You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2009.
I think we can assume that summer is pretty much over.
It went fast, didn’t it?
The fall always brings a new schedule and usually new opportunities for the children (two of them have birthdays soon, new sunday school classes, etc…) This year brings the chance for sweet Ivy June to be a “Keepers of the Home” girl, and oh boy.
She is getting to be such a big girl, and I know I say that all the time but it seems even more apparent recently. “Keepers of the Home” is a little program for girls at our church. Apparently Ivy will learn more about little-girl ways to keep a home and be a young lady, including memorizing Scripture, learning new ways to help Mommy, and learning to pray for people in her family and for her friends.
Her first meeting was this past week (I dropped her off, and then left to spend time with friends for the evening before I picked her up…did you read that? I dropped her off…! sigh) and I don’t think I have ever seen her so excited about something before. Ever. She chattered non-stop the entire ride home from church, sometimes not even able to finish a sentence before she thought of something else she needed to tell me. Sometimes she would stop talking altogether, take a deep breath, and say, “Mommy!! There were only GIRLS there!”
All of the children “camped” with Daddy last night on the back porch. The whole event was a huge success (I think it was, anyway…I chose to sleep inside in our bed, but it sounds like everything went well!). We weren’t sure what to expect, but everyone slept just great and are already talking about their next camping adventure.
Asher does keep mentioning the “scary breathing noises” that Daddy made in the night, though. (snoring??)
There’s been a flurry of fabric and thread around here lately, trying to get some fall sewing projects done before they overtake me. I’ve committed to making pajamas for the children from an old stand-by pattern (Burda 9747, if anyone’s interested) and I have made these pajamas so many times I don’t even need the directions anymore.
The pattern turns out great, and I’ve learned what fabrics to use and not use.
Sorry about the picture quality. It’s hard to take pictures of clothing; the picture never looks as great as the actual finished product.
I also found a vintage nightgown pattern (off of Etsy) and made some fresh fall nightgowns for the girls.
Here’s a model, showing off one in that tousled-hair, just-got-out-of-bed look…
In other news:
:: Asher asks for this all the time. “Mommy, can you please play the silly manamana song?” We love vintage Sesame Street. This one is really funny too, one that Scott and I get a kick out of more than the children.
:: we’ve been officially introduced to the world of homeschool curriculum. For now Scott and I are very content to have a steady literature base for the children’s schooling right now, but Math seems to be a different issue. Most of you know that I am not the most skilled at math, but I am excited to teach the children. (I am also really, really glad that Scott has a degree in Math. I think we’ll be okay.) We’re trying out Singapore Math for awhile, as it comes highly recommended by several friends. So far, I like it. I found this post (part 2 of a 3-part post) on homeschooling ideals, which I liked a LOT, and was pleased to see that she also mentions Singapore math.
:: I found this idea and am really thinking about doing something like this. We love making lists of things we love, and to have something a little more permanent would be a really good thing.
:: speaking of sewing…has anyone ever used an Oliver + S pattern before? I am drooling over this dress.
Hope everyone is enjoying this pretty weekend, and that some of you have time for some colored-pencil sketches in the breeze, out back on an old quilt.
To celebrate the last fleeting days of summer, we had one last hurrah at the beach.
It was so nice with the children older…each year, the beach trips are a little different.
Dear friends invited us to spend time with them at Emerald Isle this year, and we had such a nice time! We got to do some reading,
some singing,
some watching-little-cuties-play-in-the-sand,
(our friends were John and Emily, and this is cutie-patootie Olivia, as Asher likes to call her…)
This is beautiful Natalie, Charlotte’s “twin and best friend, Mommy.” The first thing Charlotte and Natalie do when they see each other is trade shoes.
We did lots of snuggling with wee folk (it was a little chilly while we were there…perfect for blankets and giggles…)
and some kite flying (shortly after this, our kite took off to have its own adventures on the sea, never to be seen again).
The beach is such a great place for pictures, no?
And here is an oft-requested picture featuring Mommy and her girls.
“There, with the wind in his ears, he heard the sea – and it was wild and quiet,
and it was blue and wide,
and it was dark and salty, like cider vinegar.”
(from “Little Rabbit and the Sea” by Gavin Bishop)
