investigate and drop it, and that if they felt there was more there they'd do what they needed to do.
Second, we sent a copy of the letter to the directors of the sailing center and then met with them in person. That meeting was very disappointing, shocking even. I don't want to go into detail because the directors have changed their tune, at least in public, and seem to be working to create a positive environment for all the kids.
A week later the coach was arrested.
The day of the arrest the e-mails, messages, facebook posts, etc. began. What a terrible child we had, what horrible parents we were to allow her to do ___ (I have no idea what we allowed to happen here, no one would tell me that), etc. The consensus seemed to be that we were the enemy and the coach was the victim. I've seen the Lifetime Movie Networks shows, but I really didn't think it'd be that bad in real life. It was. Give it time, I thought, just give it time, let it sink in and feelings will change. I was available, with the letter and any other information I could provide, if anyone (parent) asked. I was willing to provide our side of things, just as I have above, and to answer any questions I could. I guess I should have posted our side of things then, but I really believed the evidence would speak for itself and that avoiding conflict and moving forward was the best way to go, and I was sure if anyone wanted information they'd ask. No one could believe the coach would do this ... I get that, I felt the same way ... however, he wrote the letter, plain and simple, and he alone is responsible for that.
Two families asked to see the letter. And only one family supported us through this, and they are an awesome family (thank you again!). No one else asked. To just accept that the victim was the criminal and the defendant was the victim ... without even attempting to understand ... Give it time, give it time. And yes, I'm sure there are some who chose to remain neutral, which is certainly fair and understandable and respectable.
We could have just walked away from the sailing center but my child(ren) did nothing wrong, I wasn't going to punish them for this. I left it up to them to decide if they wanted to continue to participate or not. Most of the kids at the center seem to have moved past this, they have either asked my daughter what happened or just moved on - kids are neat that way. The adults, well, hopefully in time it will get better, it has quite a bit (I'm not asking them to join Team Us ... just to stop the blaming and unpleasantness ... or at least try to see the other side of things).
And then this week a new article appeared in the Fort Myers News-Press this week, which is what prompted this post. This article originated with the defense attorney. From what I was told by the prosecuting attorney, she knew nothing about this article until after it was printed and was not asked for information for the article. Many of the statements from the defense attorney are untrue, and the last three lines/paragraphs are outright lies. This crap never should have been printed. What happened to crosschecking information? What happened to unbiased reporting? What happened to facts??? I have all the e-mails and messages, as well as the police report (which the newspaper has also) ... never, not once did my child ask for the information in the letter. Never.
On the legal front, he was originally charged with a felony, that was dropped to three misdemeanors, because proving something is "obscene" is difficult, the definition is basically "you'll know it when you see it" so what one judge may view as obscene another may see differently.
Did we make all this up? Did we want this to happen? Was this some sort of vicious revenge? Of course not. My kids have suffered so much because of this. The loss of a trusted friend, the loss of a great coach, the loss of trust, the loss of friends, the hurtful comments, the loneliness ... my daughter has cried far too much and my son spent ages staring sadly into space.
Looking back I don't wish I hadn't found the letter. I do wish it hadn't been written, I wish that whatever it was that led him to write the letter hadn't been occurring. But I have no idea where this would have ended up if I hadn't found the letter and we hadn't reported it, just as I have no idea what the coach was thinking. What we did with that letter and the related emails/messages was the only thing we could do, and I know we did the right thing.
And so that is my side of the situation.
So here goes ...
In February of this year I was looking for a pair of socks in my daughters room and found a letter written to her from her coach, who had also become a dear friend to all of us and a support person for my daughter (like a father to her) and our oldest son. This letter was 10 pages long, typed, in a plain white envelope - no handwriting or signature on it whatsoever. I glanced at the letter, was shocked, put it away, and later asked my daughter where it came from. She told me and also told me that she wasn't sure why he gave her the letter, but that she hadn't read it because she'd started to and it made her too uncomfortable. She explained to me that she didn't show me the letter because she didn't know what to do with it, she didn't want to get him in trouble, and she didn't want to lose him in her life.
It took me 3 days to read through the entire letter. It was extremely graphic and sexual and very, very inappropriate, detailing how to perform many sex acts. After finally reading it I alternated between crying and trying not to vomit.
I decided to sit down with the coach, his wife, and my mother to discuss the letter and its contents. I wanted his wife to be aware of what was going on so it couldn't just be swept under the rug, and my mother there as my witness and back-up person (I'm too passive at times, I wanted this to not be that time). In the meantime none of my children were to have any contact with the man. Instead of having this meeting he showed up at my house, alone and uninvited, to discuss it with me. As far as I'm concerned, that was intentional - he didn't want anyone to know, I believe. He admitted to me that he wrote the letter, said he did so because he was concerned about how close my daughter and her boyfriend were, and wanted to "scare her". I informed him that it was very inappropriate and crossed every line ever made, that subjects like that I'd handle with my child (and have never had a problem discussing with her). He apologized and then asked if he could still drive her to sailing(?!). I did also receive an e-mailed apology ... that said "nothing like that will ever happen again", not stating what "that" was.
The next day I gave a copy of the letter to my ex-husband (Jason) and he also had a talk with the coach, receiving the same response I did. At the same time Jason looked through all of our daughter's emails and facebook conversations with the coach and was even more concerned and sickened by what he found (though there were also many conversations that were very positive and supportive, not frightening at all).
Throughout the week or so that this went on our daughter was very upset with us and didn't want us to do anything about the situation. She did not want to get the coach in trouble, as she felt he was a father figure to her and a valuable part of her life, and was someone she loved and trusted. One evening Jason came over and showed her all the e-mails and pointed out the parts that didn't sit well, the parts that looked as if the coach might be "grooming" her - where he mentioned that he was the only man she could trust, that he was upset when she didn't give him attention in a group, etc. (or he could just be a caring man, it's so hard to tell, and we're not experts at this stuff, of course). I tried to tell her, gently, that I knew this was horrible for her right now, but that we needed to work to prevent something more horrible from happening to her or anyone else in the future.
Over this time I really wrestled with what to do with this information. The letter was inappropriate, other actions seemed to raise red flags. But we'd known this man for many years. Nothing like this had ever been reported before (I scoured the internet and found nothing negative at all about him). He has done great things with kids and great things with the community. He has a family, children, grandchildren. All around, we've always felt he was a really great guy. It was so hard for me to grasp this, to believe it. On the other hand ... what if next time it went further than a letter ... and how was I to know if it would or wouldn't? Could I sit and do nothing and just hope that never happened? What if it someone else's child had gotten that letter? I'd want to know. These kids go to events with the coach and often shared a room with him, something we all felt comfortable with and had no problem with ... I'd want to know about this and I'd be pretty ticked if someone else knew something like this and didn't share it - it seems to me that'd be contributing to the problem, it'd certainly affect the decisions I'd make in the future. When it came down to it, doing what we felt was necessary for our children and everyone else's children was the only option.
So Jason and I did two things. First we called the abuse hot line, to see what they suggested and whether or not they felt it was something to pursue. The counselor we spoke with told us to call the police, which we did, and they actually called the police also - so whether we'd called the police or not the wheels were set into motion. We didn't know if the letter and/or accompanying emails/facebook communications would be considered sexually abusive or obscene but we felt it really wasn't our place to make that decision so we turned it over to the authorities, the experts. We knew that if they looked at the letter and thought it was nothing they would investigate and drop it, and that if they felt there was more there they'd do what they needed to do.
Second, we sent a copy of the letter to the directors of the sailing center and then met with them in person. That meeting was very disappointing, shocking even. I don't want to go into detail because the directors have changed their tune, at least in public, and seem to be working to create a positive environment for all the kids.
A week later the coach was arrested.
The day of the arrest the e-mails, messages, facebook posts, etc. began. What a terrible child we had, what horrible parents we were to allow her to do ___ (I have no idea what we allowed to happen here, no one would tell me that), etc. The consensus seemed to be that we were the enemy and the coach was the victim. I've seen the Lifetime Movie Networks shows, but I really didn't think it'd be that bad in real life. It was. Give it time, I thought, just give it time, let it sink in and feelings will change. I was available, with the letter and any other information I could provide, if anyone (parent) asked. I was willing to provide our side of things, just as I have above, and to answer any questions I could. I guess I should have posted our side of things then, but I really believed the evidence would speak for itself and that avoiding conflict and moving forward was the best way to go, and I was sure if anyone wanted information they'd ask. No one could believe the coach would do this ... I get that, I felt the same way ... however, he wrote the letter, plain and simple, and he alone is responsible for that.
Two families asked to see the letter. And only one family supported us through this, and they are an awesome family (thank you again!). No one else asked. To just accept that the victim was the criminal and the defendant was the victim ... without even attempting to understand ... Give it time, give it time. And yes, I'm sure there are some who chose to remain neutral, which is certainly fair and understandable and respectable.
We could have just walked away from the sailing center but my child(ren) did nothing wrong, I wasn't going to punish them for this. I left it up to them to decide if they wanted to continue to participate or not. Most of the kids at the center seem to have moved past this, they have either asked my daughter what happened or just moved on - kids are neat that way. The adults, well, hopefully in time it will get better, it has quite a bit (I'm not asking them to join Team Us ... just to stop the blaming and unpleasantness ... or at least try to see the other side of things).
And then this week a new article appeared in the Fort Myers News-Press this week, which is what prompted this post. This article originated with the defense attorney. From what I was told by the prosecuting attorney, she knew nothing about this article until after it was printed and was not asked for information for the article. Many of the statements from the defense attorney are untrue, and the last three lines/paragraphs are outright lies. This crap never should have been printed. What happened to crosschecking information? What happened to unbiased reporting? What happened to facts??? I have all the e-mails and messages, as well as the police report (which the newspaper has also) ... never, not once did my child ask for the information in the letter. Never.
On the legal front, he was originally charged with a felony, that was dropped to three misdemeanors, because proving something is "obscene" is difficult, the definition is basically "you'll know it when you see it" so what one judge may view as obscene another may see differently.
Did we make all this up? Did we want this to happen? Was this some sort of vicious revenge? Of course not. My kids have suffered so much because of this. The loss of a trusted friend, the loss of a great coach, the loss of trust, the loss of friends, the hurtful comments, the loneliness ... my daughter has cried far too much and my son spent ages staring sadly into space.
Looking back I don't wish I hadn't found the letter. I do wish it hadn't been written, I wish that whatever it was that led him to write the letter hadn't been occurring. But I have no idea where this would have ended up if I hadn't found the letter and we hadn't reported it, just as I have no idea what the coach was thinking. What we did with that letter and the related emails/messages was the only thing we could do, and I know we did the right thing.
And so that is my side of the situation.
River: Yaya? (means Cassie)
Me: On a boat (she and Ian are gone for the week, sailing in the Dry Tortugas)
River: Yaya?
Me: On a boat.
River (giggling): Yaya?
Me: On a boat.
River: Yaya?
Me: On a boat.
River (laughing): Yaya?
Me (laughing): On a boat.
(repeated for the next 10 minutes or so)
River (sung to the tune of ihavenoideawhatbutaveryloudandcreativesong): Yaya? BOAT! BOAT! BOAT! Yaya. BOAT! BOOOOAAAAAAT. (repeated for the next ten minutes or so).
He loves his big sister A LOT.
A month or so ago I signed up for Groupon, billed as a site that offers an awesome deal a day in your city ... or a city near you as the closest one to me is Tampa, but we go there on occasion so, for the low, low price of an e-mail a day I figured it was worth it.
I've seen florists, restaurants, theaters, laundry services, and who knows what else show up. Needless to say, a good variety of deals. But nothing that flipped my skirt until today.
Today's deal was a $59 one-hour on-site photo shoot plus digital images from Angela Clifton Photography at a 79% discount. I need this very much. We have no good photos of all the kids, or all the kids and me. So I bought it. It's a splurge, I know, but not a huge one and given what it comes with I know it'll be well worth it. Of course, I'll let the location be chosen by her as we're out of her area. I'm so excited!
I highly recommend signing up for Groupon and their e-mail alerts. You never know what might come along and be just what you need.
(and I got the impression they'll be adding a lot more cities, I came across an ad looking for marketing reps. on Craig's List the other day)
**if you follow either of the Groupon links above to join up I will be on my way to earning a bonus, which I sure can use! Once you sign up you can start earning referral bonuses too, so it's all good. Thanks.
I've seen florists, restaurants, theaters, laundry services, and who knows what else show up. Needless to say, a good variety of deals. But nothing that flipped my skirt until today.
Today's deal was a $59 one-hour on-site photo shoot plus digital images from Angela Clifton Photography at a 79% discount. I need this very much. We have no good photos of all the kids, or all the kids and me. So I bought it. It's a splurge, I know, but not a huge one and given what it comes with I know it'll be well worth it. Of course, I'll let the location be chosen by her as we're out of her area. I'm so excited!
I highly recommend signing up for Groupon and their e-mail alerts. You never know what might come along and be just what you need.
(and I got the impression they'll be adding a lot more cities, I came across an ad looking for marketing reps. on Craig's List the other day)
**if you follow either of the Groupon links above to join up I will be on my way to earning a bonus, which I sure can use! Once you sign up you can start earning referral bonuses too, so it's all good. Thanks.
I forgot to mention this mail the other day:
Glidden had a give-away offer recently for paint testers. In the very generous package were two 2 oz. paint samples of my choosing as well as some other paint color ideas and a nice little idea book. 2 oz. of paint won't paint a room, it really is a sample, but it would easily paint a small toy or bit of wall. I choose two very light linen colors and am hoping one of them will be *the* color for the master bathroom.
And then today I received this:
12 coupons for free 20 oz. soda. I save and enter bottle caps at mycokerewards.com (ok, my daughter enters them ... she just finished a keyboarding/typing class and loves the practice). For every 10 caps entered a redemption can be made for this coupon. I have to honestly say though that I have no recollection of ordering 12 of these, there's a limit to how many caps can be entered a week and it's nowhere near enough to get 12 coupons. If I'm going to be in the car for any length of time I like to have a diet coke handy so I keep these with me and redeem as necessary.
Glidden had a give-away offer recently for paint testers. In the very generous package were two 2 oz. paint samples of my choosing as well as some other paint color ideas and a nice little idea book. 2 oz. of paint won't paint a room, it really is a sample, but it would easily paint a small toy or bit of wall. I choose two very light linen colors and am hoping one of them will be *the* color for the master bathroom.
And then today I received this:
12 coupons for free 20 oz. soda. I save and enter bottle caps at mycokerewards.com (ok, my daughter enters them ... she just finished a keyboarding/typing class and loves the practice). For every 10 caps entered a redemption can be made for this coupon. I have to honestly say though that I have no recollection of ordering 12 of these, there's a limit to how many caps can be entered a week and it's nowhere near enough to get 12 coupons. If I'm going to be in the car for any length of time I like to have a diet coke handy so I keep these with me and redeem as necessary.
Here are the other two dresses that were made while making the birthday gift dress.
I picked the fabric combinations for all three dresses before I began sewing. At that time I had no agenda, no idea who would end up with which dress. I just knew I liked the fabrics together. But then as I was sewing each dress it became perfectly clear to me exactly who I was making it for. Each dress is just right for the recipient, personality and color-wise, and I can't imagine them wearing one of the other dresses. After the dresses were finished I asked my kids which one was for which girl ... and they all guessed correctly. So odd to me that that worked out so well without any forethought.
For these two dresses I did not alter the bodice pattern at all, and both of these girls wear a 2t-3t. They have plenty of room widthwise and since the straps can be tied to be longer or shorter there's plenty of room lengthwise both now and as they get a little bigger.
Oh, I forgot to mention on the other post, I used significantly less fabric than was called for in the skirt. The width I used was 44", not the 70" (or close to that) that was supposed to be used. It was just a lot easier to go from edge to edge, and it still seemed good and wide. Turned out rather well, I think.
These two girls are still in diapers and one of them likes to remove her diaper (and other assorted clothing) so I made them coordinating diaper covers from the red Ikea print that is in both dresses. By googling "free diaper cover pattern" I found this wonderful and super easy cover. At the same time I found a wonderful blog in Prudent Baby ... lots of great inexpensive and quick projects and free patterns. Definitely worth taking a look at every so often.
I made my diaper covers a bit bigger than the pattern (maybe 1/2" on each side), which was said to be an 18-24 month or so size. and added extra elastic at the legs and both covers are still a little bit too small. I'm pretty sure that by adding a small panel of fabric at the crotch I can gain the extra height and leg room the girls need, so it should be a quick and easy fix. For the crotch and side seams I used french seams instead of just edge-stitching the raw edge.
Just for the record: googling "bloomers" is probably not the way to go when looking for a diaper cover. Quite an education to be had there ... I had no idea that bloomers were so sexy...
A few weeks ago the little kids and I went to play at the Imaginarium, our local children's museum. They have a pretty large area devoted to toddlers that the kids like. And it only has one not-too-large entrance so I can keep track of all of them easily. The play area has a good selection of books, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, which I read aloud while we were there. (must add: they really need to keep the play area updated and take care of the toys and books, too much broken and missing parts)
At about the same time we found a caterpillar on the lanai. As I moved him outside we took a good look at his camouflage (he had face markings on his back end and his coloring matched the grass perfectly) and talked about his future. The little kids were impressed by his fuzziness and movements and the 3 year old was awed by the life cycle of the caterpillar. Even now, weeks later, she asks about him - is he still outside, is he a butterfly, what does he look like now, etc.
And then yesterday I saw this post on facebook. It was a must.
Yesterday afternoon we got out the aprons and paint and made some adorable hand print caterpillars. Even River made one, and he does not like having dirty hands.
Look how cute:
This art project really is as easy as the directions make it sound. Paint some paint on their hands - we did the heads first and didn't paint the fingers for that one, and place the hands on the paper, remembering that it's all going to be upside while in progress.
After we were finished the kids wanted to paint with the paintbrushes. Seemed like a good idea, the brushes had paint on them already and it was washable paint.
Well, I think this was our fourth handprint project and the little ones have been paying attention. The two one year olds painted their hands, not their paper. River, not liking dirty hands, then wiped his paint hands all over his clothes and high chair ... and as I hurried over to remedy the situation he did it again. So yeah, it wasn't the best idea in the world ... but they were having fun laughing at me as I ran around crazily trying to clean them up and move them on to a new project. :)
At about the same time we found a caterpillar on the lanai. As I moved him outside we took a good look at his camouflage (he had face markings on his back end and his coloring matched the grass perfectly) and talked about his future. The little kids were impressed by his fuzziness and movements and the 3 year old was awed by the life cycle of the caterpillar. Even now, weeks later, she asks about him - is he still outside, is he a butterfly, what does he look like now, etc.
And then yesterday I saw this post on facebook. It was a must.
Yesterday afternoon we got out the aprons and paint and made some adorable hand print caterpillars. Even River made one, and he does not like having dirty hands.
Look how cute:
This art project really is as easy as the directions make it sound. Paint some paint on their hands - we did the heads first and didn't paint the fingers for that one, and place the hands on the paper, remembering that it's all going to be upside while in progress.
After we were finished the kids wanted to paint with the paintbrushes. Seemed like a good idea, the brushes had paint on them already and it was washable paint.
Well, I think this was our fourth handprint project and the little ones have been paying attention. The two one year olds painted their hands, not their paper. River, not liking dirty hands, then wiped his paint hands all over his clothes and high chair ... and as I hurried over to remedy the situation he did it again. So yeah, it wasn't the best idea in the world ... but they were having fun laughing at me as I ran around crazily trying to clean them up and move them on to a new project. :)
I find free samples and rebates to be a bit of a pain in the neck with lots of form-filling-out. (I have heard there are add-on programs that will fill out all the forms for you, but I haven't got one of those) But the rewards are SO worth it.
Above is yesterday's mail - a sample package from Vocalpoint of three Pampers cruisers and oodles of coupons - all in the most absolutely adorable box that looked like a clutch (confiscated by one of the little girls immediately), a $10 gift card to Target I earned taking a survey, and 3 $5 refund checks for purchasing Sorrento cheese (after the refunds I ended up paying $3.00 for 6 packages of Sorrento string cheese, which the kids loved).
For me an added bonus of requesting free samples and mailing for rebates is that by the time the item/money arrives I've completely forgotten about the transaction, so it really is just a little freebie to me. The free samples are great for traveling and often comes accompanied by coupons.
The rebate money goes directly towards debt balances. Yes, it comes out of the grocery budget initially and could go back into that budget, but I don't count on it coming so I've worked the budget already without it. When the checks go to the bank I'll use online bill pay to send the $ straight to the credit card I'm working on paying off. The $15 from yesterday won't pay off the debt, of course, but it lowers the balance without using money designated for anything else. I've heard of this being called the snowflaking. <- ok, I'm going to get bossy now, follow that link to Get Rich Slowly and read that blog. I mean it. Ok, while I'm at it ... this one too -> Dave Ramsey When I start losing my motivation or worrying about what to do next I sit down with those two sites and find my confidence and "sticktoitiveness" again.
Oh, and no bills in the mail yesterday. Gotta love that.
I'd tell you about today's mail but I only received one $10 rebate and a $1 coupon for Bounty paper towels (and again, no bills!). Slow day ...
I know a girl who's 3. And 3 is big. I know because she tells me all the time. Once in a while I attempt to gently disagree with her and point out that Kaden is 7 and he's taller than her and Cassie is 16 and that's a lot older and bigger. But she stands firm and points out that 3 is much bigger than 1 or 2, so 3 is big. And that's all there is to that. 3 is big.
She is also a princess, her favorite color is purple, and she has a little sister. If you were to meet her on the street she'd tell you that, usually before you have a chance to say hello.
She's one of the little ones I'm lucky enough to spend my days with.
Turning 3 happened at the beginning of June. I promised her I'd sew her something, as I'd done for her sister a few months ago, as a birthday gift. The thing was, when it was her sisters birthday I sewed for both of them. So I felt strongly that I should do that again (and no, of course that decision had nothing to do with the fact that I love sewing pretty little girly things). A few months ago another little girl joined us during the days, and I couldn't leave her out, of course, so that meant I had to sew three things.
So here it is the beginning of July. Yes, I procrastinated a little bit. Yesterday I had nothing I had to do during naptime and had no quilts begging to be pieced or sewn so it was the perfect opportunity to sew for the girls.
I googled "free girls dress pattern" and found this one. How cute is that? I used the toddler version of the pattern found here. As I was sewing this for a 3 year old and the pattern is for about an 18-24 month old I added a little width at the sides. I needn't have done that, it's fine that I did but it would have fit fine if I hadn't.
I am not one to use patterns or follow directions. This was simple enough that I had no problems at all with it. Well, I suppose I should admit that other than using the recommended seam allowances I didn't follow the directions at all and just did what I thought would work best, which may or may not have been what the directions said, I didn't read them so I don't know.
The purple was an afterthought, as the dress was being tried on I was given explicit instructions to add purple. I was told to get some dress paint that says "good to use on dresses" and just splash some on the dress - no, not paint it on like a pretty picture, just splash. And apparently, and this may or may not be common knowledge but it was news to me, princesses don't like pockets on their dresses, so purple pockets weren't happening. Sadly, I had no paint that said "good to use on dresses" and, apparently, and this may or may not be common knowledge but it was news to me, princesses don't like pockets on their dresses, so purple pockets weren't happening. So I added purple ribbon. She thought that was just fine (whew!). And I love, love, love it with the blue.
After trying on the dress this afternoon the dress stayed on. She wasn't taking it off. She likes it. Happy Birthday girl!
More on the other two dresses later ...
She is also a princess, her favorite color is purple, and she has a little sister. If you were to meet her on the street she'd tell you that, usually before you have a chance to say hello.
She's one of the little ones I'm lucky enough to spend my days with.
Turning 3 happened at the beginning of June. I promised her I'd sew her something, as I'd done for her sister a few months ago, as a birthday gift. The thing was, when it was her sisters birthday I sewed for both of them. So I felt strongly that I should do that again (and no, of course that decision had nothing to do with the fact that I love sewing pretty little girly things). A few months ago another little girl joined us during the days, and I couldn't leave her out, of course, so that meant I had to sew three things.
So here it is the beginning of July. Yes, I procrastinated a little bit. Yesterday I had nothing I had to do during naptime and had no quilts begging to be pieced or sewn so it was the perfect opportunity to sew for the girls.
I googled "free girls dress pattern" and found this one. How cute is that? I used the toddler version of the pattern found here. As I was sewing this for a 3 year old and the pattern is for about an 18-24 month old I added a little width at the sides. I needn't have done that, it's fine that I did but it would have fit fine if I hadn't.
I am not one to use patterns or follow directions. This was simple enough that I had no problems at all with it. Well, I suppose I should admit that other than using the recommended seam allowances I didn't follow the directions at all and just did what I thought would work best, which may or may not have been what the directions said, I didn't read them so I don't know.
The purple was an afterthought, as the dress was being tried on I was given explicit instructions to add purple. I was told to get some dress paint that says "good to use on dresses" and just splash some on the dress - no, not paint it on like a pretty picture, just splash. And apparently, and this may or may not be common knowledge but it was news to me, princesses don't like pockets on their dresses, so purple pockets weren't happening. Sadly, I had no paint that said "good to use on dresses" and, apparently, and this may or may not be common knowledge but it was news to me, princesses don't like pockets on their dresses, so purple pockets weren't happening. So I added purple ribbon. She thought that was just fine (whew!). And I love, love, love it with the blue.
After trying on the dress this afternoon the dress stayed on. She wasn't taking it off. She likes it. Happy Birthday girl!
More on the other two dresses later ...