A little trip for busy bees

Oof. Pregnancy + toddler is hard work! I've managed to keep sewing, baking and making, but blogging has fallen by the wayside. I don't know how some of these bloggy mamas do it. Those broads are amazing. I've got lots to share so I'll start with our recent little summer vacay.

We decided not to deal with air travel this year and opted for a cabin on the Wenatchee river, only an hour and a half drive from Seattle. What a treat! The weather was great, we were in a little community with a playground and a pool just steps away and Lake Wenatchee was literally a 5 minute drive. We swam, we threw rocks in the river, we sat in the mud, we giggled and sunned. Before we left I did a little vacation sewing. A couple of pairs of maternity shorts for myself, some shorts for Jack and then while we were there, I finished the hand stitching on the next sized bucket hat (I'd already made Jack one in small).

They were all fun projects. For the mama shorts I drafted a pattern using a pair that fit when I wasn't preggo, leaving the fly open to accommodate some extra room in the waist area. I also cut the front extra low and made a simple elastic waist. One pair is thrifted brown corduroy and the other is a Laura Ashley print that I got on clearance a million years ago. Comfortable and easy. For Jack's shorts I did pretty much the same thing, using a pair of shorts that fit him well, I made a pattern and used an old linen shirt and one of Bruce's old polo's for the fabric. The hat is from Little Things to Sew. God I love that book. The patterns are so well written and easy to follow. This hat comes together pretty quickly especially considering how professional the finish is.  

We even caught a fish, and what are mini vacations for, if not for getting a little slimy?



Things we do after nap :: indoor "leaf" pile

I've been fascinated lately by "things we do after nap" going on over at Sew Liberated, mostly because I've found it hard at times to find creative activities to do with a 13 month old that aren't completely exasperating for one of both of us. Jack is old enough now for independent play which gives this happy momma a little more time to get some things done around the house. Jack isn't quite old enough not to put things in his mouth, or pay attention for more than a few minutes in any kind of guided environment. He is however, beginning to understand simple instructions and I wanted to encourage that by doing something a little more specific together. I was inspired by both a recent trip to the park and a recent trip to the mail box. Jack and I were admiring the lovely fall colors and I was reminiscing about making piles of leaves in my parents front yard as a kid. All that jumping and throwing was a blast. We only have evergreens in our yard so piles are unfortunately out. When we went to get the mail that afternoon and I saw the ridiculous stack of junk mail I had my ah-ha moment (the light bulb, not the band... but now I need to listen to "take on me").

Here's what we did. We tore all the junk paper into strips together.

And made our own indoor pile of "leaves". We threw them about and stomped around.

And then practiced putting them away in a paper bag.

I'll save this scrap paper for more indoor play as the weather continues to get less friendly around here and when we're finished Jack will hopefully be old enough for his first simple paper mache project. I do love me some paper mache. Theres recycling at its best my friends!

Technicolor Baby

Lets be clear. This is not my original idea. Though I'm not sure where I've seen it in the past, its popped up several times in several blogs over the last few years. Its one of those things I saw before Jack was born and filed into my "rainy-day with kids" memory bank. For those of you who live in and around Seattle, you'll know that today was a perfect day for such an activity.

It couldn't be much simpler, just 2 ingredients. Plain, vanilla, or in our case, honey flavored greek yogurt (it just has to be white and without fruit chunks) and the food coloring you undoubtedly already have in your cupboard.

I mixed up one of each of the colors I had, stripped Jack down to his diaper, and plopped a bit of each color onto the tray of his highchair. Instant, edible finger paint. Perfect for trying to get enough dairy into this slowly weaning baby and keeping him entertained for 15 minutes or so.

A nice rainy day mess and a fantastic excuse for a cosy afternoon bath.

Update: Squee! Jack and I got ourselves featured on Naptime Crafters!

Gardening, stash busting and true love.

Finally, something to show for my not very hard work in the garden this summer. A giant zucchini and a large yellow squash! I made 2 loaves of really delicious zucchini bread last week and I've been wanting to make more to freeze as well as to attempt a version including chocolate chips. Yum!


This afternoon I used a disposable nursing pad as a template to make these washable nursing pads. I used some weirdo flannel that was included in a package of fabrics I got for super cheap at the thrift store awhile ago for the fronts. For the backs I used some leftover terry cloth scraps and the sleeves of a robe we were given on the Caribbean cruise we took last winter. Judging by those materials you can see how badly I needed this destashing challenge. Sad. Anyhoo, I now have a large stack of washable nursing pads to wear at home. Yippee!


Lastly, this evening Bruce took me to Cafe Juanita to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary. This man is my favorite person in the whole world. He is my best friend and I can not wait to become parents with him. Love you so much Bruce. Happy Anniversary baby!