Family Reunion

This past weekend, the four of us headed to upstate NY. We rarely have weekends together, because Tray is usually working. It was so nice! We arrived after about 5 hours in the car, and the kids were so good! I couldn't believe how good they were, it gave us hope for the future!
We stayed in a "camp" on Owasco Lake. The kids got to play in the water, go kayaking, watch their cousins fish, try fishing, float on a raft, play with worms, sit around a fire, spend time with family, and just be. It was so nice to have both of them so preoccupied with their surroundings. It made me realize how much energy I spend keeping them both occupied with activities as we live in the city.
We got to have lunch with my grandma Marge in Skaneateles. It is always so nice to see her and I got to snap a few pictures of all of us.



I got to go on a run down a country road, the same road I've taken runs on in years past. Beautiful farms, rolling hills, the lake behind me, and no humidity. Then my mom and I took a nice road bike ride on Sunday. We were really moving!! We covered like 17 miles, but we were keeping a pretty quick average speed. At one point, we were sustaining 25 mph, which was so fun! And the drivers are so respectful-giving us our huge shoulder, and moving into another lane as they passed. For about 7 miles, not one car passed us. Refreshing.

Before we left, I got a package from PovertyJane. I co-won the giveaway that she held, so the girls got some SUPER cute custom jeans. The package was so fun, it had all kinds of extra handmade goodies in it that we've been playing with since then. Our gingerbread dough is chilling now, made from the kid's baking book she sent us! What a great treat!

New Hats

I am working on some new cycling caps. Here is the one I have completed:


It's quite tight, certainly an adult small, for someone who wants a hat that will stay ON under a helmet or in intense wind. Definitely not for people like me, with huge heads, thick hair, and a head that is very sensitive to anything!! But this hat is pretty sweet.
Material is from Circle Thrift, the same I used for the skirt shown in recent post.

Works in Progress

I am working with a bit of yarn. I started this wool soaker a while ago, and it's still a work in progress. It is this pattern.


I tried dyeing yarn for the first time in my life! This yarn is from my mom's stash, Icelandic wool yarn from God knows when. I used these directions for dyeing, which were great. I plan on using more kool aid to dye some fold-over-elastic that I have. It was easy to do and easy to clean up.
Ground beef anyone?


I will probably knit another soaker with this wool, as I want to get a bit better at them! It's a nice, easy, portable project.

Skirt Completed

The skirt is completed.
I am happy with how it turned out, and I am more in love with my sewing machine with each project we complete together!
Things I would change if I could do it over: I would make it longer. The material was from the thrift store so it allowed little room for lengthening!
I would have used lighter material. This material is kind of thick!

I really enjoyed making my first "free-hand" project with the aid of my dress form!! It was so nice to be able to pin it on, check out the pocket placement, check out the amount of gathers, etc. before committing to anything.

Now, onto laundry and knitting maybe!

Gliders

Today, we spent some time in Doylestown, PA, with Tray's family. His sister, Karla, and her two boys are up from Brazil for a month. What a treat it is to spend time with them, and with Tray's mom!!
Tray got to fulfill a dream today: he went up in a glider!! His friend Tom, who works/plays part-time at the bike shop, has his own glider and belongs to a club in Doylestown. He took Tray up and let Tray sit in the front seat and control the glider! It was so cool to see him get to do something that he has wanted to do for so long. Sage got to sit in the glider when it was on the ground, and she was really upset when it was time for Daddy to leave because she wanted to go up!!

povertyjane is holding a giveaway! check it out at her blog. she is a super cool mama of tons of kiddos, and they all live in the woods and live off the land (mostly). a hero of mine.

Today is Sage's birthday. Happy birthday girl, I love you so. You've been a sage since your birthday, when you came out at home despite complications and insanity. You sure weren't an 'Annabelle' then (our intended name for a girl), and you continue today with your bold, strong-willed personality. I love your spirit, you love to run around naked, screaming, and you love to dance. Here's to another great year!!

Sewing

I finished this shirt yesterday while the girls napped. I actually got a good nights rest on Monday night. I don't know why Fern slept so well, but she slept well again last night. So I know in mentioning it that I'm due for a week of sleep-less nights! The shirt was made from one of the patterns I got at Circle Thrift last week, and the material is from an old duvet. Cheap project! I think this shirt would make a good postpartum shirt, as it's easy to nurse with it on, and it's pretty modest. It was an easy stitch-up overall.