Happy 5th Birthday Ari

My Dearest Sweet Crazy Boy,

I don't know why 5 always hits hard, but it does. You are officially past the toddler stage and a little boy. Daddy and I have been noticing those changes the past couple months and we chuckle quietly together.

You bring the spice, fun, and laughs to our house. Many days we don't know whether to discipline or just laugh at you. Your love for all things crazy, jokes, and being a boy are worth it. You are the best big brother to your sisters. I love watching you play with them and snuggle them. My favorite moments are when you jump in bed with me and tell me everything. 

I should have known when you came flying into this world straight onto the floor screaming we would be in for a wild ride. It has been one too. I wouldn't change it any other way. You may drive me to the brink of insanity, but shhhh don't tell your siblings you may be my favorite just for your pure spice and fierce love (In the future when you read this siblings, I LOVE you all and each one I have a favorite for so no getting mad). Thank you for making life fun and exciting.

Happy 5th Birthday Little Boy, Mama LOVES you so much

Sew All the Swimsuits for the Splash Pad

I am taking a bit of a break from Feature Friday. Purely because I am not as prepared as I would like for this week's post AND I have to show some of what I have been working on. I just added up what I have sewn this month and I have sewn 20 items of clothing. It has been a lot. The kids go to bed and I sew. A lot is kid's things which goes so much faster. I have a pile to hem and then I can't wait to begin photographing. I am also in testing for something new so that has taken a bit of time.

I had a teacher who use to say, "When you stop learning you stop living." As I have grown older it has stuck with me. This month I have learned SOO many new sewing things. I have another post coming soon about those, but the biggest thing has been swimsuits!!

They are not as bad as they sound. Swim lining is as bad as it sounds. LOL That being said I made 4 rashguards and 3 swimsuits. The rashguards were easy beyond belief. I could sew start to finish those in 25 minutes including changing needles and threads. The swimsuits let's just say I have one that is half finished and don't look too closely at these. For my first ones, I am really happy. I learned so much and now I can tackle my own since I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time at the splash pad this summer.

The kids had so much fun and I did too. It was nice to enjoy the warm weather. I thought for sure the babies would cry. They loved every minute. Daphne just kept laughing hysterically. 

Fabric
Eli- Zenith and Quasar these whales are pretty awesome. I traded fabric with a friend. He loves them. I made his a little too big and so it will fit next year. He doesn't mind it, but it does hang a bit much.

Lilliana, Ari, Annalise, Daphne- All their fabric was purchased last year on clearance from Peek-A-Boo fabric shop. I still have plenty more for more swimsuits or rash guards.

The bows on the back of Lilliana's suit are from So Sew English from my swimsuit fabric. Lilliana preferred that pink.

Patterns

The rash guards are the Grand Slam from Peek-A-Boo pattern shop done in slim version except Eli's (I forgot).

Swimsuits is the Fun in the Sun suit from Peek-A-Boo pattern shop. It has other options. I got smart and added crotch buttons to Annalise and Daphne's suits.

Overall I feel good about them. Take the time to learn something new this weekend. 

Summer Fun

First things first, I need to announce last post's giveaway winner. Seriously only 1 person entered. I am so surprised since it would have been free product! Either way, my sweet sister Tosha will be receiving $50 in free product from Limelight by Alcone with Chelsea Carey . I am so excited to see how she likes it!



We have fully been enjoying summer break! I have gotten a lot of sewing done. I mean 12 items just this month and I have more to go! I have been using my camera more, blogging more, more water fun outside, more popsicles. It has been really great.


Lilliana finished soccer two weekends ago. I think we were all grateful for it to be done. Two seasons is a lot at this age. We kind of all agreed she isn't going to play this next year.She wants to take some art classes. Ari disliked it so much he never went back this spring and didn't complete all his games last fall. Normally we would have made him continue, but they way they did it for his age he never had a team. It was different and since then he refuses to continue.

We finally got the garden in. Sadly, the one thing I have had success with in the years past is not doing well. I have decided everything I knew about gardening can go out the window in Michigan. The climate between Idaho and here is just so different. I struggle with all the bugs too. I know they make bug spray for that, but honestly I don't want all that junk on them plus it causes problems with the bees. So, we will see how well it goes. The peppers, Kale, corn, and zucchini are doing well. The beans not so much. We will see how it continues to go. I had 3 wonderful helpers. Truth be told the boys are a real help. They did a lot of the hard work. All that crazy I complain about comes in handy when the heavy lifting needs done.

We are learning all the crazy things about having a Ginger Girl and keeping her covered in the sun. She hates hats and sunblock, but it is necessary with her skin.

She and Annalise love to get dirty.

The girls are keeping me on my toes. I can't leave them much anymore as they are into everything. Their favorite is pulling out all the tea and throwing it. They are quit the pair.

Needless to say, we are enjoying Summer as usual.