Beach Vacation and Language

We spent last week at the beach. This is the 3rd year in a row that we traveled there, it was the 2nd year that we spent the week with Chris's family. We travel to Lewes Beach DE and it's about a 7 hour drive including lunch stops and such. Chris's Aunt and Uncle from Denver travel there as well and they usually bring 2 grandchildren. This year they brought Elias and Andrew with them, both boys were 12 years old. My kids learned a LOT from the boys :) Max's language and sentence structure exploded while there. He's speaking in nearly full sentences and it's just hilarious. Andy also has had an explosion of sorts, his words currently consist of the following:
cup - which means cup and also water in terms of water in the bathtub and water in the ocean
help
up
off (he tells us to turn lights and ceiling fans off - however off also apparently means ON)
cat
puppy
hello
buh bye
bike
book
ball
uh huh
boo boo
sheep

He also understands everything! Including his brother. Max has started to instruct Andy during play, Andy sometimes listens. And this results in a lot of 10 minute play sessions where they are playing with the SAME toy (the fisher price farm for example). No one gets mad, screams or cries. i call that progress! Max is also really learning to share. This is a great change as well :)

Here are a few photos from vacation:


Max enjoying a banana ice cream cone - while eating this, he bit a whole in the cone and started to 'hoot', I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Looking for an owl." Since the topic of ice cream flavors seems to be a popular one these days, banana might be a good one to try, this was outstanding!


This was taken the evening we got there, after dinner we headed to the beach in our regular clothes... I should have known better... I tried to keep the kids from getting completely soaked but slightly damp turned into wet pants, and wet pants turned into damp shirt and damp shirt turned into completely soaked. I threw in the towel at wet pants... LOL they had fun and so did we and frankly i'm pretty sure that is all that matters.

More photos can be seen here.

In crafty news, I knit a few more washrag's the circular ones from MDK, I just love those. And, I started a project requested by my cousin. She requested a beach bag. I had a hard time finding fabric that I loved... and that I knew SHE would love. Until Monday.... It's a large floral print. I've started sewing the Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Examples can be found here. Photos to follow soon.

Smashing Smock: New Owner

Smashing Smock found a few loving owner today:

Enjoy it Carrie!

Follow this link for my review of the Smashing Smock Pattern. 

Smashing Smock: Following Directions

I have ventured into the world of sewing women's apparel. My first pattern to follow is from Anna Maria Horner's book titled Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing. I followed the pattern almost to the T. I did add an extra inch of width to all pieces and i later found that i need to add way more than one lonely inch... her book has lots of "how to's" regarding apparel adjustments. So making the proper adjustments to make one to fit ME will not be difficult.

Materials used:
One queen sized top sheet purchased for $.48 at the thrift store.
Coordinating thread I had in my crafty corner.
1 Matching vintage button from this excursion.


Aside from the size issues.... I am very happy with the end result. Plus, I worked out the kinks on this trial run so that with version 2.0 I should have zero hiccups. (there were a few and an experienced seamstress would be able to point them out in a flash. But to the general public, the shirt is a smash!

More photos from this project can be found here.

almost a month

It has almost been a month since I posted last... sorry for the neglect!

We've been really busy in the past few weeks, Chris has been finishing up his semester, that's usually a pretty busy week or so, and we've started some home improvement projects too, so we've been outside and running here or there and that leaves me with little time to blog or even create things to blog about. I haven't been knitting much of anything.... except for these:


This was the first one i knit knowing that i would use it as a drawstring pouch for a pretty bar of soap. This along with a CD was my gift to my mother on Mother's day. This pattern comes from MDK, I've knit a few already and love to use them as kitchen washcloths. They are a great size and are also entertaining to knit.

In other crafting news, I've purchased three new sewing books.... they are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I'm hoping for some inspiration to fall out of those. I also purchased some fabric for new couch pillows. My current ones completely split at the seams..... not a good look... the pillow form is still in perfect shape though so i'll be sewing new covers. I also have plans to make this for myself OR something similar. I have a goal of sewing a skirt and at least three shirts/blouses for me to wear THIS summer. I need to get sewing!

andy updates

i am fairly certain that by the time Maxwell was 14 months old that i had update after update on his new tricks and what he was doing on a rather weekly or biweekly basis... poor Andy, truly a second child....

So, to keep things fair, here's an OVERDUE Andrew update:
He's talking! He mostly says Mama quite repetitively and Dada too, but not as much as Mama ;), but on top of that in the past few weeks he's been making all sorts of animal noises which include but are not limited to, Moo, Baa, cockadoodledoo, woof, and on the rare occasion meow. He's also been saying CAT for quite some time. Also, shoes and socks. And, the affirmative Ahha after any and every question we ask him. Our conversations usually sound like this, me: Do you want a drink? him: Ahha! me: Are you poopy? him: Ahha! me: Do you want to sleep on the porch in the rain? him: Ahha!

REAL TIME UPDATE: he's currently standing on his desk. He climbs EVERYTHING these days, so much so that i've had to start using the gate at the bottom of the steps again. he'll climb onto chairs and stand, he'll climb onto the couch and stand. He even climbed onto one of our new deck chairs, stood, then proceeded to try to climb up the back of the chair. yeah... good one....

He's started to be able to feed himself lately too, he uses a fork and his hand but it's a start. As a result, he's an absolute MESS after each meal... i can't wait for this skill to be honed a bit...

Tantrums are in full swing, initially they consisted of him throwing himself on the floor, arching his back and screaming for about 15 minutes... nothing helped him. These have now morphed into him standing, arching his back and doing what sounds like a fake cry, it's very repetitive sounding and i believe he has decided that standing is better because he doesn't bang his head on the floor and hurt himself if he's standing... he's a smart one!

He's also becoming VERY sneaky! He will take something of Max's and sorta wave it around in front of Max, then he runs away giggling!!! I don't know where he learned this trick but it's HILARIOUS to watch! He's constantly in motion, he barrels through anyone and anything to get what he wants and he doesn't care if he's steping on a cat, your face, his brother or off a set of stairs....

I can't wait to see what's in store for him this Spring and Summer - should be fun and VERY active!