Pants to Shorts

It seems like this must be the oldest trick in the book, but regardless, it was something I thought of that was an "aha" moment to me.  Once it got hot out, I realized I only had 1 or 2 shorts total for the twins.  That just wasn't going to work.  I was planning on going thrifting or to consignment shops, but then I was like Wait!  I just put a few pairs of pants into storage bins that are too short for them.  Perfect! 

So from there, I proceeded to chop off the pants and either leave as is, or add the original hem back on, depending on the fabric.  It was also nice to choose the length of the shorts (as some are already designed to be so short, for a ONE year old!).
If you think you'd like to do this, but don't have much sewing experience, I still think you could.  As seen below, I cut off the pants, added the original hem back on (pin with raw edges at bottom and right sides together), sew, and you're done.  The only caution: if you haven't sewn knits before (like t-shirt material), don't stretch it as you sew! (it makes it stretch and ruffle)  I made this mistake on one of the legs and had to redo it.

  

I only did 3 pairs for now, and the purple one I didn't even hem (especially take note of that if you don't want to sew!).  

If you're thinking "I don't know about that"... you could always designate them as play shorts, ready for the wear and tear and tear that summer brings to little bottoms!  This would also be good for girl or boy.  The same day I made these, I saw this post from Dana at MADE (one of my top 5 blogs for sure!).

The way I see it: 3 free pairs of shorts!

Ironic

I saw this picture today from another blog, this bliss life.

And I was like, "WHOA!".... because it looks like the (much) better (and more expensive) version of what we did to our last kitchen in the rental:

See the resemblance?  Or course, we had to work with the current appliances, cabinets, and very limited funds, but it was much better than when we got there and it looked like this:

nice. :)

Did You Notice?

This is kind of old news, but I still wanted to point it out.  When I showed you the dining room pictures, you may not have taken notice of the gold light fixture...

It was too small for the room, especially with the high ceilings.  But the living room had a fancy glass chandelier... seemed a little out of place.  Can you see it way down there in the other room?

So we did a swap.  Well, my father-in-law did a swap... I just cleaned the dust off in between.  I'm not sure how much electrical knowledge you'd need to have to do this, but its probably a good idea to have someone do it who's done it before.  

Something else I did in the process was remove the grapevine-etched globes that sat around each candle on the glass chandelier.  This made it immensely more appealing, in my opinion.

Now I have this lovely guy in my living room... seems like another project for another day.

Little Christian

The little man got a haircut about 2 weeks ago.  It's getting hot, it was time.

He seems much cooler now (temperature wise).

Also, I had the chance to go garage sale-ing a few weekends ago.  Last summer I never really went because of that whole twin thing.  So I missed it, and had a lovely morning to myself....and fellow bargain hunters.

Christian needed some dressier clothes for church and such, and I found a lady selling her sons clothes that were just right...and name brand.  Her prices weren't awesome,  but good enough.  I paid $4 for this outfit: (not including shoes):

Oh and did I mention that this kid has a huge personality?

While we were outside the other day after it had rained, he goes, "mommy look, it's a fish!"

I tried to make a "Jonah-in-the-belly" comparison.  Not sure if he got it. 

Simon left for work a few days ago and called a minute later... there was a turtle on the road.  Time for a quick walk!  His words were "OH it's so CUTE!"  

Fun times with my boy.  It's good to see these pictures and be reminded that in the midst of all the hard and trying times, frustration and worry about how he'll turn out, there are many moments of joy that I'd never trade.  

Ben & Kirsten Love

One great part of moving to Maryland is that Simon has been able to refresh his longtime friendship with Ben, and both of us have been able to get to know Kirsten, his fiancee: who today became his WIFE!  Congratulations Ben & Kirsten!
Back in October, they asked me to take their engagement pictures, and we had a lovely chilly day out in the park...

Kirsten had a lot of beautiful DIY ideas for the wedding and she enlisted the help of myself and several friends during our Sunday night get-togethers.  Several are shown in these pictures:

~ Printed and corner-punched her own programs

~ Ribbon-wand send-offs

~ Lovely Gerbera Flowers!

~ Ribbon tied chairs with, you guessed it, Martha's good ol' tissue pom-poms!

~A cupcake cake (really yummy!)

~ Name cards stuck in cork, which she and our friends cut ourselves, as shown here:

(*note: if you are getting married soon and want to buy her corks, I think she has about 100 corks cut and ready to hold name cards, see them standing in next top-right picture)

~ Matted picture as guestbook

~ Again, cork name card holders

~ "Trial-size" coffee favors

If you have any questions about something, let me know and we can tell you where she got her ideas.  It was a beautiful wedding and she was a beautiful bride!  Oh yeah, and her mom made all the jewelry for the bride and maids, I loved it.

Simon was a groomsmen, and I was the guest"book" attendant.  We stepped out for some pictures after the reception, look, I'm a fairy!  Hee hee...

And a little chuckle to end with... this picture was during the maid-of-honor's toast.  Do you see Simon at the left side?  It looks like he's getting his hair done at a salon.  Can you guess what that thing is?  

Also, the guy next to Simon is the boyfriend of the girl talking: doesn't he look enthralled?  Heh heh.

Look at Simon just one more time.  BAH-ha!

Yay for weddings.  Blessings!

And one more thing!

I have to add this, today was just full of funny little things!  

I'm so glad Simon was home to witness this also...  we were all in the kitchen eating lunch.  I was just setting down some yogurt for the girls when I looked at Jadah and noticed her eyes rolling around.  Then it happened: the NOD!  Again and again, her eyes would do that fade-roll thing, nod, and repeat.  Even when we eyes were open, she wasn't responding to any of my movements.  I decided to let her fall asleep, because come on, it's just so stinkin' cute when your kid falls asleep while eating!

Selah ate her yogurt, Christian yelled and laughed, Simon went to work, I cleaned up lunch.

And still she slept.

I looked closer, and saw that she still had a piece of fruit in her lips...

(dried apricots in case you were curious)

And 20 minutes later...

...still sleeping.

Sigh.  

Yes, I finally woke her up because I didn't want to ruin her nap. 

 I wish I knew her thoughts as she woke up, but if I had to guess based on her facial expressions, it would be 

"I'm so confused, why am I sleeping at the table?  Where am I?  Mom, what have you done?"

I don't know when the next time will be I get to take pictures of her asleep.  Sweet little baby!

Lollipop Lollipop

Something made me smile today.  A quick stop at the bank resulting in 3 lollipops.  The sound of 3 happy children smackin' lips over dum-dums.  It was enough to bring a chuckle, how cute is a one year old eating a lollipop... times 2? (2 one year olds, not 2 lollipops)(that would be a disaster).  

Sometimes you just don't care about the sticky mess spreading over face, clothes, and carseats.  And I think that was the happiest drive home we've had in a while.  

Christian has discovered lying.  

Maybe I should restart my 21 days of prayer for him (which has been over for a while now, sorry I never updated... it was very good to pray for him about things that will matter for eternity).  

My kids really like apples.

(and also sitting on tables)

The also like being pushed in a box by Daddy.

Oh...well, maybe not so much?

Here's my two little lollipops...

Makes me smile every time. :)

Blows My Mind

Did you happen to visit Design Mom today?
She had this UH-MAZING little video she shared.  Go check it out here.
Honestly, I am taken back by people's genius and creativity, not to forget, patience!  Beautiful.
(Although, I thought the ending was a little anticlimactic).

Kid's Hoodie Fix Up

One of Christian's most-used zip up hoodies mysteriously got a stain across the front.  I was bummed, but just ignored it and he wore it anyway (don't know if you can see the stain in this picture, but that's what it looked like before).

Then I came across this blog post about making a boy's shirt into a hoodie.  The idea I liked was sewing the graphic part of an old tshirt across the front.  And I was like: YES!  THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO!
So I found some tshirts in boy-appropriate colors with cool graphics, cut the part out that I liked, and sewed them on right over the stain.  First I zipped up the hoodie, pinned the scraps in place, cut up the middle where the zipper opens, then sewed in place (and no need to worry about hemming the edges, they won't fray or unravel, as long as you use a tshirt).  Ta Da!

But the colors on the front seemed a little out of place, so I also added more of the blue inside his hood.  I copied the hood shape, sewed a seam in the middle, then sewed it in place.  The bottom edge (by the neck), was left raw, but again, that is okay with tshirt fabric.

Yes, I like that added touch.  And he loved the "updated jacket"...he thought he was soooo cool.
I was also planning on adding some embroidery stitching around the sleeve cuffs (also suggested from this post and also here), but I never got to it, and now summer is practically here.  Guess I'll save it for another project.
So if your kiddo gets a stain right on the front of a shirt or jacket: THERE IS HOPE!  If you can pin, cut, and sew a straight line, you can re-make a favorite shirt into an even "more-favoriter" shirt.  YESSS!

Summer-Do

I guess I was feeling spontaneous the other day.  And I guess my husband's opinion matters a lot (but no surprise there).  He mentioned that my hair was getting long, and reminisced about how cute it was when it was short, when I was pregnant with Christian, like this:

My mom and grandma, and me choking Christian.  Oops. :)

So the next day, I locked myself in the bathroom, and this is what went down:

Click to see larger

It will definitely take some getting used to.  I was just ready for something different.  In honesty, I will always like having long hair better.  I love what I can do with it and the way it looks.  But in my current life, I wasn't taking the time to do it so that it actually looked good.  Short will do for now.  (And yes, the plan is to send that skinny little braid to Locks of Love).

And the bangs?  Well, Simon informed me he doesn't like them.  So I may be clipping them back most of the time.  What do you think...will you obey me if I say BE HONEST?!
Now the process starts of growing it long again!  But for now, change is nice.   Chao!

(sorry for the bewildered background: current room renovation!  Details to come soon).