Caleb...Forever Our Baby!

Our eldest, Caleb, turned 21 on August 11th. He was in training at the time and we were out of state anyway. So we couldn't get together to celebrate. We have been trying for more than a month to connect with him. They get to this age and they are BUSY! But he found some time to come home last weekend. I fixed his favorite meal (totally turned out perfect!) and burned his birthday cake! LOL! Hence the cheesy store cake in the photo. :)

Here's our boy all grown up! He was more than 10 pounds at birth and as you can see, he's still a hulk. And totally wonderful in every way. We really love our boy!



Charity

Warning...Doting Mother Moment

BuckeyeSue left a comment below to please post pics of the kids on their big night. Well, that's all the excuse I needed. So if you're looking for hard core sewing info and not endless pics of my adorable child and his even more adorable childhood friend, then you'll want to skip this post. You've been warned. Excessive amounts of photos to follow....

This is The Princess in Pink. The sweet and lovely Miss Emily. This is about as close to a daughter as I'll ever get (along with her big sis, Sarah) - thanks to Pam's generousity in loaning out her wonderful girls when I get an itch to do girly things for a change!


Our baby...Sigh.


Caleb, our eldest, who was our rock during our day in ER. He took point for us, got Casey to the ball and played chauffeur for the kids.


Good friends since toddlerhood!




On their way!


The kids with our beautiful valley in the background


Okay...I'll stop now. Be grateful. I have LOTS more pics! :) :)

Charity

All Those Not In Favor Signify By Saying..."Weird, Mom."

I've got the dress below almost finished. The sleeves are set in and the upper edge gathered. The neckband is ready to attach (I ditched the quilting idea. Looked homemade-ish). So I slip the dress on to get an idea of fit before putting on the neckband. I'm standing in front of the mirror, still totally waffling about this style on me. My 17yo son walks by, pauses in front of the mirror with me and says "That looks weird, Mom."

Gee, thanks... :( :(

Actually, once I put on black nylons, black heels and accessories, it looked kind of cute. But it only looks good if it's fairly short. Shorter than I normally wear my skirts. If it goes knee length or longer, it starts to look like a nightgown! And while I like the lantern sleeves, on the already baggy, full dress, they're a bit much in the full-length variation. I'm going to do some horizontal tucks at the hem and will do the same on the sleeves to take out some of the fullness.

Jury's still out on this one. I'm going to finish it and then I'm going to have to make up my mind. Because it's rather trendy, it's not the kind of thing you can wear while still waffling between "Do I look cute?" or "Do I look silly?" I'm going to have settle it in my mind so I can wear the thing with a confident attitude.

Of course, that's hard to do when you've got a Tim Gunn wanna-be making snide remarks during your fitting sessions.

Charity

Bonus Day!

A basketball tournament in a small school has a way of wiping out any useful classroom work. When a girl's and boy's basketball road trip coincides the high school basically empties out. Not much gets done for the few that remain. Casey was told that of his four classes today, two were going to be make-up work (and he has none to make-up), one a party and the other is simply being a teacher's assistant. And that teacher is on the road trip. So...Craig said he could skip the day and the two of them are going snowboarding, then to dinner and a movie. Craig said not to look for them until late. So, you know what that means? A whole sewing day for me!!!



I made them a big batch of blueberry pancakes to provide some carb reserves for hitting the hills. Casey was too excited to eat much so the dog also had his share of carbs. I've just finished cleaning the kitchen, taking out the garbage and running the vacuum. I simply need to make my bed and fold a load of laundry and then the fun begins!



I plan to finish and photograph my suit. I will have to photograph it off the body until someone is here to help me take photos with it modeled. I will also finish up the entry form and pattern review necessary for entering the contest. After that is completed I plan to start on the red and blue suit below. Even though Pam hates it! LOL!! I may allow myself to be briefly sidetracked by a couple of quick skirts. We'll see. I always plan way more for these occasions than could possibly transpire in a month of Bonus Days!

But a girl can dream!!!!

UPDATE: Only thing I have left is to bind the interior sleeve seam allowances so that the jacket is perfectly finished inside. And then sew on the hook and eye closures. Probably about one hour left! Yeah!!!!

UPDATE:One sleeve bound one to go...



UPDATE: Jacket is done. I'll take a better pic tomm. It's dark now and this was the best I can do. I'm going to clean house a bit and then start on the next project.



Okay...here's a pic of me taken as best as I can with one hand in a mirror. Please note that this is me in all my have-not-done-my-hair or put-on-my-make-up glory. I was trying to maximize my time today. My desire to sew was stronger than my vanity. So, I do NOT feel as bad as I look. You can get a rough idea of what the suit looks like on. As you can see I need to lose more weight before this will look its best. But I was trying to make sure that it would still be in a size to fit after I lose the next 30 pounds. The skirt is just an elastic waist so I can tighten it easily enough.


Charity

First Day of School

At 16.5, this is Casey's second day of First Day of School. :) We homeschooled him until last year when he asked to attend a private Christian school. So this whole dropping them off at school thing is still new to me. And still makes me wistful and a little teary. We have so little time with our children. Each moment is precious to me. I am grateful for all the years we had together at home. Such wonderful memories. Good times. Lots of laughter. Last night I was making a late night run for lunch snacks. The cashier, picking up on the night-before-school cart contents, made a remark about how I must be doing the happy dance to have my kids out of my hair and my days to myself again. I don't get that and the whole mentality makes me sad.

A Small Town Hosts the Fourth

Seward, Alaska hosts what has to be one of the most unique Independence Day festivals. Our family tries to make it down there every few years and that is where we spent this year's Fourth of July. We camped on this beautiful Kenai Fjords National Park beach in downtown Seward.

The Beach at Low Tide






We spent the time walking the beach, watching Casey salmon-fish, searching for lost tackle at low tide as well as roaming quaint downtown Seward. Seward's normal population is under 3,000, but for the famous Mount Marathon Fourth of July celebration the population can swell up to 20,000! So any strolling main street is done combat style! The Fourth is kicked off at midnight with fireworks from the Seward harbor.



The next morning we fixed a quick breakfast before hurrying off to catch the famous Mount Marathon races! We watched the junior event for children and young teens. Then cheered on the women before grabbing a quick lunch of deep-fried halibut at the local greek restaurant. We returned to our post at the finish line to watch the women come in and stayed on for the parade. There is nothing as marvelously, heart-warmingly American as a small-town parade. Local kids on crepe-covered bikes, the King and Queen from the retirement home, the town's war veterans, people showing off their hot rods, a beauty queen and of course, the fire trucks blaring their horns.



Then the big event...the men's Mount Marathon race. You cannot imagine what a grueling race this is unless you see it in person. A true athletic feat of wonder. You can read about the Mount Marathon race here and see some amazing photos here. We watched the first dozen top contenders come in before walking back to our campground, stopping for homemade lemonade from some young entrepreneurs.



We wrapped up our weekend the next day with a trip to the Sea Life Center, some fishing and a little more exploration before heading home for hot showers, clean clothes and a real bed! All of which I was much in need of by Day Four! :)

Charity

On Being a Woman in a Male-Dominated Household

I am married to a very male man. I have an acquaintance who calls such men "RAMs" (Rugged Alaskan Males). Here is a picture of my RAM.



And if that isn't enough testosterone around here, I managed to bring two more of them into the world. Here is son #1...



And son #2...



I am the only woman in my world. The net result of this is that I am outvoted on all the important decisions. Such as which movie we will see. Or whether we will go canoeing or shopping.

Recently this came to a head when I found myself enduring the latest Die Hard movie, attending an IFL Football Game (kinda like World Wrestling Federation meets Football), and shopping for camo gear and gun clips all in a two day spread. It's enough to make a grown woman cry. To innoculate myself from a complete testosterone takeover, I am heading off to enjoy a bubble bath while reading Romantic Homes and listening to an impressionistic piano CD.

A Doggedly Feminine....

Charity