On Pins & Needles

Hey y'all.

Not a lot has been going on with us. Just the normal Boy Scouts meetings, soccer practices, soccer games, AWANA, Bible studies, community group meetings, mentor meetings, dollar movies, and the like. All in a normal week! No wonder I'm exhausted...

I got the itch to do another sewing project. So off to Joann's I went, searching for a good pattern and some cute fabric. Much to my excitement, I found both!


I'll be making the jumper dress on the left in the above image. It looks like a pretty simple pattern; the only possible challenge is in the appliqued flowers. I might have to omit that if I can't get the flowers to come out right. It should be a fun project no matter what! I'll post an update when I have the dress looking like a dress rather than a bunch of scraps of fabric.

More Jack & Soccer

Jack Jack had a soccer game last night, and YES! He played! When I saw that he played, I really mean that he ran around and ran from the ball. Coach Kelley encouraged him to actually kick the ball at times. And two or three times, Coach asked Jack where the ball was, because apparently, Jack had no clue where the ball was. He was just running around on the field.

But as the following picture shows, Jack feels joy when he runs around out there on the field!



Poor Jack was so tired by the time the game rolled around that he had little interest in "playing." So he sat on Cade's lap and cheered his team on.



Our Raptors got shellacked by the other team, 11-2. It was very ugly. But the boys had a good time. And Coach Kelley has so much patience with them.

The Obligatory Halloween Post

Howdy folks! Sorry it's been a few weeks since I've posted. There ain't been much happening around these parts. The same ol' same ol', as the previous post points out.

In case you've been sequestered for jury duty, you know that yesterday was Halloween. And so we dressed our kids up in costumes and headed up to the church for our annual Fall Festival/Kids Karnival/whatever name it is this year. The carnival is a great time in the church parking lot. Lots of carnival booths, jump houses, a petting zoo, fire truck (with super-duper ladder extended up high!), police car (with flashing lights!), concessions, great music and some humorous banter over the PA system. A really fun time, if the kids can keep up with you.

Jack wanted to be a ghost. So I bought a cheap twin sheet set at Target and went to work, pinning, cutting and sewing the costume to custom-fit Jack's super squishy body. After the 5 whole minutes it took me to make the costume, Jack informs me that he doesn't want to wear it. Bummer. So Jack dressed up this year as a 4 year old boy.



Cade wanted to be a vampire for Halloween. But we told him no scary costumes (somehow, a plain ghost didn't qualify as scary. A vampire with blood around his mouth doesn't seem so cute on a 6 year old). So he just decided to wear his soccer uniform and be a soccer dude for Halloween. Fine with me! It's free! But after seeing Jack's ghost costume, Cade wanted one too. So I took the other sheet from the sheet set and custom-fit the costume to Cade's thin (aerodynamic!) body. Great! Unfortunately, Cade then informed me that he was going to stick with his soccer dude costume. Bummer. At least Cade was quasi-dressed for Halloween.



Now Claire Bear had to have a genuine cutesy costume. Since she's only 2 and doesn't have a vote, I deemed that she should be a ballerina. I found a pink leotard and ballet shoes at Target. We had pink tights. The only thing missing was the tutu. Thanks to the internet (if it's on the internet, then it's true!), I learned how to easily make a no-sew tutu. Claire didn't have a choice but to wear the costume I had put together for her. And she looked absolutely precious.


Here are some random photos taken from the evening:


A little putt putt. Grandad would be proud!




Jack playing a sifting for treats game.

Claire in the petting zoo. She kept trying to offer the chickens her Skittles.

Cade petting a ginormous BABY tortoise. This puppy will grow to be over 200 pounds by the time it's an adult!