home tour, continued

This is taken from the living room
I just love this window over the sink.
The view from the other direction.
The (boring) dining room.

Birthday boy turns 7

The table with his surprise
The cake
He smiled like this all night!
A and S made this pinata--all by themselves--too cute!
He was here all night long, and several days after, too.

Seamstress Dreams

I stared sewing around the age of nine. I still rememeber the thrill of taking a sock (nothing) and creating a doll (something). I still have that first doll. She's pretty rough, but I dreamed her up and brought her to life with needle and thread.
I sewed a nursery set for my first niece when I was a senior in high school. The next year, I realized one of my first sewing dreams; I sewed one of the homecoming queen candidate's dresses. Back then, you had about a week to get everything together and create the dress. That job was taken on one condition--that my mom would put the zipper in for me. The velvet didn't scare me. The lace didn't scare me. Even the fitting didn't scare me. Zippers, however, had me by the throat for a while. Thankfully I'm past my zipper phobia, and can now put one in without hesitation. That year, I also sewed two or three swing choir dresses for hire.

In those dark years when we were longing for babies and kept losing them, I would sew tiny little onesies and shirts and hats. I continued to put them away for several years, and often would open my "baby box" and hold those miniature garments with sadness. Baby sewing was a seamstress dream.

I sewed for others, even for hire for a long time. I sewed for myself. I entered and won third place at a state level "Make It With Wool" contest. That was another of my seamstress dreams. Sewing has long been my therapy, and I used it a lot.

But remember March 15, 1999? Not only would I have a baby to sew for, I would have two baby girls to sew for! What joy that brought, and the seamstress dreams began anew. Naturally, the first job was to outfit the nursery, which I did with great joy. Curtains, quilts, dust ruffles--they were darling and oh, so fun!

I began to create the baptism dresses in my mind. That job could not be started until the girls came home since we didn't know how big (or little, as it turned out) the girls would be, but I planned and scouted out fabric and notions for months. I wanted to be ready.

When we got home with them, I remember sewing up a fury while they napped. They needed dresses for church! They needed coats! They needed pajamas! When the time came to start the baptism gowns, I was in sewing heaven.

All of the other things I had sewn or would sew for my children were nothing compared to the dresses which they would wear as we presented them to the Lord. I think every seamstress cherishes that dream, and is grateful for the chance to live it.

Tonight I have been sewing on another seamstress dream. The girls will receive their First Holy Eucharist soon, and the dress production has started. Working on them, I am reminded of those days when I worked on the baptism gowns while my little babies napped down the hall in their cribs. Tonight I sewed as they practiced multiplication on their new whiteboard in the school room. The times may have changed, but my seamstress dreams haven't. I pray that someday I will look back fondly on this sewing dream as I realize yet another one--one that involves much more white satin and lace .

Ahhhh...the dreams of a seamstress.

This just in from the library.....

I'm blogging from the library. Our modem is fried (doesn't that sound like I know what I'm talking about? I don't--just repeating what computer geek husband said) and I don't know when it will be back up. Keep watching. Surely something great will happen while I've got all this computer-free time and I'll have a super post to show for it when I get back.

4 Realers In real Life

I am a member of a bulletin board where Catholic home school moms can share ideas about (basically) the Charlotte Mason philosophy as applied to our home schools. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to get together with two of these ladies and their children for a play date/mom's visit. We also celebrated two 7 year old birthdays--Cora's a few days ago, and Marty's today. As someone said as we drove home "That was really fun!" It sure was!
We had two 9 yr.. olds, one 8 yr. old, two 7 yr. olds, two 6 yr. olds, two 3 yr. olds (I think N. and K. are 3), one 18 mo. old, and one 5 week old.
The moms and the new babe. Jen Sal, me, Betsy and baby Matthias.

My favorite room in the whole house

The Pantry
I think I love this room so much because there is a place for everything, and everything is in it's place. Oh, and I hide in there sometimes, too. Don't tell the kids.

Aunt Ruth and I added those shelves on the left.
The finishing touch...it makes me happy. Here is a little crazy story about this liscense plate...
In driver's ed, Mr. Shannon (remember him, Le-Le?) taught me how to remember a plate number. You say the number, as in 812, and then attach a noun to it. Always remember the VERY FIRST THING that comes to your mind. So, mine could read 812 Lovely Red Dahlias. Or 812 Leaping Rural Dogs. You get the idea. But of course, it was ME and my mind, so the first thing that came into it was 812 Little Retarded D____(our name). I never forgot it.

1/2 bath

These are the light fixtures (actually just the shades) I've been saving since we lived in Delphos. They work perfectly here.

The sink half of the room

The other wall, behind the toilet.
The whole thing is just that big. I think I'm going to paint the walls a light pink.

Overheard this morning

I heard this through the boys' bedroom door this morning.

M--"Stop, Mama said we can be nice."

T--"She said we can but I don't want to."

And that, dear readers, is T's problem in a nutshell.