dolly sue

I've started a big project this weekend that's keeping me busy.  I've been commissioned to make ten little dollies for a friend who will keep them on hand for baby gifts.  Avery was pretty sure that one of them must be for her, so I brought out her own little dolly in hopes of satisfying her, but she still figured a new one was coming her way.  I've since cut out and added an eleventh dolly to the line so she'll have a little surprise at the end of it all.

Avery liked the idea of putting together the dollies, matching hair with face and body, so I made her some paper pieces to keep her fingers out of my assembly line.  Her new paper dolly was cut out and named "Sue", which is likely after Avery's middle name, which she thinks is Sue.  (It's not.)

Here's the unfinished line-up!  Now I'm onto hand sewing eyes and cheeks and smiles.  Feels like I'm getting back in the groove of making things.  My mind (and various scraps of paper) are filling up with a list of "to-do" ideas.  Some would be perfect for Easter, which is coming up super soon, but a little pressure always does wonders with me!

Something else from my sewing stash is keeping us busy these days.  I saw this really simple idea on a blog recently and wondered why I hadn't thought of it already.  Avery's been loving my jar of colourful buttons.  The colour sorting only goes well when I stick around and keep prodding, but it is helping her begin to recognize the names of colours and which ones are the same.  On her own, the buttons become the filling for pies, lots and lots of pies.  While I'm feeling confident that we're out of the 'eat and swallow' stage, we did have a wake up call to remove the really small ones after Levi had to rescue a little blue button from Avery's nose.  It was way up there!

their fortieth

Happy 40th Anniversary to my wonderful parents!

I'm not good at sentimentalities, and the wordsmith in my house is definitely not me, so I will simply say that this fortieth day of my parents marriage has me feeling stirred with thanksgiving.  I like to think I can imagine how they're feeling on this day, but all I know is how I have been blessed by their solid example of a committed, God-centered, respectful, patient marriage and I am grateful.  Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!  We love you!

happy things

 :: Sunbathing - in gloriously warm, long forgotten, patches of sun.  Avery lay down and told me "I just takin' a break, Mom".

 :: Juicy red grapefruit - one of the few things that really satisfies right now.  For a while it was pickles, and then ginger ale, and then salt and vinegar chips.  Now the requirement is simply cold and juicy.

 :: Sunshine in flower form - a gift from our friend on the news of our birdie-to-be.

 :: New colouring and drawing books for the little girls.  No sharing necessary.

:: Favorite books becoming well worn.  For a little while, reading stories was getting the shrug from the little people, but they're taking an interest again.  I'll go through book after book for as long as they'll sit ... and sometimes I go on reading even when they don't.  Avery loves to read each book aloud after I've had my turn, and that's always fun to hear her take on the story and what she remembers.

 :: A bigger surplus of candy than we've ever had in the house.  Sour gummy worms (which Avery calls "sour creams"), fuzzy peaches, and jelly beans have been the ticket to getting Avery motivated in the potty training challenge ...

 :: along with stickers.  Success!  This little chart was the first creative thing I'd done in eons.  I've been dragging my heals around in this first trimester, car-sick slump and haven't had a creative stitch in my body ...

:: except for the creative stitches needed to sew up these two little dollies.  Sewn and posted to a new baby girl and her darling big sister.

Since we're on the topic of 'happy things', I interviewed Avery yesterday as we sat together with some books.  I asked her "What makes you happy?" and this is what she came up with:

- Daddy make Avery happy

- Mommy and Daddy help me up

- George make me happy (meaning Curious George)

- Jordan ... George and Jordan (her special college girlfriend ... and Curious George again)

- Aubun makes Avery happy (her other dear college girlfriend, Autumn)

- My kitchen at home

- Doctor's say "beep beep" in mine heart

- Doctor's office ... baby toys (the big enticement for all these new doctor visits)

- Lollipop ... Mommy sing it (yes, she's talking about The Chordettes, and yes I sing it)

- Avery's doctor makes happy me

- A baby toy makes happy me

- Jelly beans

- Butterflies in the sky ... bees in the sky ... bees in the clouds

- Clouds in the sky makin' honey cake

On with the weekend!  Hope you're surrounded by happy things ... like honey cake!

egg in the nest

No, we didn't find this tiny nest crooked up in a tree.  Things are far from looking like Spring around here.

Rather, this is just to say, that the Mister and I have another egg in our nest!

Baby #2 coming this October!

***

a break from my walls

Over the weekend, my sweet friend Marci sent me an impromptu invite to join her for a few days in Saskatoon.  She (being in Regina) was flying solo with her boys for the week and decided to go stay with her parents and thought I just might like a little getaway from Eston and my four walls just as much.  She was right and a little trip sounded just perfect to break up the "winter is lasting forever and I don't remember how to leave the house" blues.  So on Monday, Avery and I hopped in the van and joined her and the boys and the Conrad family.

Avery was delighted to have a houseful of new (to her) toys to play with as 'Grandpa and Grandma' Conrad have six grandkids and their house is perfectly set up for children and all their wants or needs.  She declared a wooden play kitchen stocked full with dishes and food "mine" and that made me SO sure she will love having her own play kitchen someday.  It was also such a treat for her to have new playmates for a few days - Ethan and Eli and their three Saskatoon cousins are so much fun.  She played her typical shy role at first, but by the second day she'd inducted herself as another grandkid.

It was a super treat for me to have a break from cooking and cleaning - and to be well fed with tasty home cooked meals, lovely teas, muffins and snacks.  Consider me inspired to get my making-meals-act together again (we've been in a bit of a slump around my house).  The best part was spending time with Marci and her parents.  What a wonderful family!  Even though we didn't leave the house much (thanks to a blizzard on Tuesday and kids that would have to be dragged out into it), it was still so nice to have a change of environment and sweet company!

 Thank you, Conrads!!

a brighter day

Okay winter, we need to have a talk.  You've been around with all your snow for 6 months now, and that's half a year ... HALF a YEAR!!  It's not natural.  I don't know if I have cabin fever or cabin boredom or what but I am just so done with being inside so much and so done with being so lethargic about any possible activity.  Today the sun is shining ... a relief after yesterdays life-sucking grey light ... and the temperature's risen by ten degrees to mix up a little slush in the street!  Slush!  You are so welcome!  Today's a good day to get out of slump-ville and start dreaming about gumboots and plotting out this year's veggie garden.  

These pics were taken by Avery.  She's really digging being the photographer lately and demands "tamera in mine hands, Mommy!" so she can push all the buttons herself.  My poor old camera is getting a work out being turned on and off over and over again, but I personally think it's been getting lazy on me and maybe it does deserve a little shaping up.  I've been thinking I need a photo challenge to encourage myself to see my little world differently.  Ideas are welcome!  Or something we could do together?  

This funny girl does not seem to be too effected by this endless winter, thank goodness.  She does very well at keeping things pretty bright around here.  She's been cracking us up lately with the things she's saying and her own beginner version of jokes and games.  This morning I woke up to hear her cheering in her bed.  One part: "Mommy ... Mommy", one part: "Yahoooo!!" with arms stretched up to the ceiling.  When I came to her she told me she wanted to sing Amazing Grace (which Levi has just barely started to include in the bedtime song list) and she did!  She sang "amazing grace, how sweet the sound" and gave herself a big cheer!  My precious girl, Jesus loves you immensely and he knows that you're just what I need.

twinsies

{ Avery Melita, November 2009 }

{ Evelyn May, February 2011 }

Almost a year ago, my dear friend Katie had a baby girl.  Some time after that happy news I picked out a little something from Avery's closet to share with sweet baby Evelyn when she had grown enough to fit into it.  Pink and brown stripes pretty well screams Katie Brown, and by default, Evy May.  Isn't she just the most darling little girl?