Sunshine and Satin: Easter Dresses 2012

While the weather was on the chilly side most of my parents' visit, Sunday morning dawned with the sort of bright sunlight that makes the whole world seem new and springlike, perfectly capturing the spirit of Easter.  And there's something about little girls in fresh dresses, a sort of blend of happiness, innocence, and hope for good things to come, that seems to similarly complement the occasion.

Unfortunately, our particular blend of happiness, innocence, and hope, is occasionally fused with a healthy dose of chaos and craziness.

In all the hubbub, I didn't end up capturing as many pictures Easter morning as I was hoping to.  Still, we did manage to get a few that I really liked, especially of my mother helping to do the girls' hair.  Growing up with three sisters, making sure everyone had their hair done when we were little must have involved quite the process week after week.  (And some of us were...umm...less cooperative...about the whole hair thing than others as I recall.  Sorry about that! :)  I'm glad we were able to lock away at least a few images of Grandma patiently doing the same things for my girls.

One of our little princesses.

So pretty!

Look!  Ruffly socks from Grandma!

Amber playing with a balloon and watching while her sisters get their hair done.

We also tried to get a few pictures outside just before leaving for church.  It wasn't super organized and we never did manage to get one of the whole family (or even of all the girls smiling at the same time) but I suppose we'll survive.

Oh well...time to abandon photo-hope at this point: the group picture just isn't going to happen! :)

I'm actually fairly happy with how the dresses turned out, even if the pictures left something to be desired.  I started Robyn's with several weeks to spare, but Amber, our future seamstress extraordinaire, found my sewing sheers and helpfully cut the bodice to shreds.  While brainstorming how to proceed with what remained of Robyn's, I started on Amber's...and goofed up her sleeves miserably.  Suddenly it was just over a week before Easter and I was at ground-zero for Katie's dress and in *negative* territory for the other two.  It wasn't the most fun I've ever had sewing, and I think at this point I have thoroughly dulled my seam ripper repairing all the mistakes I made along the way, but in the end things worked out.  

When I was shopping for fabric I realized early on I really wanted to do dresses with over-skirts.  Every spring I see the gorgeous sheer fabrics and absolutely fall in love, so I finally gave in.  It might all be rationalization (that happens a lot standing in Joann's surrounded by pretty things...) but I decided I better just do it now before the kids get any more grown-up, so I went ahead and bought an embroidered organza with little pink flowers on it.  Since I wasn't willing to do three pink dresses (too much pink even for me!) I picked out crepe-back satin in every other pastel color I could find to go with it: olive, lavender, and butter.

Pattern-wise, for the big girls I used McCalls M6238.  It's a pattern I've sewn before (so the mistakes I made this time were all the more maddening!) and I've always really liked the results.   I especially like the underskirt with tulle ruffles that gives the dress a little bounce.  A little bit of trim around the waist and tie ribbons on the sides and we were able to sneak in a little more pink without feeling too pepto-bismo-y. 

I had to be a hair more creative with Katie's pattern since the sizing on the McCalls one didn't go low enough for her.  I ended up using a basic circle dress pattern I had on hand from a few years ago when Robyn and Amber were little (B4434) , then added sleeves, replaced the zipper with a placket and buttons, and added the overskirt and underskirt.  Actually, I prefer how her sleeves turned out to those on the big girls' dresses: Katie's are just a smidge closer to puffy-perfection. :) 

Anyhow, here are three more really random pictures from Easter morning:

Mom and I decided to coordinate too, at least a little, with black/pink floral skirts and light pink tops.  We might be squinting, but at least we're still smiling!

Dah-Dee-Doh helping Amber down the little hill after pictures.

Have to admit: even when she's sad she's pretty cute.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Colorful Cakes

It's happens that all of the "Grandpa Birthdays" in our family fall around the same time of year, so we were amazed and delighted that we were actually able celebrate special days in person with Grandpa Gordon and then with Dah-Dee-Doh within just a couple weeks of each other this spring. 

Since birthday cakes are a big deal around here, I thought I'd post a couple pictures just for fun.  First we did a Honeybee Cake for Grandpa Gordon who raises bees...and generously keeps us stocked with the type of amazing honey that has ruined grocery-store-honey for us forever!  (Seriously, it's good enough to just eat with a spoon!)

Watch out for the stinger!

I was planning on using a similar approach to do a Bunny Cake for Dah-Dee-Doh (since their visit would coincide with Easter), but the girls quickly suggested a "Game Cake" would be more appropriate, considering that, as far as they're concerned, the ONLY reason he traveled across country was to play games (including a much-simplified version of Life) with them.  It took a little more brain-scratching, but this is what we finally came up with:

The little red car sliding off into a ditch is supposed to be there: it's the red station wagon, aka the Catmobile, that we learned to drive on as teenagers.

 

And since it's safe to assume we measure affection around here in terms of caloric-content and dye-density, hopefully these great men grasped (or perhaps tasted?) just how much they are loved.  Happy Birthday, Grandpas!

Dealing with Dah-Dee-Doh Deprivation

My parents (Grandma and Dah-Dee-Doh to the girls) came to spend the week and celebrate Easter with us.  They left this morning and I think we’re now all suffering withdrawal. 

So what to do?  Maybe intense picture-posting therapy will help…right??  It’s not exactly an FDA-approved treatment, but on the off-chance that it works I think we’ll play it safe and post lots and lots and lots of pictures…

To start, since my parents were driving from Minnesota, we met them in Palmyra, NY and spent the first afternoon visiting the church history sites in the area.  This of course meant lots of chances to take pictures of the girls all together.

In case anyone is still on the fence about the level of craziness one family can contain...

Talking about the "Eight Witnesses" of the Book of Mormon.  (And showing off Mommy's big old baby bump.)

A footbridge in the Sacred Grove.  (Where Joseph Smith had his remarkable first vision of the Father and the Son.)

Robyn stepping out on a limb.

Ah, yes.  Time to play with this season's hot item again: sticks!

Family photo in front of the Whitmer Farm where the Church was formally organized on April 6, 1830. 

The rest of the week involved a lot of playing at home.

The girls especially liked monopolizing Dah-Dee-Doh who they alternated between calling "The Gamish Boy" (because he was willing to play board games with them almost nonstop) and "The Nail Polish Guy" (because he somehow got talked into letting them paint his nails).
 

Another Grandma and Dah-Dee-Doh tradition the girls love: knowing they can come snuggle with them in bed as early as they want.  This led to lots of early morning hang-out sessions in Grandma's room.

Wait!  Don't adjust your time machine settings: you haven't actually been sent back to the 1980's!  Mom found the dresses Karin and I got when we turned 4 and 5 and brought them out for our girls.  And while I was always jealous that Karin got the bright pink one, Robyn loved the blue one.  She wore it as a dress-up several days in a row, along with Sunday shoes and a parasol, and insisted upon being called Mary Poppins.

Another big project for the week was Dah-Dee-Doh and Bryan putting together a wooden playground in the backyard. 

Hard at work "building a park" as the girls described the venture.

Friday was the big day for construction on this project and the girls set up their blankets and pillows in the backyard, eagerly watching for hours.  This was a great picture Robyn snapped on the camera: Look!  They're all in the wagon!

Everyone enjoying the finished results, regardless of the chilly weather.  The girls love it: we've literally had to drag Katie away kicking and crying each time we go inside.

And then on Saturday it was time for the Easter festivities to begin.

Katie at the Easter egg hunt Saturday morning.

Robyn busy looking for eggs.

Amber conceding that her basket is probably as full as it's going to get.

With the hunt out of the way, it was time to move on to decorating Easter eggs.  Here is Amber carefully inspecting her handiwork before proceeding to the dye cups.

My parents also brought out a funny egg-holding contraption that the girls used to further decorate their eggs with tiny paint brushes.

Faberge, watch out!

Daddy's eggs were low in number, but high in innovation.

A close-up of Bryan's fancy rainbow egg.

I think Katie and the boys had the right idea: by the end of the week we all felt about ready to drop.

In fact, maybe that should be added as a secondary treatment to help with the withdrawal: doctor's orders for EVERYONE to take nice long naps this afternoon... :)

Sappy

Guessing time:

It's sweet.  It's super sappy.  It looks awfully sticky.  It involves copious references to "Amber."

Did you guess?

It's a blog post about a family outing!  (Oh...and it's maple syrup too.)  

For the second year in a row we were lucky enough to have Bryan's folks join us on our annual drive to Critz Farms in Cazenovia during their maple celebration.  Purportedly we do this over and over because it's a great way to learn about where our food comes from (they have tours of the sugar house and the sugar bush) and about local agriculture (if you're going to live in the northeast you ought to know about maple syrup, right??), but we've done it enough years now it's probably time to be honest: we do it for the breakfast.

Part of the maple celebration is an all-you-can-eat breakfast with blueberry pancakes, french toast, eggs, maple-soaked ham, hash browns, juice, cocoa, and limitless real maple syrup, with as many ingredients (flour, eggs, ham, etc.) coming from local farms as possible.  The breakfast costs a few dollars, but we talk about it all year long.  Especially about the syrup.  I'm sure we eat more than our admission in syrup alone within minutes.  The rest of the year we settle for the thick gloppy brown concoction  found at Aldi, but for one wonderful Saturday morning we drown our pancakes in runny rivers of real syrup squeezed from amber-colored squirt bottles at each table.  The breakfast is served in some sort of old out-building, but I have to admit, sitting there all together as a family, tummies full, fingers sticky, and cool country air blowing around us, it feels kind of like heaven. 

Katie hard at work on her breakfast.  Bryan's sister, along with her 3-year-old daughter and brand-new baby, were also able to join us this year.  You can see the super cute car seat cover she pieced for her little baby in the background.

I spy syrup eaters!  Amber loved how all the different colors of syrup were labeled with her name: "dark amber" "medium amber" and "light amber." 

Robyn and Grandpa Gordon.  Not sure why Robyn has two spoons...all the easier to shovel it in perhaps?

Playing with sticks while waiting for the tractor out to the sugar bush.  Think it's time to take back the birthday presents and start shopping at the Stick Emporium for this one: I think she could have played like this for hours!

Picture of the girls with their cousin and Daddy/Uncle Bryan.  It was so fun to have another little girl come along!

Last year we nearly froze to death riding out to see how they tap the trees.  This year the early spring hurt the farm (they only had FIVE days of sap flow!) but it sure made it pleasant for us. 

They also have a nice set of playgrounds at the farm.  Grandpa Gordon indulged Katie in pushes long after the rest of the girls had run off to check out the crazy slides at the other end of the park.

I remember one of the first times we came here Amber was younger than Katie and we tried to send her down one of these long slides on her own.  I was pretty sure we'd scarred her for life: glad I was wrong.

Katie deciding maybe this slide is a little TOO ambitious for her...

Robyn just being Robyn.

And, last of all, a cute picture Robyn took of her cousin on the ride home.  Maybe we can convince them to come play again next year: I'm already craving more syrup!

High Five!

Robyn turned five this week.  Weird.  I feel like five marks the end of any illusions we had that she was still a “toddler” (ok…maybe we should have let go of those fantasies a long time ago…), even though it seems like we celebrated her 2nd birthday not that long ago.  (We were living here, in THIS HOUSE, when she turned two…where did the last three years go??!?!?) 



She was a great birthday girl and loved getting to parade her paper crowns from preschool and joy school for two straight days.  It wasn’t her year to do a birthday party with friends, but as luck would have it another fun mom planned a pajama activity at Joy School for the same day, which Robyn really enjoyed. 

Here are five other fun moments from her big day:

1. Blue box dinner.  Robyn got to pick the big family meal for the day and we should have guessed ahead of time that she would choose macaroni and cheese.  She’s a big fan of mix-ins, though, so we were able to make it at least semi substantive by doing one batch of original with peas and a “special” box of white-cheddar shells with chicken and corn stirred in.

2. Look at what it comes with!  Robyn was delighted to get Princess Yahtzee as a birthday present from one of her grandparents.  As soon as the wrapping was off she started inspecting what it included, the excitement reaching a fever pitch when all of a sudden she pointed out the dice tumbler and exclaimed, “Look!  It even comes with a garbage can!”

3. I wouldn’t eat that…  Speaking of mis-identified toy parts, Robyn received a set of Legos from her other grandparents.  With the enthusiasm of a new five year old she worked through the entire instruction booklet in an afternoon, gleefully assembling a cute little house, a car, and even a little Lego dog.  A handful of red translucent pieces were included as brake lights for the car, but ended up enjoying a different fate.  They ended up on a little Lego table as…<drumroll please>… Jell-O.  (Are we good Mormons or what? :)

4. Sam I am.  Robyn got to bring a snack to Joy School on her birthday and she ended up sharing her favorite fruit: kiwi.  It worked out really nice too, since it was also Green Eggs and Ham day at Joy School so the kids were all able to have a green fruit with their green proteins.  Unfortunately, kiwi turns out to be one of Amber’s least favorite foods and it sounds like payback may be in the works: Amber told everyone at Joy School she’s going to bring carrots (one of Robyn’s least favorite foods) when it’s her birthday in May.

5. Already?  When it was finally time to blow out the candles Robyn cheerfully announced her wish: “I wish I was turning six!”

She might want to wish the years ahead, but we’re plenty grateful to enjoy them one at a time.  Happy Birthday, Robyn!

Cheerful Cherries: My First Smocked Dress!

After seeing smocking on a smattering of girls' dresses in department stores over the last couple of years (and loving it!) (is that because I grew up in the 80's?) I finally decided to try my hand at it.  I also decided that if I was going to put in time doing the needlework, the rest of the dress should match it in quality, so I used a Vogue pattern: my first pattern with a difficulty rating of "Advanced."  It's taken a bit longer than expected to finish, but the result is one of my favorite projects to date.

Putting together the back of the dress took some surprising effort.  I'd never done a self-lined bodice the way this one was constructed, and it took a few attempts (and some time with a trusty seam-ripper) to understand what the instructions were getting at.

 

Oh puffy puffed sleeves:  Anne of Green Gables would be so pleased.  Isn't the red piping fun too?

I'm actually almost as proud of the inside of the dress as the outside since it has all the nice touches I often skip when we're mass-producing dresses over here: slip-stitch secured lining, raw edges hidden in french seams, a blind hem, etc.

Of course my favorite part is the smocking.  One of the most nerve-wracking moments in the project came shortly after I finished the actual smocking stitches and came to the part where I was supposed to remove the gathering threads that had formed the pleats initially.  I worried that without the surrounding grid pulling it together the whole pattern would just fall apart.

Next fall Robyn goes off to Kindergarten.  Three weeks later (ok...maybe that's just what it feels like sometimes...) all the kids will be in college and it will just be Bryan and me fretting from our empty nest.  Sitting on the couch counting pleats and squinting at the smocking chart, I kept thinking about our girls and about how fast things are going and wondering how we were doing.  Hopefully one stitch at a time we're helping them weave a beautiful pattern out of their lives.  Sure there are mistakes and miscounts, periods of monotonous repetition and parts that have to be removed and redone multiple times, plus some sections that will probably look lopsided even after every attempt to even them out...still, I hope the overall effect will prove to be smocking-like lives: lovely, useful, and enhancing of a larger whole.

As we slowly stitch along with the girls, I often wish there were an easier way to step back and see what the pattern looks like at any given moment.  And, like with Amber's little dress, I worry about what will remain when they start spending most of their lives away from the gathering stitches of home.

Thankfully, the smocking on Amber's dress held together just fine on it's own.  I'm going to take that as reason to be optimistic. 

Photo Op

Sometimes the girls get a hold of the digital camera and start shooting pictures of what life is really like at home.  Sometimes they take so many pictures they fill up the whole 4 GB memory card.  Generally that means going through and deleting hundreds of random photos of socks, piano benches, hairbrushes, etc.  Every so often, though, they capture a real jewel that would have otherwise been lost forever. 

Today I decided to clean off the memory card. 

Today my suspicions that we are actually raising trolls were confirmed.