Ben let the children know his friend is allergic to ginger as we were getting ready to head to the BBQ. MissA quipped, “Who’s Ginger?”
I try to be honest, straightforward and get them thinking, so I explain that “ginger” is the British term for redheads. After all, *who* else is?
MissA squeaked out a worried, “So, he’s allergic to me?”
Apparently, this is the only picture of both toys together! About midnight (or was it 1AM?) I remembered that the children were invited to a joint birthday party today. And I didn’t have a gift yet. So, I grabbed the Wee Wonderfuls book and started crafting. I had already decided to make the giraffe and so it was traced, and I cut it out of the leftovers from a dress I had prepped to sew yesterday. The giraffe is for the 2yo boy. His big sister is 4 and I flipped through and picked the Tag-Along doll. I traced the pattern -searched for fabric!- and found a nice medium brown. I cut her legs from pink with polka dots and her dress is blue. I couldn’t find my corduroy, but I finally found it today and she has pretty black cord hair.
I think she came out cute. I had scheduled to be home at 11:30 to get them started sewn, but didn’t leave the coffee shop (where I study) till after noon! I could have used that extra half hour to finish the dress! And maybe make the giraffe a giraffe. Without the tail and horns, oh, and ears, he looks more like a tailless dinosaur, so we nicknamed him the giraffasaurus.
We played sidewalk chalk, pop the balloon, and musical chairs . There was a piñata and bouncy house.
Loads of fun!
Life is good. 
My MIL made there cute dresses and pants for the girls. Each has it own unique trim and hem treatment. She sent the scraps and I made a doll dress. MissB made a couple things, too. A collar pattern became a crown, a bodice pattern was used to make a bib. (I’ll try to get pics later)
We’ve gone on a couple picnics.
They took me to the range on Mother’s Day. <3
The girls made cupcakes (or tasty hockey pucks). yum!
Ben helped the children make s’mores. (that’s blueberry stains all over him. Ben also got to clean the carpet!)
We flew the kite. And lots more! Have a great weekend!
LX has taken over the balance bike full time:
When little ones start out learning balance, moving to a pedal bike is a quick to master skill. MissC has her bike and, at 4 years old, can ride it herself.
Ben wasn’t feeling well this morning. I wanted to let him rest and have some peace and quiet. So, after piano lessons, I drove up to San Francisco. And it only cost $430.50 to get my car back! Plus the parking fine.
There’s a bike shop up there I’d been meaning to visit for a long while, My Dutch Bike.
A bicycle built for four:
Simple, right? Drive to the city, find a garage or meter, slice a vein for the fee, go to the shop.
Another bike that can carry three:
The shop was nice. I had the children look at magazines while I tried out the Bakfiets . Try one. Seriously. It took me a couple minutes to be comfortable with the length and steering, then it seemed so natural!
Then LX and MissC got to ride along. Hooboy, did he howl! He’s not used to being ahead of me, so it may have been more like a roller coaster to him. Once he stopped screaming, he started calling out , “Oh, no!” each time we neared someone or as I cornered. Back at the shop, he scrambled out as soon as his seatbelt was off. MissC, on the other hand, didn’t want to leave!
The children raced on Kinder Feets.
Then we walked back to where we parked. And kept going to check if we’d parked on the next street… And crossed one more for good measure when we came across a traffic cop.
So, yellow on a meter means delivery only. Don’t park by yellow meters in San Fran.
The officer suggested we head over and take the 14 bus to the impound. Only, I was flanked by five children, so the bus had left moments before by the time we found the right stop.
We kept walking. I had checked my phone when talking to the officer and the impound was 1.7 miles away. The children have covered that distance before, but I kept updating my phone to see if I could hop on a bus.
I gave MissA the camera, TJ pushed the stroller with sleeping LX, and the younger girls held my hands.
The gal at the impound was sweet, complementing the well-behaved children. My tired children.
Hep Cat has seen better days. And, today became one of them! Is it just me, or do others occasionally find toys without pieces or just the missing pieces? The cat or arm have surfaced many a time over this last year. But this time someone put both on the counter. Hurrah! (I’ve got to set myself up a mending basket..)
MissB found the pieces she needed for her dress pattern. She dutifully cut out enough pieces to make a dress and she used the machine to sew them together. Right sides out. Seams blazing in the sun. But she couldn’t figure out why the skirt was so much wider than the top! Finally, she asked for assistance. I helped her gather it, and showed her that if she put the right sides together, the seam is smoother when done. She did a great job!!
I noticed on Saturday that Ben’s step-mom’s birthday is coming up on Sunday. Yikes! I really need to catch up with my calendar. I think I miss 9/10 each year! Now that the baby’s bigger, I can do s little more. I think I’ve missed her birthday every year, though. What to do?
I searched google for horse quilt. I was looking for something simple enough that I can do it in a week. And found the Steadfast Steed on HGTV. And now everyone has a cold.. So, hopefully less than a week. I’m aiming to have the quilt top done, at least.
I worked all the centers at the same time, but I’m sure I’ll mix up the backgrounds -I already ripped more seams than ever before because of simple mistakes- so I’m doing this part separately.
The day I gave MissB her doll, the eye went missing. I was at a loss. How do I replace the eye without removing the hair or going in through the neck? It would be a fiasco of stuffing everywhere and wonky seams! MissB solved it by making her an eyepatch.
Finally, it dawned on me:
I had two blues and I picked the darker, but grabbed the wrong one! Oh well, I think it looks fine, and if she loses her other eye, I can (hopefully) still match it.
I don’t have my pattern any more! I’m sure it was lost in the Great Craftroom Gutting of ’09. Le sigh.
MissC begged me to buy this Dora fabric last year. I gave in and bought a yard or so, and yellow polka dots to match. In the secret fabric stash it went until.. She outgrew her size small apron! (really, she doesn’t seem to eat enough to outgrow anything!)
With all the doll sewing, she found the Dora fabric and started asking me for a dress (I bought it with an apron in mind). I pulled out MissB’s check apron from 4th of July -wow, I do need to make some bigger aprons- and laid it out. First I measured the outside, then the center of the skirt, and twisting the pieces this way and that cut the yoke and waistband. I think it was about an hour, two tops, until the Dora dressy apron was sewn. I ran off to the fabric store after dinner and found the perfect yellow flower button to match -it closes with a button on back, no ties to tangle up the washing.
Dora and Boots can ride along:
