Rudolph

This little guy (and his less-shiny friends) won't be unveiled in my shop for another couple of months, but I just had to share him here. I think he will need a less startled look in the future, but he's not bad for a first attempt, and I think he'll give the teddy bears a run for their money.

Blueberry Picking

Quotable

Taye came to me today and said,

"Mama, I have to tell you something. I'm not gonna ever do anything that isn't Mario. (thinking) But, I sure will sleep! And that's not a Mario thing - that's not an anything thing!"

The Garden

I still haven't killed it yet! Though the tomatoes have really overtaken the peppers, and the cucumber has gone crazy! I don't think we'll get much out of 3 of the 4 pepper plants, they're just not getting much sun. But we've got one good one, and I'll take a tomato over a pepper any day (Darius would disagree, he is a pepper fan).




My favorite to watch is the watermelon, I can't wait to see how it turns out. For some reason, I find it hard to believe I could actually grow watermelons. It seems tricky somehow. At any rate, I'm excited to see how the vines are coming along, and can't wait to see the little melons growing!

Swimming

Sunday, Jackie called and wanted to know if we'd like to do something "in nature" with her. Apparently, she was feeling a need to connect with Mother Nature. Anyway, after some back and forth, we decided to head to the lake for some swimming. Taye didn't want to swim, but wanted to play on the playground, and for us to bring his bathing suit just in case. Darius and Mya were very excited at the prospect of a swim. When we got there, Jackie and I brought them over to the water, where they instantly changed their minds. We put our towel right near the water, and I stood up to my ankles, just waiting and talking to Jackie. The two of them stood, looking at us as if we were evil for bringing them to that terrible place. After a moment, they reached out and held hands, united against the water monsters and evil Dr. Mama. Which is just how they stayed until Taye came bounding over, wanting to swim.


Well, then it was fun! If Taye was doing it, it must be a good thing. We all spent the next hour and a half or so swimming around. Taye goes in by himself, the others two prefer to cling to us, just in case.

When we left, we had to agree - that was the best $5 we've ever spent!

Old Home Day

On Saturday we went to Swanzey's Old Home day. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and there were lots of fun activities for the kids. They couldn't wait to go.


In the parking lot, they had all sorts of vehicles for the kids to check out, climb around in, and attempt to lift...

They even had a hot air balloon, which was inflated and just visible over the roof of the school while we were walking around the parking lot. By the time we decided to head over and get a closer look, they were deflating it and packing it up - apparently it was too windy. This is probably the third or fourth event we've been to that promised tethered air balloon rides (not that we've ever had the funds for that - it aint cheap - but we'd love to see them fly). Anyway, not once have they actually had the rides. It's always too windy. Very disappointing.

After the balloon, we decided to find a spot for our picnic lunch. They had kung fu and cheerleading demonstrations going on, so we decided to put our blanket nearby and have our lunch with entertainment.

The "train station" was right next to us, so as soon as we finished eating, Luis and the kids hopped on for a ride. The train had no tracks, it just rode around the parking lot and the buildings nearby.

Then there was face painting, a bounce house, dunk tank, and half a gazillion vendors. When we'd had our fill, we walked over to the library for the book sale. They were looking to get rid of as many as possible, and offered us a bag to fill with kids books for free. Then they sold me the dozen books I chose for only $5. Not a bad deal!

Up the street they had a big flea market, so you know we had to go there too! We got a few things, the big hits being an easel and an old Fisher Price toy.

I wish I knew what this is called, because it has been used non-stop since we brought it home (and you know all the tiny pieces will end up lost!)

Taye, in particular, really loves it. He used it for several hours that day. I'll give three guesses what he made first.....

Mario, of course!

Lately...

Darius and Daddy had a little fun with his hair one afternoon, while the rest of us were out.



Otherwise, there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here. We're boring, what can I say?

Just showing off...

It all started when Tia asked me to make some overalls for Ella. Since I already had the pants part down, overalls weren't a huge stretch, but it did take a couple tries to get them just right. Version 1.0 went down to Ella for a test drive. Once the bugs were figured out, I made Version 2.0 for Mya. They were a huge improvement over the first ones, but still had a couple of tiny improvements to be made. I finished version 3.0 before we went to Florida, but somehow forgot to give them to her while we were there. I finally mailed them down last week, along with her Christening gift, which was 2 weeks late. I'm such an awesome Godmother already!

Anyway, here are the long-awaited overalls, I love how they came out, and it seems they were a hit down South as well. :o) And, how cute is this baby? I adore her.



While I was working out the pattern for the overalls, it got me thinking. I figured if I could come up with that pattern, I could make more. So I decided to do just that. Ella's Christening gift was a dress I designed and knit just for her. I was very happy with how it came out:



I figured while I was at it, I may as well make something for Mya too (can you all believe how many times you've seen her in a dress so far this week? Shocking, isn't it?) I wanted something simple and sundress-y. This one I didn't plan too much in advance, I sort of worked it out as I went along. I want to make some small changes, but overall I'm happy with how it came out.




She wore it to the fireworks, which was a great way to see how it held up. The straps need improvement, but I think I know how I'll make them work.

This pattern design thing is lots of fun, I'm trying to figure out what to make next! Ideas?

Fireworks

This year we finally got back to the traditional Needham fireworks celebration. It was the usual amazing, fun time...plus hoola hoops, boffer battles (the kids totally won), and tug-of-war (I totally won, lots of times). They put on a great show, though I was so busy taking pictures and watching the kids enjoy (and listening to Mya shriek "fire!! fire!!") that I hardly watched the actual fireworks. We had a great day.