Labor Day + Birthdays

We hosted a family swim/BBQ/party over the Labor Day weekend to celebrate the holiday and Clark and Phil's birthdays. Since it usually rains when we plan to take people to the pool we thought we'd be clever and swim before the festivities. It worked! The pool was practically empty and it didn't rain! We took the party back home where the men built a kids' bike wash out of PVC. It was fun for all ages and provided at least an hour and a half of entertainment. Then the party moved indoors where Clark opened a few presents from his aunt and cousins and we had a BBQ. And dance party. And Frozen sing-along. And an incredible game of duck, duck, goose. Clark requested a pie for his birthday treat so I made him a peach raspberry pie, knowing he probably wouldn't eat it. And he didn't, hence the small pie. 

I had to have a picture of all the kids together since Clark adores his cousins. And not pictured, sadly, is Aunt Katie who we're so pleased could come stay with us to party and endure the chaos! 

Clark is 4!

Clark turned 4 this month! We had some celebrations with family over the Labor Day weekend, but we had fun on his actual birthday too. Steve and I inflated about 75 balloons on his birthday eve and snuck them into his room. We tried to get up early to watch his reaction to the birthday surprise but just after my alarm went off he appeared in our room, appearing put out, and said, "who put all the balloons in my room?! They were in my way getting to my bathroom." We laughed, then he asked us if Santa put the balloons in there. Funny boy! Both kids enjoyed the balloons all day and Lana got a kick out of running through them. Clark started gymnastics class on his birthday and wanted to wear his gymnastics clothes all day. After dinner he got to open presents and we sang to him and ate his favorite cupcakes: chocolate! (Now that he is no longer allergic to wheat the quality of baked goods I can make for him has improved tremendously.) It was a fun little party for a special little boy. We love our little Clarkie man!

Cool Continued

I was looking for something in my sewing room today that required me to dig out my pile of clothes to refashion. Apparently I got sidetracked by whatever I was doing because suddenly I found myself making Clark a new shirt out of one of Steve's cast offs using this tutorial. Yay for making a new shirt and yay for making a dent in the refashion pile. 

Back to Cool

Though Clark isn't headed to school anytime soon I thought it would be fun to do some back-to-school sewing for him anyway. Fall sewing, I guess. A few weeks ago I stumbled across some men's t-shirts on clearance for $2 at Walmart so I swiftly took them home and repurposed them. For this one I used the Figgy's Banyan Tee pattern. After trying it on Clark left his new shirt on the rest of the day. I guess he likes it. He looks totally cool.

Just to note: I got new laces for the shoes. They were a thrift store find I had gotten the day before these pictures but they are fully laced now.

Pinterest Copy Cat Dress

I pinned this ivory dress I LOVED on Pinterest awhile back and scoured the internet for a dress pattern I could modify to make my own version. A few months later, Willow & Co. released the Fawn Lily Dress and it was exactly what I was looking for! I already had all the supplies on hand so I got to work modifying the pattern to what I wanted.

 I'm not a fan of modifying patterns since I'd much rather just follow a pattern and not have to think, but I'm learning to like it. For this dress, I moved the buttons from the front bodice to the back, added a bow, redrafted the skirt to have 5 1" pleats instead of 3 larger ones, and lined the whole dress. I made the dress out of a fine wale corduroy. I love how it turned out, though I wish the cap sleeves were a little more sleeve-like. I suppose they are small since I made the size 6 month size (based on her torso size) and 2T length. I should've traced the 2T sleeve as well. oh well...next time...

Let it Go

We finally saw the movie Frozen this summer and the kids love it. Lana loves the music and sings "let it go" over and over. She also loves to be dressed up in her royal robes. Watching her walk around in her "cape" is so hilarious!