Playing Dress Up

One of my favorite parts of Halloween is the costumes. I finished the girl's costumes this weekend -- and so this afternoon we took them over to Mike's parents to have a barbecue and took some photos of them all dressed up.

First they jumped in the leaves, of course...

Sierra's idea for her costume was intrinsically tied to having a matching costume for her doll, so we used some of the leftover material from Lily's to make her doll a matching outfit too. I made a similar 50's girl costume for Lily when she was tiny, so I used the same poodle I'd designed in the past for Sierra's only printed it bigger, and smaller :)

It was fun to show Lily some things about sewing and get her involved in helping make the costume for her doll. She got a little bored, and didn't help with every step, but she was so excited about how it turned out. Over the years I have gotten a lot more comfortable winging these kinds of projects because I like to save the money on patterns, and I have made enough skirts and vests by now I can whip them out pretty quickly. I have usually had more time than money and have been able to get fabric from Grandma's stashes to use for the major parts of my projects. I saved the red from my mom's stash for Lily's gypsy skirt and her shirt was a piece of a sheet I had saved from another project. I was a little bit unsure about pulling off the shirt, but I found a you tube tutorial about how to make it really easily, and Lily likes it so much she wore it plain to the pumpkin patch, and asked if she could wear it to school tomorrow, too! Mike says I should make her some more just to wear - I must say - she does look nice in it.

I really did not think I was going to have time to make costumes from scratch for Lily and Sierra this year now that I am working full time. But when the time came down to it, and they just assumed it would be business as usual -- I did not want them to be disappointed and feel another downer to my working than they already feel... Luckily, I have a little flexibility with my schedule and worked extra this month to get ready for a big fundraising event and had a little time I needed to take off - so I spent pretty much all day Friday sewing and got them done. Good thing I have gotten so much practice over the years and have gotten faster!

Here are my lovely gypsy and adorable poodle skirt girl!

Bring on Halloween!

First Day of School Sept 2018

Here's some pics from the girls first day of school! 

Thank heaven the wildfire smoke wasn't as bad as last year at this time! Can't believe my baby is in first grade and Lily is a big 5th grader! Here's to a great year!

My new favorite photo :)

Sparkly!

Off they go!

Milestones of the Mouth...

It's been a while since I had a free minute to post on here. So many home improvement projects and work has really been taking it out of me lately! Summer is the time to gear up for the coming school year and get our office in good order & I've been trying to take some time off to spend with family as well. The last couple of weeks I worked really hard in order to feel comfortable taking a week off for a little family vacation & then honestly that was an exhausting vacation! Some fun times with the highlights being away from the worst of the wild fire smoke for a few days & taking the kids to the zoo and the Olympic National Rainforest. I feel really behind on all the things I want to post, but I had to share these pics of the girls since Lily got her braces off yesterday...and before it's been too long since Sierra lost this tooth! The new one is already starting to poke itself through her gums.

 I'm gaga over this girl's cute smile!

 

Sierra lost one of her front teeth last month, and is so cute with this little gap toothed smile! I love to watch her talk with it and her little extra lispiness - it is too cute - I probably get all moony-eyed every time she launches into a lengthy explanation or story because it really is just so adorable. Why do they have to grow up!?

At the same time - -it is really wonderful to see them grow! I can't believe how much older Lily looks from the time she got her braces on last year.

 Is she not gorgeous!?

Such a relief for her to not need help to floss her teeth every night! (Not that I can take credit for it - Mike was the one who had the patience and perseverance to help in that area! So grateful for him and all he does for us - he is the best!)

Will have to catch up with other photos from the summer soon - our fireplace re-do, going to the lake this summer, my parents visit, Lily's birthday, did I even post Sierra's? our little vacation on the WA coast...Summer is going by far too fast! Grateful we still have until after Labor Day - not that we can get out and enjoy it too much with all the wildfire smoke! Happy to have more wind this year than last so it is not constantly as bad like it was last year!! Anyway, enough rambling for now - I am determined to go work on a beach painting I started a long time ago to hang in my bathroom. Determined! ;)

April 2018

Lily has helped me wash our plastic eggs in years past... This time it was a consequence, but Sierra chipped in to help her sister out and I think they ended up enjoying it. It always looks like so many more when you spread them all out opened up and especially when you do the close-up camera angle - these two are little comedians.

I'm another year older - I like this one with the lights dimmed - candlelight is an old flatterer ;)

I made a chocolate layer cake with chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings on top with our favorite Lindt chocolate bars, and a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting flavored with real strawberries.

They both turned out really good, but it was way too much cake for our little family party.

 Lily made me this lovely banner

Sierra hardly ever stands still long enough to get a good picture - even when the pose is her idea. Can't believe how tall my girls are growing! You wouldn't guess there was 4 years difference by their height!